I’m not making anything off
of this, so please don’t sue me, whoever owns the ducks and power rangers! And
yes, this is a Power Rangers Ninja Storm/Mighty Ducks crossover. God help us
all.
“Into the Storm”
Uncle Lothor was an evil man.
Marah was sure of it. Not just because the man was an evil space ninja,
no-oh-oh. Walking through ankle high sand-mush, she frowned down at her red
boots, now brown by the amount of dirt covering them. What was he thinking
sending her and Kapri to collect a physically impossible crystal? Why not
Choobo? After his stunt that landed him as her pet, he definitely deserved
Uncle’s wrath more than she.
Stumbling about the sharp
rocks leading to the entrance of the Cavern of Lost Souls, Marah commented
darkly, “Uncle has finally lost it. The Ice
“It’s not ice, Marah!” Kapri
bit back, scowling as her foot sunk deeper into the sand when she stopped to
glare at her sister. “The crystal just holds the Ice Powers!”
“But I thought it was lost,
like, generations ago.”
Kapri sighed exasperatingly
and spread her arms out horizontally. Pulling her foot free from the sand-trap,
she wobbled into the cave. “Will you just shut up already? It’s hard enough
navigating this place without your whining in my ears!”
Marah sent her sister’s back
an acidic glower, but remained silent. Gazing sympathetically at her boots, she
followed grudgingly into the cavern. She wiped the sweat from her brow,
somewhat contented that her hair had not fallen, and wondered once more what
exactly her uncle was on. Ice in sticky, confining, sweltering
Her foot sunk deeper into the
sand, and when she attempted to lift her boot out of the muck, she found she
couldn’t with just her leg power. Growling, she clutched her knee and took an
sharp inhale of air. With a heave, she tugged her boot out of the sand, albeit
with a crack! Oh, that could not be good. Bracingly, she looked
downward.
“AHHHH!”
Kapri whirled, her hand
glistening pink with a fresh energy blast to attack, and froze.
Marah sniffled and gulped
back her tears, lifting her mud-drenched boot into the air…minus its heel.
“It’s dead! My perfect-expensive-Uncle-threatened-to-space-me-boots! Dead!”
A pink blast burned by her
head, barely missing her antennas. Her eyes snapped toward Kapri, who stood
arms crossed, smoldering.
“Well, the Power Rangers will
do a lot worse if we don’t find that crystal before they do. Suck it up!” She
rolled her eyes and continued into the cave, ranting, “And for once, you broke
them on the job. At least now we have a reason to hit the mall.” She added the
last part with a hint of excitement.
That sediment perked up Marah
instantly, and she tromped deeper into the cave. Eventually, the sand led to a
rock floor, on which Marah stamped her boots to rid herself of the sand. Rising
her eyes, she sighed. Black, shiny rock glistened in the little light that
entered the cave, giving it a look of sparkling jewelry. Whirling around on her
good heel, she noticed the rock formation in the middle of the cave where the
Crystal of Lost Souls had once been. Shiny, glistening with the dew of the
ocean, it glimmered brighter than any other rock in the cave. She looked away,
then quickly whirled back. Did it just glow blue? Not that Lightning Ranger’s
color or even the Water’s color—more like a greenish-blue.
She scrutinized the rock, but
another glow never manifested. Walking up to it, she laid her palm flat down
and examined the cavern. “Kapri, this is completely off. There is no Ice
Crystal. If there was, the sensors should have picked up when we first came to
Her words trailed off into
nothing as her attention was directed to her hand. At the tips of her fingers,
a cold sensation tingled, sending goose bumps throughout her body. Abruptly,
the feeling crawled up her arm and washed over her body. She grabbed her wrist
and pulled, trying to detach herself from the formation, but she found her hand
frozen to the rock. Gradually, her resistance subsided as her body froze, ice
creeping onto her skin.
Oblivious, Karpi waved her
hand dismissively, yet threateningly as her pink power wafted about her
fingertips. She felt up and down the rocks with her other hand. “Who knows
anything about this crystal, anyway? It could have powers and stuff that we
have no idea—”
“C—C—C—C—Cooo—Cooolllddd—CCC—”
“Now, what are you—” Karpi
griped, turning to look at her sister. Her eyes widened considerably, and she
gasped at the sight of Marah, shivering uncontrollably and blue-skinned. Ice
particles coated her in sporadic parts her body.
Kapri dashed to her sister’s
side. “Marah, what is it? What’s—” Spotting her sister’s hand on the formation,
she instantly clasped it and tugged. No use. Mind reeling frantically, she
covered her eyes with one hand and flicked the other, a blast of power
exploding the rock on contact.
Marah flew backwards and
slammed into the wall with a grunt. She cringed in pain, sliding to floor, only
to be caught by two strong hands about her shoulders.
“Marah! Are you okay?” a
worried voice cut through her frozen haze. It was distant, yet piercing at its
tone.
Blinking, Marah squinted, her
eyes protesting even in the dim light. The person holding her leaned her
against the wall, then roughly massaged her arms, warming her.
“Marah! ANSWER ME!”
Marah knew that voice. After
all, she knew her older sister when she heard her. Sometimes, her voice was
annoying, like now, and even condescending, but at the same time, it was
comforting and loving.
“K—Kapri…I’m okay,” she
managed to mumble. “W—What happened?”
Karpi grinned, relieved, then
peered over her shoulder. Marah followed her glare.
Glimmering in the rubble of
the rock formation was a teal-blue crystal.
“Little sister,” Kapri
reveled, “I think you just found the Ice Crystal.”
!!!
Cam Watanabe stared
transfixed at the computer screen in front of him. His eyes hadn’t flickered
from the screen since the alarm at Ninja Ops. had blared over a half an hour
ago, and they wouldn’t get rest until he understood the energy reading that
flashed on his monitor.
“Have you found the source of
the disturbance, son?” the guinea pig standing on the computer desk asked
intently.
“Unless…” Sensei turned his
back on his son and paced slowly. “But it was lost ages ago…and why would it
resurface now?”
“Dad,”
Sensei met his son’s question
with a harsh glower. “You need to go to the source. See what you can find. If the
power is back, it is crucial we obtain it before Lothor.”
“What power?”
Succinctly, Sensei divulged,
“The Ice Powers.”
!!!
“Well done, girls. Well
done,” Lothor commended as he held the crystal safely with his gloved hand.
“This is certainly a first for you. There might be hope for you yet.”
The goons about Lothor
laughed deviously. Marah and Kapri, however, were not amused.
“Hey, I got those Rangers
with Beevil!”
“Oh, you are right,” Lothor
corrected, smirking. “This is a second for you. Possibly you could break a
record and go for three.”
“Well, actually, Uncle,”
Kapri interjected. She walked up to him and eyed the crystal. “See, I was
wondering, since I found the crystal—”
“YOU?” Marah disputed
bitterly.
