FFE | Fanfic Center | War of Times- "Mythology" | Ch. 6 At the Speed of the Wind

Act Two
Chapter Six: At the Speed of the Wind

As barren as Earth’s deadliest deserts, so it was with outer space. No sounds raced through the cosmos. No life but the twinkling of stars. A darkness so bold and brilliant that no amount of suns could ever shed light. It was that region of space that five colored streaks of light ripped through vacuums of this desert. Maroon particles sparked behind them as the lights shot towards the red planet of Rashon.

They dropped through the gaseous atmosphere like hydrogen bombs; quiet and unnoticed from afar as they fell, but the impact was the bullet heard across the world. No stone was left unrattled.

The lights forged into three Galaxy Rangers rising from a kneeled position. In front of them was Hexuba in all her glory. Because what rested before her was, as she had predicted for ages, was the key to her destiny as her brother Jinxer reminded her. Two pieces of a sword cut in half by the blade. Simple in appearance- an average blade with a small golden handle. No marks or emblems to match the majestic values of the Quasar Sabers. The spellcaster picked up the handle and raised it to her head; a sinister reflection was cast. Red Ranger walked to her side.

“Tell me, Red Ranger,” Hexuba looked at him through his reflection in the blade, “do you know the origins of the Quasar Sabers?”

Leo looked down at his sheathed weapon, caressing the lion emblem with two fingertips. “I know that it chose me. Together, our strength is impregnable.”

“Do your comrades believe as you?”

He looked her dead in the eyes. “We wouldn’t be alive otherwise.”

“You’re very direct when under the influence of all the underworlds, aren’t you? Well, Red Ranger, I’ll be direct with you. Just after the ancient Galaxy Rangers were crushed by our hand, the Alliance had a window of opportunity that had to be seized. I, along with my brothers, was ordered to capture one of their most trusted allies. The man with the power to create coins of power; Ninjor. Under my personal influence, six new coins were created. Whereas once he’d used the spirits of dinosaurs to empower his creations, these would be enchanted with the souls of the ancient Rangers we’d just conquered. The coins were sealed into five sabers and placed in the sacred stone for twenty-four hours to seal the souls permanently. “They were to be the final tools of conquest,” as my master said.

“However, before the day had set, my master was destroyed by the Galactazords’ use of an unfathomable power. But during my master’s destruction, the Zords and the artifacts belonging to the Rangers become scattered throughout the universe. So the sabers remained in the stone for three thousand years. You see Red Ranger; the legend of the honorable Quasar Sabers is a lie. There was no destiny but the one that was destroyed along my master.”

“Apparently the souls had enough consciousness left to choose who possessed them.”

“As mighty as your sabers are, this broken piece contains duplicated power of all five Quasar Sabers. Some fools have allowed it to be destroyed!”

“Perhaps,” Kai stepped between the two, “this power can be restored. Our predecessors were fools to go against the rules of the Alliance. Order must be restored.”

“How very soldier-like of you. You were the Commader’s….um, the late Commander’s pet, were you not? He trained you well, it seems.”

Kai looked over his shoulder. “Damon, know much about repairing hardened galactic steel?”

“Sure. Let the black man be the test subject to see if the weapon of death is safe to handle. What’s the matter, Kai? There’s nothing else I can be a decoy for today?”

Jinxer laughed in delight.

Kai turned to face him. “Got something on your mind, mechanic?”

“Yeah, since the day I met you. It’s harder pulling the stick from your ass than the sabers from the stone.”

“Yeah? I earned my right to be uptight. Sorry if I never settled in life for lowly jobs as a grease monkey.”

Leo raised his voice. “That’s enough from you two.”

“Oh, look here. The stowaway wants to pretend he’s in charge again.”

“Boys, boys,” pleaded Hexuba, striking them all down with electricity from her hands. “It seems my influence has unearthed some unresolved issues amongst you. That energy can be valuable against our enemies.”

“You’d better be right, Hexuba,” warned Leo. “Our patience may wear thin after a while.”

“The wait is already over. This Savage Sword will break free master Lothor from the underworld. Once he returns, in his truest form, the order of the Alliance will see light for a new age.” Her hands trembled joyously as she spoke. “Now then, hand over the Quasar Sabers.”

