Chapter Thirty – Four
The group made it to the loft where Hartford, Twyla, Fran and Flit were waiting.
"RJ is back!" Fran exclaimed happily, making her way to hug her friend/guardian.
"Welcome back, buddy!" Flit added, relieved that his closest friend was alive after what hell the Wolf Master was put through by his ex girlfriend.
Hartford was also relieved in seeing that his nephew was alive and in one piece. He looked up upon seeing his brother-in-law Master Finn as he was holding his son.
"Hello, Harold," Hartford greeted his brother-in-law.
Startled, the shark master looked at him as he didn't really care about anything other than RJ at the moment, "Andrew, long time no see."
"What happened?" Twyla asked, glancing at the Wolf and Shark Masters.
"Whatever Kelly did to him while he was captured," James answered, "it put him through intense pain."
"Will he be okay?" Fran asked.
"I...I'm not sure," RJ answered as he started groaning in pain again.
Master Finn and Dustin carried RJ to his room and laid him down on his bed.
"Seriously," RJ tried to insist, "I will be okay. The pain is serious, but I'll be fine."
"That pain is why you're staying in bed to get some rest," Master Finn interjected.
"Seriously?" RJ scoffed.
"Yeah, seriously," Dustin replied, "Dad's right, bro. You need to rest from the ordeal Kelly put you through."
"Well," RJ muttered, "maybe you should do the same after what Kelly put you through."
"What's that?" Dustin glanced at his baby brother, slightly annoyed.
"Nothing," RJ answered before groaning in pain again, "Ugh! Not again!"
Within moments, the Wolf Ranger passed out from the pain and fell asleep.
"That should do it," Dustin stated.
"For now," Master Finn nodded in agreement, "knowing how he has my stubborn genes, RJ could get stubborn and he can try to get out of confinement."
"Oh jeez," Dustin sighed.
-Through-Dangerous-Times-
The Jungle Fury rangers looked on as the veteran rangers were talking via Billy's laptop where they were talking to an old friend of theirs.
"Justin Stewart," Tommy greeted his friend first, "long time no see."
"Yeah," Justin replied, "it's good seeing you again too, Tommy."
"Great seeing you again too," Kimberly replied.
"So, how are you guys doing?" Justin asked.
"We're doing great for the most part," Adam answered.
"The most part?"
"Yeah," Kat nodded, "we had to deal with the drama that was the conniving Kelly hurting his ex boyfriend."
"Who happens to be my best friend," Casey added, "you have no idea how pissed Dom, Theo, myself and especially Lily are with her, especially now."
"So," Justin looked at the Jungle Fury team, "you must be the Jungle Fury team."
"Yes, they are," Tommy replied, "my daughter Jillian recently became the Jungle Fury Pink Ranger, and she has a mini Master morpher which also allows her to be a green ranger like me."
"That's cool," Justin smiled, "someone to carry on the Dragonzord legacy."
"Exactly."
"What about the rest of the team?" Justin asked.
"My name is Casey," the Tiger Master proceeded to introduce himself, "this is Lily, Theo, Dominic and this is Dominic's girlfriend and RJ's ward Fran."
"Hi," Fran waved at the Turbo Blue Ranger.
"RJ is also a part of the team," Dominic pointed out, "but he's ordered to bed rest by his dad after the ordeal he went through."
"With the ex girlfriend?" Justin asked, "not that it's any of my business, but what did she do?"
"Well," Tommy explained, "Kelly underwent an alias by the name of Tiffany while she was hiding from the Ninja Storm Rangers."
"She abused RJ," Dominic added, "she treated him like shit and cheated on him, leading to their breakup."
"Kelly is now working for the Dark Elite," Casey added in, "she kidnapped RJ and there's no telling what she did to him while he was her prisoner."
"I think she wanted to hurt Dustin by hurting RJ," Tanya chimed in.
"That's what we were all thinking," Casey stated.
"Aw man," Justin replied, shocked at overhearing all this, "I hope he's going to be okay. I'm glad I don't have to deal with that with my Josephine."
"Your Josephine?!" Cye blurted out in shock.
"Who are you..." Josephine added.