Kapri ignored her. “Possibly,
maybe, I could, you know, get the power?”
Rolling his eyes, Lothor
spat, “I can’t believe I’m going to agree with your sister, but YOU?” he
chortled, to which Kapri crossed her arms and vexed. “My dear, you would not
last five minutes as the Ice Ranger. You can barely last three against the
Power Rangers.” He cupped the crystal in between his fingers and stared
attentively at it. His voice lowered to mere whisper. “We need someone powerful
with a connection to the element. Someone who would listen to me completely…without
question…and who could command the power to its brilliance and his own.”
“Well, I have connection to
it, Uncle!” Marah perked up and bounced up and down on her tippy-toes. “I could
be the Ice Ranger!”
“Your teeth chatter when you
drink cold soda,” Kapri commented callously.
“But I have a connection to
the crystal!”
“Getting frozen by it is not
a connection,” Lothor admonished. Standing, he walked about the throne room.
“No, we need someone… who has an affiliation with ice. My guinea pig of a brother
chose his rangers that way. Earth, Lightning, Water, Air—dirt biking racing,
surfing, and skateboarding. What sport accents ice?”
“While I do not believe a
human is right for this position,” a disdainful voice reproved, alarming the
evil space ninja, “I think I might have the perfect specimen.”
Lothor wasn’t all surprised
by Vexacus as he slipped from the shadows of the ship. His eyes moved ever so
eccentrically, though it was an unspoken threat as his hand levitated just
about the hilt of sword.
“Who?” Lothor encouraged. “Do
tell, Vexacus.”
Vexacus smirked shrewdly.
!!!
Monster, Tori Henson finally
decided. He had to be.
When she first walked onto
the beach, surfboard under her arm, she was shocked to the point of violence.
If it wasn’t for the fact that the alien creature was peaceful and no one
screamed bloodcurdlingly at the sight of him, she would have attacked. Since
then, she had resigned herself to sitting on the sand and watching him.
She had decided not to judge
him outright. After all, he wasn’t the normal mold of Lothor’s goons. He was,
essentially, a human duck. Standing about five-foot-eight, the teenage duck had
long blonde hair that brushed against his shoulders and bangs that obscured his
face. He wore bathing trunks covering from his body from his waist to his
knees, much like Shane wore his shorts. But all that could be a ruse…if not for
the lack of fighting. In the twenty minutes she observed him, not once did he
lunge to attack anyone. In fact, he even helped a little girl who almost was
swept away by the riptide. Above that, no one screamed at him. It was like he
was another teenage beach bum out for a day of surfing. That, too, wasn’t
sinister. He was just surfing or at least trying. She cringed as he crashed
face first into the trough of a wave once more. It seemed he spent more time in
the water than actually on the board.
She finally decided he was a
monster when he emerged from the water and her body tensed. Lugging his board
under his arm, his sodden hair plastered against his cheeks and forehead, the
teen duck strode past her. He didn’t blink at the stern expression she sent him
or acknowledge her presence in the least. It was like he didn’t know who she
was.
Walked up to two people
laying on beach towels, he dropped his board in the sand. The teenagers in
front of him weren’t much older than she or the duck and still appeared to be
living out their rebellious fantasies with dyed purple hair, an earring, and
square sunglasses.
Tori jumped to her feet and
dashed toward them when the duck reached down toward the brown-haired male. She
seized his wrist in her hand and twisted it roughly, causing him to grunt.
“I’m not letting you hurt
this people,” she informed him harshly.
The duck gagged, wrestling
his wrist away and giving it a good shake.
“Maybe not them, but you’re sure doing a good job of me.”
“Back away, and we’ll fight,
but leave them alone.”
Eyebrow furled, the duck
straightened his back and sent her a mildly bewildered expression. Stifling a
brusque laugh, he rejoined, “Okay, girly zealot, so do you have a thing for all
aliens, or is it just ducks?”
Tori blinked. “W—What?”
“Look, I’m not exactly on
Earth because I want to be, okay? So just leave me alone. All I’m trying to do
is get—” He once more reached for the brown-haired male, and Tori threw away
all her training of not precipitating a fight. She couldn’t let him hurt these
clueless people.
Grasping his wrist, she
twisted his arm behind his back, causing him to grunt. “You will not harm
them!”
She grunted as an elbow
smacked into her stomach, and her grip slackened. Wrenching his wrist clear, he
pivoted and delivered a sweeping blow—which would have hit its mark if not for
Tori’s training. Ducking the attack, she attacked with a punch. Blocking it
with his forearm, he dove for the board he dropped. He swung it in front of him
like a shield, to which she kicked. The force of her attack broke the board in
half and sent the duck soaring. A morbid reverberation sounded as his shoulder
dug into the sand. He skidded to a stop not too far away, but by the sound of
gasps, people’s attentions had been stolen.
“Dude, what’s your prob,
huh?” the brown-haired male scowled, standing and casting a penetrating glare
at her.
Tori tossed her blonde hair
over her shoulder. “W—What? I just saved you.” Didn’t these people know about
the monsters of
“Freak!” the purple-haired
girl, the male’s counterpart, accused as she passed and knelt next to the
duck’s side. “Dive? You cool?”
The duck—Dive?—fought into a
sitting position, grimacing in pain. He hissed through clenched teeth and
rubbed his sand-burned shoulder. “Yeah, I’m fine, and I could’ve taken her.”
The purple-haired girl
smirked. “You and what army?”
“My puck launcher,” he
retorted and accepted the hand up offered to him. “Well, that, and without
Wing’s voice blaring in my head, ‘Don’t hurt the natives! We’re in enough
trouble without you fighting the humans.’ That’s really a killer in these
situations.”
Tori stared at the scene,
human and monster living side-by-side. It reminded her of the time she was
transported into the alternate dimension and Lothor was a good guy. Did she
somehow jump there again? Before she could give that thought a decent amount of
contemplation, a screeching shrill cut through the air.
“MY BOARD! THE FREAKIN’
AMAZON KILLED MY BOARD!” The brown-haired male knelt by his surfboard, taking
the two parts of it in his hands. Abruptly, his eyes ricocheted toward the
stunned Tori. “Why would you kill Sammy?”
“I—I’m sorry,” she stammered,
still unhinged by the whole situation. She gestured toward Nosedive. “I—I
thought he was a monster.”
“Uh. Monster. That’s a new
one,” Nosedive remarked dryly as he walked up to Tori. “I’ve been called,
‘Freak,’ ‘Weirdo, ‘Creep,’ ‘Alien Scum,’ ‘Mutant, ‘Reject Government
Conspiracy,’ and once, just once,
‘Nosedrip,’ but ‘monster’ is a new one.”