“Excuse me?”

“It’s the only way, Red Ranger. The power of the ancient Rangers combined with my own is all that can break the firewalls of the underworld to free Lothor. I implore you to hand them over now.”

All three Rangers stood frozen. Even Kai was looking to Leo for the next move. The Red Ranger looked down to his side at the dusty ground and then back at Hexuba. Large gusts of wind blew by them, drafting the dust in circles and all around the four life forms. With Jinxer behind her, Hexuba’s sinister laugh began to echo.

**************************

The bamboo doors of the Wind Ninja Academy flew open as Dustin Brooks hurled through with his dark ninja uniform half on. “Oh dude, why did I try Sensei’s curry?” Hunched over, he gripped his stomach and hobbled as fast as he could to a disclosed area of forest. He heard some kind of humming getting louder. He looked up and saw a Red Ranger riding a surfboard in the air. Dustin had to blink for a couple of seconds. “Um…Shane got another power-up?”

He saw Red finally crack through the last stretch of woods and jumped off his board. Red stood there staring at him before walking over. Okay, don’t be a total goof about this. You’re a Sensei now. Senseis start conversations with integrity, grace and confidence. “Dude, that ride’s off the hook!” Aw man, I blew that one.

“Um…thanks.” The Ranger peeked around as he stood. “Are you okay?”

“What?” Dustin was still squeezing his stomach. “Ah, yeah. Last time I eat cooking made by a former rodent.” You’re doing it, Dustin. Just…stop…talking.

“Well…then again, this is Earth. What choice did you have?” The stranger chuckled to himself.

“Yeah…” Whew, at least neither of us makes sense. “So you’re a Ranger?”

“Oh, sorry. I’m Andros.” He extended his white-gloved hand.

“Andros. Cool. Do you want a tour of the Academy?”

“That’s alright. The ariel and infra-red scans from my ship have pretty much told me everything. Too bad the Academy was destroyed.”

“Well, it’s been a tough couple of years rebuilding it. Luckily some other Rangers help out every now and then.”

“You mean the DinoThunders?”

“Wow, how did you-”

“It’s my job to know, Dustin. You prefer ‘Dustin’ over ‘Waldo,’ right?”

“Oh, I get it. You’re like some FBI type of Ranger. So you’ve been monitoring us the whole time?”

“We, actually. I turned my surveillance footage of you and your friends into a reality TV show on my home planet. ‘Ninja Storm’ is a total hit. You’d be surprised how many fanclubs you have, Dustin.”

“Nah, you’re messing with me right?” Dustin was blushing brightly.

“By the way, they want to see you and Tori finally get together.”

“Tor?” He caught himself in a forced giggle. “She’s great and all, but Blake-”

“Trust me.” He gripped Dustin’s shoulder “Nothing’s going to happen there.”

“Actually, there was someone I had in mind. It’s just…”

“Let me guess- you’re afraid. Well, there was another Yellow Ranger who had the same fears once. Now we’re engaged.”

“Whoa, that’s…” He moved in a couple steps. “Okay, what do I do?”

“Easy. She’s obviously crazy for you. You just have to make the move.”

“Whoa, back up. She, like…still feels like that, right?”

“It’s all of volume six of the ‘Ninja Storm’ DVDs, Dustin. Why do you think her sister’s so pissy at her all the time? She can’t shut up about her ‘man in yellow.’”

He grinned so big that he caught himself snorting. “Okay, so-”

“No, this is where you take over. This is where you suck up all those little doubts and fears and you just do it. Now, she’s in her quarters right now…alone. You ready to do this?”

“Wha- now?” Sheer terror filled his pupils.

“If not now, when? When she’s married with five kids? It’s your choice, Dustin.”

Dustin was bouncing his knees looking over the nearby hillside where Marah’s cabin was. “Yeah…I mean, why not, ya know? Okay. Okay……okay. Okay. Here I go-”

Andros grabbed the Earth ninja’s forearm “Except…now I need you and friends to come with me.”

“What?!” His heart raced so fast that it sunk that much faster. “Now?” he shouted.

“Duty calls, dude.”