"Easy guys," Tommy stopped the Torrent Ronin and Hardrock Guardian from going any further, "Josephine McCormick is Justin's wife, she's more Josephine Stewart."
"So, she's another Josephine?" Kento asked, "I was gonna say, when where and how did my cousin go and get married?"
"Yeah," Justin chuckled, "my wife is another Josephine, not to be confused with your cousin. Just who are they exactly?"
Tommy proceeded to introduce Justin to the Ronin Warriors and Lady Ronin Guardians.
"Wow!" Justin exclaimed, "it's finally nice to meet the legendary Ronin Warriors. I've heard about them before."
"It's good to meet you too," James replied, "any friend of Tommy Oliver's is a friend of mine."
Suddenly, another beep was on the laptop.
"I am glad we caught up, Justin," Tommy told his friend, "and it was also great to see you when you helped out the Wild Force Rangers a few years ago."
"We have to go now though," Adam added, "someone is calling on the laptop."
"I understand," Justin replied, "Josephine is expecting me back in a half an hour, so we'll talk again."
"Sounds like a plan," Tommy gave his friend a thumbs up before Billy switched the comm. This time it was the leader of the Space Rangers, Andros.
"Hello, Andros," Billy greeted the Red Space Ranger.
"I called to see when Adam and Aisha were coming back," Andros told the group.
"It's kinda a complicated story," Adam answered, "but I have a friend here who is going through a horrible situation and we just rescued him."
"Damn right, we just rescued him!" Rekino exclaimed, "I still wanna nail Kelly for hurting RJ!"
"Wow," Andros glanced at the Wildfire Guardian, not knowing what he could say at the moment, "Well, I take it you guys are allies with the Ronin Warriors and Lady Ronin Guardians of Earth."
"That we are," Tommy nodded.
"We will return to you guys in a few more days," Adam told the Red Space Ranger, "when RJ makes a strong enough recovery."
"I take it you are close friends with RJ," Andros nodded, understanding, "I understand. Take as long as you need."
"Thanks, Andros," Aisha replied.
"Let me know when you are ready to return to the Astro Megaship," Andros told the Green Zeo Ranger and Yellow Ninjetti Ranger.
"Will do," Adam nodded.
"Sounds like a plan," Adam added.
-Through-Dangerous-Times-
Dustin was sitting next to RJ's bed side as he was looking after him. He wasn't alone however as Master Finn was helping looking after him as well. Conner and even Eric were also helping in looking after the Wolf Master as well. Even Mack and Hartford were helping out, when the Shark Master didn't make the latter leave, that was.
A few more hours have passed and the pain RJ was dealing with had passed, but the Wolf Master didn't appear to be his usual self, and the Yellow Ninja Storm Ranger had no idea why.
"No, no, get off me!" RJ was shouting in his sleep.
This took Dustin by surprise, "RJ?"
He looked over as RJ was tossing and turning in his sleep, "Get off me! Stop! Dad! Dad! Casey!"
"RJ?" Dustin grasped his baby brother by his arms, "RJ, wake up! You're having a bad dream! Please wake up!"
"No!" RJ screamed as he woke up from a terrible dream. Dustin and the Wolf Master were eye to eye as the latter was shaking in fear, something that seemed to be out of character for him.
"What happened?" Dustin asked.
"It was a dream," RJ answered.
"It seriously sounded more like a nightmare," Dustin replied.
"Is RJ awake?" Casey asked as he walked into the room.
"From a nightmare," Dustin nodded, "yes."
"I can't remember what it was," RJ lied glancing at his oldest brother and his best friend.
Dustin looked on as Casey was talking with RJ. He sighed as he felt like something wasn't right. Something happened to RJ while he was captured by Kelly and he was determined to find out what it was.
Author's Note: In case you were wondering, Josephine McCormick was a character in the television series Big Bad Beetleborgs, which is one of the shows with a connection with Power Rangers from what I've heard. I also heard there was a crossover with the two shows in comics.
Minor Spoilers: Justin and Kimberly are a part of my possible Wild Force story along with Tommy and the Wild Force Power Rangers. I won't tell you the whole information yet, because it's a big surprise.