Tori gulped, still trying to
make sense of the situation. It seemed so surreal. “You’re not a monster?”
Nosedive rolled his eyes and
opened to his beak to retort when a little voice peeped from behind them, “Are
you Nosedive Featherburn?”
The duck, startled, diverted
his sight from Tori to the little boy standing to the left of them. Clenching a
hockey jersey in one hand, a pen in the other, the boy asked again, “Are you?
Are you the Mighty Duck?”
Nosedive dropped to one knee
and grabbed the pen and jersey. “Last time I checked, but it’s been awhile.
What’s your name, kid?”
The boy blushed instantly.
“Jimmy…Jimmy Stevens.”
“Well, Jimmy.” The duck
signed the back of his jersey, a white shirt with purple writing. On the top
was the name “N. Featherburn,” followed the number 33. The duck sighed in the
first 3. “It was really nice to meet you. Do you come to games often?”
“Sometimes. My mom can’t afford
them too often,” the boy revealed softly. “She says we would go more if we
could.”
“Tell you what, Jimmy,”
Nosedive said when he handed back the jersey, “come to the box office next
game, and you’ll find a treat, okay? Don’t tell your mommy, but,” he looked
around, then whispered conspiratorially, “they’ll be tickets for the rest of
the season and playoffs for Jimmy Stevens and his mom.” Winking, he smiled.
“Sound good?”
“Really?” the boy smiled
gleefully.
“You bet ya.”
Jimmy skipped off, and Tori
searched her mind where she had heard of the Mighty Ducks. The guys had
discussed this prior, she was sure. Ducks…Ducks…something with ice and skating.
“Ducks Rock”…? Then it clicked. “Oh, my God! You’re from that hockey team! My
boyfriend raves about you all the time!”
Nosedive smirked as he stood.
“Finally. I was beginning to think I should place
“Well, no offense, but you
look like a monster,” she replied, placing out his hand. “Tori Henson.”
He took it. “Dive
Featherburn. I’ve heard of something about that down here, but I didn’t think
it would bite me in the ass.”
“What brings you to
Nosedive shrugged. “My
friends here were telling me how I should try surfing. Of course, that’s out of
the window now. You broke Thrash’s board.”
Tori cringed. Looking down at
the two people kneeling, she watched as the brown-haired male wept over his
board. “I’ve had this since I was ten…”
“My friend Dustin works at
this extreme sports place. You or your friend can pick up a new board. I’ll pay
for it,” Tori proffered, then put her hand across her forehead to shield her
eyes from the sun. “Of course, it’s already three, and you’ll probably lose the
surf. Not that you would have really enjoyed it anyway.”
Nosedive glared at her.
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you suck. No
offense, but I hope you’re better at hockey.”
Laughing, he grinned at her.
“I am at that, girly. You think you can do better?”
Tori returned the grin artfully.
“I know I can. I’ve lived on the beach since before your friend had his board.”
“MY BOARD!” Thrash leapt to
his feet and dove at Tori, only for Nosedive to grab him by the shoulders.
“Thrash, I’m getting you a
new board!” the teen duck bargained. “Besides,” he added hastily, his voice
strained by the exertion of holding Thrash back, “Xena could kill you.”
That stopped his friend’s
struggling. “Damn.”
“Why don’t you go back to
sunbathing or sleeping or whatever you were doing, and I’ll get the board.”
Nosedive patted his shoulder and allowed the purple-haired girl to lead Thrash
back to the towels again.
“One crisis handled,” he
smirked at Tori. “So, can you teach me?”
Tori blinked. That came out
of nowhere. “Teach you what?”
“To surf. I mean, you already
killed my friend’s board. Think you can teach me on yours?” He amended as he
looked her over, “You have one, right?”
“Of course I have one,” she
defended, a little taken back. “The question is: Can you handle a crash course
in surfing?”
Nosedive gave her a wicked
smirk, meeting her dare forthwith. “Crash away.”
!!!
His eyes focused on the
broken rocks at his feet, ice coating their edges.
Or it had been.
!!!
Nosedive pushed open the door
with one hand, while holding a big Seven Eleven cup in the other. A smile
enveloped his face as his eyes probed Storm Chargers. In front of the store
hung clothes and various equipment that dealt with motocross. He already did a
makeshift form of that on his Duckcycle. Behind that was skateboarding
accessories, followed by surfboards and the like along the back wall. If only
this place had hockey, it would be perfect. It was an X-Games lover’s dream.
He would launder if he could,
but eyeing his comm. unit on his wrist, he was in the sin bin as it was. He was
supposed to have left for home over an hour ago, and when he didn’t show up on
time, his brother would surely have his hid and a few appendages as well
Immediately, he spotted a
woman with red hair behind the desk and walked toward her. “Hey.”
The woman looked up, then
jumped, the papers in her hands scattering across the counter and floor.
“You’re Nosedive Featherburn,” she declared, astounded.
Nosedive smirked. That seemed
to be the trend of the day. “You got it. Look, I was told Tori Henson would be
here.”
“She’s in the back by the
TV,” the woman directed, pointing to the back of the store.
Nosedive smiled his thanks
and proceeded to the back. Sure enough, in the far left corner of the store,
Nosedive caught a glimpse of Tori, sitting in the middle of an L-shaped couch.
Her eyes transfixed upon the screen, she winced at something she watched.
Accordingly, so did the four boys around her, which were succeeded by a chorus
of, “Oooh!” “Ouch!” and “That must have hurt.”
In response, a brown-haired
boy wearing a yellow shirt retaliated indignantly, “Hey! That wasn’t as bad as
the time I drove straight into that tree.”
Standing in between the two
poles singling the entrance of the small room, Nosedive greeted, “Hey, Tori.
Did I catch you at a bad time?”
Turning toward him, she
smiled. “No, not at all. We’re just watching Dustin’s entrances into America’s Funniest Home Videos.” She stood and weaved about the
legs of her counterparts, to which Nosedive noticed all of them wore a specific
color. A dark-skinned male wore red, while the blonde teen was adorned in a
darker shade—maroon, maybe crimson. An Asian teen’s navy shirt contrasted
Tori’s lighter, water color.
Grabbing him by the arm, Tori
pulled him away from the group and toward the surfboards along the back wall.
“So, you think you could survive another course in surfing?”
Nosedive smirked. “Are you
kidding? That was awesome! I’d love to do it again. Oh.” He handed her the
Slurpee. “This is for you.”
She accepted it, appearing
hesitant and skeptical. “What’s this for?”
“Just a thank you for
teaching me and for trashing my friend’s board. If you hadn’t, then maybe I
wouldn’t have learned how to surf.”
Tori laughed, then took a
sip. “Well, then I guess you’re welcome.” Swallowing, she pointed to the
surfboards. “Do you know which one you want?”