*******************

All in uniform, Cameron Watanabe sat at his chair in Ninja Ops trying to break down his computer lingo for Shane, Tori and the Hunter.

“Okay,” Shane framed his hands in front of his face, “picture a world where we all speak the same language…then go from there.”

Hunter broke in. “He’s explained it three times already.”

Cam sighed, taking off his glasses. “I’ll break this down to the most simple, non-technical, two-year old language level I possibly can. By reconfiguring the alignment of the sub-particle Class G accelerator and linking it to the fusion generator I built…..we basically have free heat from the Abyss of Evil.”

“See, we knew you had it in you,” smiled Tori, sitting next to Cam’s monitor.

“It’s funny you mention the Abyss,” loudly spoke a strange voice.

Cam, wide-eyed, turned in his chair to see Dustin and a stranger garbed in a gray jacket and pants with a red undershirt, and long highlighted strips of hair; probably one of his comic book convention geeks…that’s been brought into a top secret ninja facility. Thanks, Dustin.

“Um, it’s a nice, uh, little place you have here,” commented the stranger.

“Little?” Cam elbowed Tori. “Did he seriously just say ‘little’?”

“Sorry, Cam. I’m just use to spaceports, colonies, that kind of thing when it comes to Ranger technology. This place, it’s cozy.”

Shane stepped back with a cringed face. Hunter and Tori followed suit after seeing the obvious resentment on Cam’s face. But his voice cut the awkwardness, "No offense, but what do you want?"

“Simple.” Andros walked hands folded behind his back. “You’re needed in the Griffenzor Galaxy. An ancient witch is trying to revive her master by harnessing the power of the Galaxy Rangers. We have to stop her and the Rangers before this happens.” He turned smiling towards Cam. “Looks like your boys are literally defenders of the galaxy after all.”

He snickered to himself. “Anyways, I’ve just completed a line of DFV’s that are space worthy-”

“DFV’s?” Andros and the other Rangers got a perplexed look.

Cam sighed out loud. “Dragon Force Vehicles. And I thought you knew everything.”

Andros cocked an eyebrow. “We may need all the resources we can get. Bring along your vehicles. They may be a good decoy or something. I’ll lead the path on my ship.”

“Hold up,” Hunter broke in. “How do we know this guy’s for real?”

“Trust me,” quickly responded Cam. “I remember him now from Tommy’s archives.”

“Awesome, so we’re actually going into space?” Shane did a little spin of joy.

“Hey,” Cam retorted, “Hunter and I have been there, remember? Rescuing the ninja students? Big explosion? Ka-boom?”

“Oh yeah, but, you know…” Dustin broke in, “not the same as being a Space Ranger.”

Andros turned to Dustin. “I like you. So are we ready then?”

At the exact same time, Cam and Andros raised their Morphers.

“Let’s ro-”

“Samurai Sto-”

They looked at each other for a moment and repositioned themselves. Cam almost sneered his lip thinking, So Mr. Long-haired big shot thinks he’s leader now…

“Sa-”

“Let’s-”

After another much shorter glance, Cam gave it one more try.

“Samurai Storm, Ranger form!” “Let’s rocket!”

As energy poured from Cam’s Cyclone Morpher, Andros’ Astro Morpher panel flipped open and the 3-3-5-enter code was initiated. The golden shield lapped over Cam’s shoulders and the Green Samurai battlesuit forged beneath his clothes, which then shattered away. Red energy converged at various points on Andros’ body under a sleek coat covered everything. His insignia lit up over the white rim of Andros’ visor. Cameron sheathed his Samurai Saber.

Behind Cam and Andros, a large explosion of green and red smoke ignited. Shane, Dustin, Tori and Hunter gagged and coughed as the smoke hit them.

Seconds later, Sensei Kanoi Watanabe entered the room, also gagging. “Hunter, what have I told you about doing that in Ninja Ops?” Kanoi then looked up and saw that the smoke had come from the morphing. “Oh, never mind.”

With the morph complete, Cam looked to his comrades who were practically hiding by the computer. “Well, let’s g-”

“Let’s go, guys. There’s no time to wait.” Andros hurried out of the Ninja Ops entrance.

Cam was right behind him, but then remembered something and turned to his teammates. “You guys can morph too, you know.”