Nosedive shrugged. “I think
we’ve established today that I have no clue about surfing, so why don’t you
tell me which ones are the best.”
“Okay…”
Crowded behind the poles of
the TV corner, the male power rangers watched the scene unfolding intently.
In the front, Dustin gasped
horribly, “Isn’t that Nosedive Featherburn?”
“Dude, do you know of any
other duck our age on Earth?” Shane admonished, smiling with mirth. “What do
you think he’s doing in
“And what do you think he’s
doing with Blake’s girlfriend?” Hunter taunted, ruffling his little brother’s
hair.
Blake scowled, “I trust Tori.
Whatever she’s doing with him, it’s not cheating on me.”
“Well, I don’t know, man.”
Shane wrapped an arm around Blake’s shoulders and said playfully, “Professional
hockey player or Navy Power Ranger? Take your pick.”
“He brought her a Slurpee,”
Blake scoffed, shaking his head. “I don’t think I have anything to worry
about.”
“I want meet him,” Dustin
spouted suddenly, then looked back at his friends. “I say we crash Tori’s
private party.”
“Now you’re talking,” Hunter
agreed, slapping Shane high-five.
“Come on. Shouldn’t we give
them some privacy?” Blake upheld, or at least he did until Nosedive said
something to the blonde girl. She laughed, then hit him on the shoulder. “I
could take him.” He beseeched to his older brother, “I could take him, right?”
“Let’s find out,” Hunter
urged and walked out of the room.
“Well, well, well, Tori,
you’ve been holding out on us,” Shane said, clasping a hand on Nosedive’s
shoulder.
The teen duck jerked away
instantly, grabbing the human’s arm and twisting it behind his back. Even
before Shane could retaliate, Nosedive released him.
“Sorry,” he apologized,
grinning sheepishly. “Reflex.”
“Some reflex,” Shane
muttered.
Dustin stared astonished at
Nosedive. “Who has reflexes like that?”
The rangers traded knowing
glances suddenly, as Nosedive squirmed uneasily and stuck his hands in his back
pockets.
“Serves you right,” Tori
said, laughing slightly to release the nervous tension. She gestured toward the
human boys. “Dive, meet my annoying, star-struck friends. That’s Dustin,” the
brown-haired boy wearing yellow waved, “Hunter,” the blonde put out his fist,
which Nosedive punched, “Blake, my boyfriend,” the navy-clad teenager seemed to
size him up, then smile confidently, “and the brains behind this operation,
Shane.” The red-barring teenager put out his hand.
“How do you know Tori?” he
asked.
Nosedive suppressed a roar of
laughter and accepted the hand. “Tori thought I was some kind of monster and
attacked me. My best friend’s board was a causality, so she’s buying me a new
one for him.”
“Way to go, Tor,” Dustin
teased. He hit her on the shoulder.
“Hey, watch out for trees,
Evil Kenevil!” she retorted. Throwing her finished Slurpee into the garbage
can, she turned to the wall. “So, Dive, did you see something you like?”
Reaching into his back
pocket, the duck pulled out his wallet. “Which one’s the most expensive?”
“Uh, the Senate Funboard,”
she proclaimed in dismay. Tears welled up in her eyes as if she was in tremendous
pain. “I—It’s seven hundred dollars.”
Taking out his American
Express, he handed it to Tori. “Could you ship it somewhere? I rode my
motorcycle down, so it’ll be pretty hard to get the board home.”
“W—What is this?” she asked,
stunned. “I told you I’d pay for it.”
“Tori,” Hunter whispered,
leaning close to her, “don’t complain.”
“I’d have to agree with you
there,” Nosedive pointed out, but shrugged. “Tori, do you work?”
“Sometimes here, but not too
often.”
“How much do you make an
hour? Six, seven dollars?” Nosedive inquired aloofly.
“About that,” she concurred.
He smiled, smug and boasting,
then he gazed at the board he was buying. “In any given season, I can make
somewhere between forty and fifty million.” He turned his gaze onto the
flabbergasted teenagers. “Pick your jaw up off the floor, and let me buy the
board.”
“So…wow…” Blake breathed,
then turned to Shane. “Hockey player, totally.”
!!!
“I want to do something for
you,” Tori insisted for the fifth time in four minutes as she led Nosedive and
her teammates out the door.
“You’ve gotta let it go,
girl,” Nosedive seethed, straddling his bike and grabbing his helmet off the
left handle. “It’s not biggie.”
“There’s got to be
something!”
He glared at her through hard
eyes. “Tell you what. I come down every so often, you teach me how to surf, and
we’ll call it even. Sound good?”
“Hey, if you break something
of ours, can we get hockey lessons?” Hunter asked, slumping against Tori’s van.
Nosedive sent him a sideways
glance, his long bangs brushing across his face. “You play anything?”
Hunter nodded. “I motocross.
So does Dustin and Blake.”
The teen duck narrowed his
eyes toward Shane. “And what do you do?”
“I skateboard,” he boasted,
mimicking some moves without his board.
Nosedive grinned, his youth
exacerbated by his childish smile. “Make a deal with you guys. You teach me how
to do all the stuff you just said, and I’ll teach you hockey. Deal?”
“Are you serious!” Tori
exclaimed.
“You want to learn hockey,
too?” Nosedive asked bemusedly
Tori immediately grew
defensive. “What do you mean, I want to learn, too? Girls aren’t as good as boys? They can’t play hockey, is that it?”
she accused.
“What? No!” he hollered, then
sighed. “I live with two women, one who can kill me and one who’s a million
times smarter than me. And both play
hockey. I just didn’t think you’d want to. Not many girls want to on Earth.”
“Well, this one does.”
Nosedive opened his beak to
retort, but was cut off when a strike of red lightning resulted with the abrupt
appearance of black and red figures with white lines scratched across their
bodies.
“Kelzaks!” Tori scorned,
taking her defensive position. With a shift of gravel on the ground, so did the
rest of the teenagers.
Nosedive swung his leg over
his motorcycle and reached behind his back, bringing his puck launcher to bear.
“What did you say these things are?”
“You probably don’t want to
know,” Shane told him, an obvious edge in his voice.
As one lunged at the unhinged
duck, Nosedive snapped, “When they attack me, hell yeah I do!” He threw his
helmet at the Kelzek, who caught it. Nosedive then delivered a sweeping blow to
the head of the black fighter with his foot. Turning on instinct, he fired
three shots, each one hitting the goons in the chest and flinging them
backwards. He dodged an attacked by another one, then dove on the ground into a
forward roll. Gaining his footing, he hip-checked one lunging at Hunter from
behind the back, then tossed it to the side.
“Thanks, man!” Hunter
shouted, then dove into the fray.
Nosedive stood, astonished,
and observed the humans before him. Kicking, fighting, he-yah-ing, they attacked their foe. The way they watched each
other’s back—Blake dove forward, fell to the ground, and swiped the feet from
under a Kelzak that moved toward Dustin—they were the Mighty Ducks, just human
and younger. That was when it hit him—These were not normal teenagers.
Thrust back into the fight
when one of the Kelzaks snagged him around the waist, Nosedive twisted from its
grip, then fired a single shot into his head. He whirled on his heel just in
time to see five Kelzaks line up, ready to pounce. He laughed nervously,
realizing his own reaction time could not save him.
“Hey, come on, guys. At least
make it fair.”
Abruptly, five sets of hands
grabbed the Kelzaks from behind and whirled them safely away from Nosedive. The
five teenagers made a wall, separating Nosedive from the Kelzaks.
“It’s us you want, not him,”
Shane declared unyieldingly.
The remaining Kelzaks stood,
then waved, before disappearing from sight all together in a flash of red
lightning.
“We totally thrashed them!”
Dustin exclaimed, hitting Blake on the shoulder.
Though Hunter accepted Shane
punch, he challenged the other red-clad teenager, “Doesn’t it bother you that
they just attacked?”
“Yeah,” Tori agreed, looking
about the practically empty parking lot. “What do you think they were—” She
halted in mid-sentence as she saw the person behind them, her face blushing a
dark crimson. “Dive…hi…”
A bright, wide smile crossed
the teen duck’s features. “To hell with the sports. Can you show me how to do
what you just did?” He joined them, placing his weapon in his jeans about his
back. “What was that? Ninja moves or something?”
The five teenagers exchanged
knowing and embarrassed glances. Shane finally answered cryptically, “Yeah. We,
uh, take martial arts courses. A hobby.”
“I’ve seen martial arts,
Shane,” Nosedive combated, a skeptical look upon his features. “That was beyond
martial arts. But, hey, have your secret. It’s not like I don’t have my own.”
He looked down at his comm. unit and gasped, eyes widening frighteningly.
“Please tell me it’s not seven already!” Grabbing his helmet off the ground, he
dashed to his motorcycle.
“Why?
“You don’t understand.”
Nosedive snapped his helmet into place and straddled his motorcycle. “I
promised my big bro I’d be home at seven! He’ll flip! Trust me!”
Blake met his older brother’s
eyes. “I know how you feel.”
A beeping noise cut through
the silence, and Nosedive dropped his head to his handle bars. “Oh, why now?”
Sitting up, he hit his comm. unit., and his voice filled with fond
exasperation. “Hey, bro. You’re right on time.”
Tori looked at Shane, then
motioned to her morpher/comm. unit on her arm. Shane nodded, the thought
interchanged and understood. They wore the devices, so their powers were at
their fingertips and they could communicate with each other at a moment’s
notice. Why would Nosedive?
“Baby bro, tell me you’re in
the vicinity,” a concerned, older voice responded, almost pleading. He, too,
sounded vexed, though in a loving manner.
Nosedive cringed. “Vicinity
is all in perception, y’know? I’m near enough to be home in a half an hour.”
A deep sigh was heard over
the connection. “Where are you?”
“Heading home.”
“Where?” the older brother
demanded, not leaving any room for defiance.
Nosedive scowled, then
relented, “I’m just leaving
“Nosedive, you said you would
be home now,” the older brother chastised, but by the crestfallen expression on
Nosedive’s face, the rangers knew the duck’s brother wasn’t angry, just
worried. And Nosedive felt bad for making him anxious.
“Yeah, but see, this girl,
Tori, broke Thrash’s board, and I needed to get him a new one. So I went to
this ultra cool store called Storm Chargers and they totally have…” His voice
rambled on as he processed something in his comm., probably his brother’s
worrisome face. “I promise,” he spoke sincerely, “I’m heading out now, and I’ll
be home in thirty minutes.”
“You’re over two hours away.”
“So? I can be home—”
“That’s all I need, you
getting in an accident on the way home,” the older brother objected. “No. Stay
there, and I’ll come get you with the Aerowing.”
“Aw, come on, Wing,” Nosedive
protested, huffing in anger. “I’m seventeen. I don’t need you picking up like
I’m five. I’ll be home in an hour.”
The obvious hesitation on the
other’s part made the rangers aware of the contemplation.
“Fine,” the older brother
resigned, “but drive the speed limit, and don’t stop, and—”
“—and if I need you, I’ll
call,” Nosedive replied in monotone, as if he was restating what had been said
a thousand times. “Thanks, big bro. I’ll see you in a bit.” As he shut the
comm. unit, the older brother’s voice rang out, “Be careful!”
“I gotta go,” Nosedive
stated, sighing. “I’m in the book, so just give me a ring,” he added dismally,
“if I’m allowed out for a year.”
As they watched Nosedive ride
off, Blake commented, “He didn’t seem to shaken up by the attack.”
“And what about that comm.
unit and weapon?” Tori adjoined. “It’s like he’s trying to save the world,
too.”
“Well, I think one thing is
clear,” Shane said, heading back toward the store. “Nosedive Featherburn isn’t
a normal teenager.”
Dustin snorted. “Yeah, but
neither are we.”
!!!
Nosedive sighed as he hit the
accelerator and weaved into the fast lane. He passed a slower car, which, most
likely, was traveling at the speed limit. He glanced up at the sign overhead,
signaling that he was still over a eighty miles outside of
Come on! Move it! He wanted
to go home and face the wrath of Wildwing already!
He swerved into the middle
lane to avoid the tracker trailer and depressed the accelerator once more. The
arrow on his gage moved closer to the end—one hundred and twenty, one hundred
twenty-five—Wildwing would kill him if he knew how fast he was
going—one-thirty—
Air whooshed past his head,
and abruptly, a blast fire rang out, different, though. Unlike Saurian a
blaster. More like—
A pink blast connected with
his front wheel and triggered a chain reaction. In a surging explosion, he was
thrown from his Duckcycle.
Lights flashed, colliding
with each other. Screeches blared in a cacophony of engulfing noise.
He closed his eyes, rolling
end over end. Momentum finally left his body, and he tumbled to a stop. He
didn’t dare move, for he couldn’t even think. Everything and anything reeled
about his bemused mind failed to process the world except for one thing—pain.
EVERYWHERE. It writhed through his head, shot through his torso, and ended at
the tips of finger and feet. He moaned, his body sprawled across the pavement.
Then, abruptly, he felt a
hard stick knock up his beak and settle across his neck, a cold sensation
messaging his mangled feathers. Venturing open his bloodshot eyes, gasping at
every particle of air his body could process, Nosedive gazed apprehensively at
the one-eyed shark holding a sword to his neck. His wardrobe, a black jumpsuit,
gray trench coat, and red hilt, made him seem almost as odious as Dragaunus
himself.