“Sorry,” said Tori, covering her mouth. “But we were caught up in your ‘war of the egos.’”

Cam rolled his eyes.

“Okay guys,” said Shane, trying to stop smiling. He, along with Tori and Dustin held up their left hands shouting “Ninja Storm,” then lowering that elbow to the hip with the other hand on the Wind Morpher, shifted to the other elbow and hip, “Ranger form!” Their left arm punched the air in front of them as the Power Disc on the Morpher spun at rapid speeds. The power within the disc whirl winded around each Wind Ranger, shattering the academy uniforms to reveal the Ranger battlesuits underneath. The helmets formed piece by piece. The powers of air (Shane, Red Ranger), earth (Dustin, Yellow Ranger) and water (Tori, Blue Ranger) were called out. Hunter then followed suit.

“Thunderstorm,” he thrusted his left arm towards his side before raising it beside his face, “Ranger form!” The Thunder Morpher was then held above his head. The device detached itself and clamped onto Hunter’s face, forming the Crimson Thunder Ranger’s helmet. His ninja suit broke apart into his Ranger battlesuit. The power of thunder was now ready.

A deep bellowing roared throughout the academy grounds. As tall as the Rocky Mountains, this ship was beyond their comments. It was circular with a large nose and colored ocean blue, with cannons the size of the academy mounted on the top. The engines heat up as the hull door lowered open. So this is the Astro Megaship mark II, Cam thought. The schematics looked more impressive.

The ship emitted a smooth high-pitched sound as the engines neared readiness. Dust blew around the colored dust of the morphed Wind Rangers.

“Okay, Cam,” Dustin spoke up, “we need one of these.”

Cam retorted, “We’re doing just fine, Dustin.” Andros came up from behind.

“I’ll make sure not to go too fast for you guys.” He hit the Samurai Ranger with a playful jab before entering the ship. “Wouldn’t want to lose you.”

The Ninja Storm Rangers watched as the hull closed up behind him. In a mocking tone, Cam stated, “I’m Mr. Andros and my technology far surpasses yours.” He walked away murmuring, “Why don’t you learn to cut your hair.” His Cyclone Morpher materialized into his hand. He called into it, “DFV’s, surface.”

On the other side of the Academy grounds, five holographic portals in the form of soaring trees lit up. Each Dragon Force Vehicle appeared within the portal standing vertically. Identical to Cam’s, each DFV was long and sleek with a head of a dragon starring at the sky. Fire ignited from beneath and they and they soared like rockets, spanning the academy grounds until reaching the back of the Megaship.

A constellation of controls lit up in the ship’s bridge. When morphed Andros entered, he removed his red helmet and laid it in the seat of his leather chair. On the small screen he was turning on, the coordinates were being set to planet “Rashon of the Griffenzor Galaxy.” On a smaller screen showing the rear of the ship, it showed the five Ninja Storm Rangers following in their Dragon Force Vehicles. “Alright, Deca,” said Andros, directing his attention to an articulated wall-mounted camera, “Set speed for maximum- oh, wait. Let’s slow it to hyper-rush 2. Gotta give Cam a chance to keep up.” He smirked as he took a seat, hearing the engines engaging.

To Andros’ far left, a blue teleportation streak entered the bridge and formed into a morphed Ranger whose suit was a similar insect-design to Hunter’s. Andros nodded him over. “Come take a seat, Blake.”

“Andros, is it?” The Navy Thunder Ranger was mesmerized by the space activity on the main viewing screen. “So you’re a one-Ranger wrecking crew.”

“You could say that. My teammates are attending a crucial peace conference in another galaxy. We don’t have enough time to pick them or your Dino buddies, so it’s us this time.”

Blake got a perplexed look. “Hold up, when you were briefing me, you told me that this Commander Drake sent you.”

“Yeah. What’s your point?”

“Well, come on.” He unsnapped the clips on the side of his helmet, resting it on his lap after sitting down, “he’s from the future, where time is no obstacle, right? So why wouldn’t he give you enough time to gather more men?”

Andros didn’t have an immediate answer. It shocked him that he’d not considered this until now. After all, it was valid point. All of the sudden, something was very off. He hated that feeling. “You’re right.”

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