Nosedive’s glare drifted to
the black figures behind the shark. Kelzaks, he recalled.
He shivered as the blade
worked back and forth over the crook of his neck.
“You are barely alive as it
is, duck,” the shark informed cryptically, “and you are just because I wished
you to be. Struggle, and you will most surely die. Succumb, and I just might
deem you worthy.”
Nosedive closed his eyes, as
the pain ravaged his body once more.
It wasn’t like he had a
choice.
!!!
Vexacus lifted the pinioned
teen to his feet and shoved him into the command room. Nosedive stumbled
forward, crashing to the floor. His side scraped callously against the metal,
as he skidded to a stop.
“So, this is the boy you
spoke of, Vexacus,” a harsh, patronizing voice demanded.
Nosedive blinked through his
haze. The world about him spun unrelentingly, not allowing him to catch his
bearings. Darken shades of red, blue, and black whirled in front of his eyes,
and he had to close his eyes to curb the tenancy to expel his Slurpee.
“A duck?” the voice inquired
with incredulity. “You think this pathetic excuse for an evil space monster is
the rightful recipient?”
The spinning in front of his
eyes subsided, and Nosedive raised his head. Surrounded by various “monsters,”
for no other word would describe the creatures accurately, he shuddered. A
black, muscle bound creature with red lines, a green being with huge, black
eyes and a white box on its back, a pink-haired girl, a brown-haired one with
what seemed like a bug attached to her head, and…and…Nosedive cringed. This was
worse than being in the Raptor. At least that devil he knew, but the villain in
front of him was something else entirely.
The rather large man
resembled the malevolence that Dragaunus radiated almost perfectly. Wearing a
black face mask with only his eyes and mouth cut out, the man sat in his
throne. A black ponytail whished from side to side as he moved from the right
side of his throne to lean on the left. His dark eyes scrutinized Nosedive as
no more than a weakling that he shouldn’t even regard as a living being.
Nosedive frantically tugged
at the bonds constricting his arms behind his back, but to no avail. He was
trapped…unless…He wringed his wrists, feeling the edge of his comm. unit rub
against his feathers. He breathed a sigh of relief. When he didn’t arrive home,
Wildwing would surely freak out and then come and save him.
“Sir,” the shark accosted as
he walked forward, “this boy is not a monster.”
“Then, what is he?” the
malevolent man dismissed, slamming his fist against his throne’s arm. “My two
nieces would be better choices for the Ice Ranger.”
Nosedive’s eyes widened, as
his mind reeled unbound. The Ice what?
“Lothor, I’m sure you
remember the aliens that followed Dragaunus onto Earth.” The shark turned
sharply and gazed unkindly down at the teen. “He is one of them.”
“Yes,” the man—Lothor—said,
his voice growing in anticipated zeal. “Yes…He explained his situation at the
last Evil Dictators, Space Ninjas, and Overlords meeting.” He stood and
sauntered about the teen.
Nosedive maneuvered onto
knees and met the man’s glare with defiance. His insides, however, swept cold.
His quizzical and frightened eyes followed Lothor. “So, if there’re enough evil
people in the universe to have a convention, does that mean you also go to the
same Evil-Doers Anonymous?”
Lothor seemed amused. “Oh, a
mouth this one has. Good. Then he will be able to keep with the idle quip of
those loathsome rangers.” He bent down to Nosedive’s level. “Is he in good
health? He didn’t struggle too much when you captured him?”
The shark made a motion that
could be interpreted as a shrug. “He had a few broken bones, some internal
bleeding, and a concussion, but I healed him in the infirmary.”
Lothor processed the
information with a series of silent nods, then focused intently upon Nosedive.
“I hear you’re from an all-ice planet.”
“Don’t believe everything you
hear,” Nosedive retorted.
“So, then that means it is
untrue?”
Nosedive debated for a
moment, then decided: What could it hurt? “Yeah. I’m from one like that.”
Lothor nodded, standing.
“Dragaunus told me about his plight versus your team. It is not unlike my own
with those power rangers. Tell me, duck, will you join me willingly?”
Fat chance in that, but he
wanted to know what was going on. “Join you in what?”
Lothor smirked, an evil and
demonized grin. “Taking over the world.”
“Considered yourself
rejected, dude,” Nosedive spat, averting his eyes. He tried to act tough, but
he couldn’t fight the shiver that wracked through his bonds. If they didn’t
have a need for him…he didn’t want to think of that.
“I can give you unfathomable
powers, powers you could only dream of,” Lothor argued.
Nosedive’s eyes snapped to
him. “I could have powers like superheroes?” he asked imaginatively.
Lothor nodded instantly.
“Yes.”
“NO!” Nosedive refused again.
Observing the man, Nosedive
realized he had pushed some button, for Lothor’s face twisted in a horrible,
hellish expression.
“Patience not a virtue you
have, huh?” Nosedive remarked, to which he received an unforgiving glower.
Stalking back to his throne,
Lothor spread his arms out, one on his knees, the other on the arm of the
chair. “General Zurgane?”
The black and red monster
walked forward, smacked his chest with his fist, and bowed. “Yes, sir?”
“I sure you remember the
mind-wipe we used on the Bradley Brothers.”
Bradley?
Nosedive recalled. The brothers from the surf shop, what did they have to do
with this guy? He dismissed the thought quickly. He had more pressing matters.
Did that reject from AHH! Scary Monsters really just say
mind-wipe? Dragaunus had thought to do that once to the Earth. Did Lothor get
the idea from him? More to the point, as his brother would say, were they going
to use it on him? He didn’t want to lose his memories! He liked them just the
way they were!
Sitting back in his chair,
Lothor confirmed, “Wipe him!”
“NO! You can’t!” Nosedive
protested helplessly, but it didn’t matter. General Zurgane strode up to him,
grabbed the back of his shirt, and dragged him to the middle of the room.
The monsters collectively
took a step back, when General Zurgane’s fingers blazed across the console a
few feet away. Nosedive staggered to his feet with a few grunts, then moved to
get out of the way of the beam when his mind suddenly was torn from his
conscious.
!!!
“Hi, I’m looking for Tori. Is
she here?”
Kelly glanced up from her
inventory, then pointed to the back. “She’s by the TV with Dustin, who is
supposedly working, but isn’t.”
As one of the men thanked her
and shifted pass, she went rigid, no longer seeing the page in front of her.
Shocked eyes shot toward the back, and she watched as two male ducks walked
through her store. Wildwing Featherburn and Duke L’Orange, doubtlessly. In her
store. Man, first Nosedive Featherburn, now his brother and center. If she
could’ve got them all together, what a promotion that would have been.
!!!
Tori considered through
narrowed eyes, “The last one, I think. You got mega air on that one.”
“You think?” Dustin said as
he knelt against the floor and changed tapes in the VCR. “See, because I think
the first one with the righteous curve, y’know? Factory Blue would so want me
if they just saw that.”
“But you don’t have as many
tricks on that tape as you do in the last one,” Tori argued. Something caught her
eyes, and she looked up, noticing two ducks heading her way. “Oh my God.”
Dustin looked back at her
over his shoulder. “What’s wrong?”
His answer came in a form of
a distraught white mallard standing at the opening of the TV room. His blue
eyes were sunken into deep black circles, while his tired expression was
accented by the worry lines coursing his youthful face. He seemed so much older
than he was, Tori knew, from her conversations with Blake. In fact, she knew he
was so much more jovial than now.
“Are you Tori?” the white
mallard asked her.
Standing, she nodded. “You’ve
got her.”
“Dude! You’re Wildwing
Featherburn!” Dustin shouted, abruptly appearing at her side. “And you’re Duke
L’Orange!” He motioned toward the gray-feathered mallard to Wildwing’s right.
“You guys are, like, so awesome.”
“Wonderful. Fans,” Duke
commented, then leaned closer to Wildwing. “Obsessive.”
“Is there a problem?” Tori
prompted, crossing her arms.
“Yes. My brother said he got
a board from here yesterday, and he named you,” Wildwing said vehemently. “What
happened?”
Tori shrugged absentmindedly.
“Nothing much. I taught him how to surf after I accidentally broke his board.
He came here a little before seven, and we talked. He bought a Senate Funboard,
got a call from you, then left.” She cocked her head to the side. “Why?”
“The kid never came home last
night,” Duke sputtered, hand levitating toward the inside of his coat.
Tori had the inkling a weapon
was stored there. “You think we had something to do with it?”
“We’re not accusing anyone,”
Wildwing interjected, throwing a hand in front of Duke, a barrier between the
teens and the center. His voice still harsh. “The point is: My brother is
missing. There are no traces of his bike anywhere, and his comm. unit homing
device is being blocked. I want him found…safely,”
he emphasized as if he needed to. He cast a troubled look, his eyes trembling.
Tori could only imagine what
it was like to lose a sibling. Being an only child, she never had to worry
about her siblings in peril, but she knew how Blake and Hunter acted every time
each were separated, even if it was just for a plan of attack. Even Shane was
scared when his brother was attacked, and they weren’t that close.
“I’m sorry,” Tori said,
reaching out and putting a hand on the older man’s shoulder. “I promise you we
had nothing to do it, and if there is anyway we can help—”
“If you hear from him or know
something,” Wildwing started and handed her a card, “call this number.”
She took it. “Absolutely.”
Wildwing shook her hand, then
disparagingly left the store. Duke L’Orange caught the door and sent a
distrusting glare back at her before trailing after the white mallard.
“Man, what do you think
happened to him?” Dustin inquiring, grabbing the card and looking at it. The
Mighty Ducks insignia adorned the top left corner, while printed on the card
was an address and phone number.
“I don’t know,” Tori said,
staring at the door, “but I wouldn’t doubt Lothor had to do with it. He
attacked us yesterday, remember? And a majority of the Kelzaks went after
Dive. I bet they weren’t for us at all.
I bet they were trying to kidnap Nosedive.”
Dustin returned the card.
“You think? But why would Lothor want Nosedive? What could he use him for?” He
narrowed his eyes and rubbed his chin, pondering.
Tori punched him in the arm.
“Hey, be serious. If Lothor took him, it was for a reason, and we’ve got to
find him. Come on. Let’s get to Ninja Ops. Maybe
Dustin rubbed his arm as Tori
passed. “Ow…”
She rolled her eyes. “Wuss.”
A mechanical beep sounded
from both their comm. units. Sharing a knowing glare, Tori and Dustin retreated
to the TV room.
“What’s up,
“There’s a disturbance
downtown. A new monster—Lucky us, a huge bird—and….” He paused, his hesitation
intensified by the static.
“And what?” Dustin urged.
Tori and Dustin, mouths agape
with questions, nodded once to each other. As they fled the store, Kelly
shrilled from behind the counter, “Dustin! You have bikes to clean and
tune-up!”
Dustin whirled on his heel
and pointed at his watch. “I’ll be back, Kelly! I promise!”
Kelly growled from inside the
store, crossing her arms “You better be if you want your job!”
!!!
Hunter and Blake Bradley were
rather new to the ranger business. In the time since attaining their powers,
the two brothers had seen
“So, anyone want to take a
guess where these guys came from?” Hunter ventured, staring furiously at the
newcomers.
“The Ice Powers are a whole
other story AND the huge bird…I’m
going out on a limb here, but possibly Lothor,”
“There’s more to that story
about the Ice, isn’t there?” Shane hazarded.
In flashes of blue and
yellow, two beings appeared at rapid speed on Shane’s left: Tori and Dustin.
Lifting their heads, they stood and took a defensive position.
“What’d we miss?” Dustin
asked, punching his left fist into his right palm.
“Nothing too much,” Blake
said faintly, nodding in front of them. “Want to take a gander?”
Tori and Dustin gasped. Ahead
of them were two monsters, each unique. The monster to the right had a
hawk-type appearance with a long beak that started rather wide and ended at a
sleek point. It appeared to a weapon, honed to pierce an enemy’s flesh or in
the power rangers’ case, a suit. Two huge wings sprung from its torso to help
support itself in the air. Its legs, muscular and forceful, must have allowed
the foul fowl to travel at the speeds of a roadrunner.
To the Power Rangers, that
monster was usual, typical of Lothor. It was the figure next to monster that
made their blood run cold and force the air from their lungs.
Ambling forward in a
deliberate, forceful stride was a teal ranger, a mix of both water and navy.
The crest across his chest was an honed icicle pointing downward in a diagonal
line, while his helmet was slightly different from their own. Though his
eye-shield ripped across his teal helmet in the shape of a jagged square, the
mouth section was bulging, almost as if the ranger’s mouth was formed pointing
out. His blaster was pointed straight up, his elbow a perfect L-shaped. A sword
occupied his other hand, honed to slash.
Teal Ranger and the hawk halted
ten feet away and surveyed the six rangers in front of them.
“So, these are the Power
Rangers, Hawkstorm,” Teal Ranger cackled, his helmet moving up and down as his
eyes scrutinized them rancorously. “Who would have thought? They don’t look so
tough.”
Teal Ranger shrugged. “The
Ice Ranger, and I’m going to put you on…you know what.”
“Why are you working for
Lothor?” Hunter blurted, sorrowful acknowledgement entwined with his words. As
much as he tried to push the hurtful memories away, he remembered the time he
and Blake worked for the evil space ninja—the biggest regret of his life.
“You’re a power ranger! You’re supposed to be fighting against evil.”
“Where’s that written in
stone?” Teal Ranger scoffed, waving his hand dismissively. “Lothor is my
master, and I will do as he commands.”
“Then you leave us no
choice,” Shane affirmed. He glanced behind him as he took his place in front of
the group. “Ready?”
The team nodded and chorused,
“Ready.”
“Ninja Storm!”
“Thunder Storm!”
“Samurai Power!”
“Ranger Form!”
In a flash of myriad colors,
the six rangers transformed into their suits. As they stood, ready to do
battle, Teal Ranger laughed. “So, this is what you look like in your suits! I
would have you’d be…y’know, more…”
“Oh, we’ll give you plenty,”
Hunter threatened, reaching behind his back and pulling his lightning lance.
With a yell, he jumped into battle.
Teal Ranger ducked his
initial attack, rolled against the ground, and uncurled to block an attack by
Blake’s Thunder Blade with the blade of his sword. Kicking Blake in the
stomach, he clashed his sword with
“Why are you doing this?”
“Spoken like the losing
party!” With a strained grunt, Teal Ranger knocked
Whirling, he pivoted out of
the way of Dustin’s hammer, but was quickly slammed with the air waves produced
by Tori. “Leave my friends alone!” she screamed through her Sonic Fin.
Thrown against the wall of a
building, Teal Ranger grunted, sliding almost to the ground before he grabbed
onto a parked car and with a tremendous effort, rose to his feet. Holding his
sword in front of him, he leveled—or so it seemed—a harsh glower at Tori.
“You’ll pay for that!” With a
he-yah, he jumped into the air and at
lightning speed, dove toward her, blade outstretched. At the last second, he pulled
out a gun, screaming, “Icicle Blaster!”
“NO!” Blake’s voice rang out,
as the navy ranger pushed his girlfriend out of the way.
The Teal Ranger fired, an
icicle hitting Blake square in the chest.
“BLAKE!” Tori and Hunter’s
frightened voices mingled into one, horrified screech.
As Teal Ranger landed in
front of Blake, the navy ranger collapsed backward on the pavement, an icicle
vertical in his chest.
Teal Ranger shrugged
absently. “One down, five to go. Hawkstorm! Let’s go!” Hitting his morpher on
his right arm, Teal Ranger disappeared in a flash of green light.
Hawkstorm chortled. “We’ll be
back!” and likewise, vanished from sight, leaving only a few feathers as
evidence.
“Blake!” Hunter screamed as
he powered down and knelt by his brother’s side. “Blake, talk to me!”
Tori followed suit, kneeling
on the other side of her boyfriend. “Blake, can you hear us?”
“Move!”
Hunter and Tori stood
instantly and backed away, as
“W—We have to get him to the
Ninja Ops.,” he stammered.
Nodding numbly, Hunter
reached down and helped to lift his unconscious brother to his feet. Wrapping
an arm around Blake’s torso and securing him against his body, Hunter felt
Together, they streaked to
Ninja Ops.
!!!
“You have done well, my Ice
Ranger,” Lothor congratulated the young alien in front of him.
Accordingly, Teal Ranger
strode up to his throne and powered down. Now, standing in a simple black and
teal pants and shirt, he knelt before Lothor, his fist to his chest. “I simply
was doing my duty, Master.”
Lothor laughed heartedly and
looked to his nieces. “See, girls. This is how a true evil space ninja battles
and addresses me.” He placed a hand on Nosedive’s shoulder, causing the teen
duck to raise his head. “This is just the beginning, my Ice Ranger. Now, we
will further your training and pick the rangers apart one by one!”
“Yes, Master.”
Kapri rolled her eyes. “Suck
up.”
Marah nodded, her eyes
narrowed. “Totally.”
!!!
Holding a handheld scanner,
With a shrill beep, the
scanner finished.
Shane clasped Tori on the
shoulder, as she stammered, “H—How long do we have?”
Growling, Hunter slammed his
free fist against the table supporting his brother’s body. “When I find that
Ice Ranger—”
“We don’t even know who it
is,” Shane seethed, shaking his head. “In order to find him in four hours…” He
needn’t finish his thought. The horrific message weighed down upon the rangers.
“Sensei,” Dustin started, his
voice hoarse, “what’s the Ice Power? I don’t remembering learning about them
during ninja classes.”
“Not in any of mine, either,”
Hunter concurred.
Stopping pacing, Sensei fixed
the questioning rangers with a stern look. “Until yesterday, I believed the Ice
Powers to be myth. During my time at the
“And evil space ninjas,”
Shane interrupted lowly.
“Yes,” Sensei conceded,
“however, when I became the sensei of the Wind Ranger Academy, having seen no
indication of students with the ice power and having never seen one possessing
the talent, I decided to expunge the teaching. That has now proven to be an err
in judgment.
“A millennia ago, when the
Wind Ranger and
Sensei heaved a heavy sigh,
his words tinged with regret. “According to the scripts and scrolls left by my
predecessors, around 1500 B.C, the
“That was,”
Hunter’s head shot up, like
every time the cave was mentioned. “The Ice Powers were found there?”
“Yes, but Lothor’s men must
have found them before me.”
“You okay, Tori?” Shane
inquired suddenly, as the blonde teenager became to pace about the opening of
the command center.
Tori shook her head.
“Yesterday, when the Kelzaks attacked us for no reason,” she suddenly said, her
voice distant and aloof with deep contemplation. Her smooth forehead hidden
beneath her long blonde hair scrunched with rigid curves. “And then Nosedive’s
older brother today…”
“Who?”
“We met Nosedive Featherburn.
You know, the hockey player. Well, his brother came to Storm Chargers with
another teammate today.”
“What’d they want?” Hunter
asked, carefully placing his brother’s hand down and standing.
Tori stopped moving. “They
said Nosedive never made it back to
“So, Tori?” Dustin dismissed.
“There’s got to be hundreds of reasons for his disappearance.”
“But the Kelzaks didn’t
attack us,” Shane ascertained, realization filtering into his voice. He snapped
his fingers. “And Nosedive’s from a
completely ice planet! He’d be a perfect Ice Ranger!”
“But he wouldn’t have joined
Lothor’s goons!” Tori spat, arms wide.
“How much do we actually know
the guy?” Shane argued. He walked up to her, gesturing toward Blake with one
hand. “See what he did having the power for only one day? He took out Blake,
and he’d take out you without a second thought!”
Tori shook her head. “But you
didn’t think we could trust Blake and Hunter first, and then they were…” Her
voice lightened. “…brainwashed! Lothor must have done the same thing to
Nosedive that he did to Blake and Hunter!”
“So, if can bring him to our
side, then we’ll get the gun,” Dustin confimed. “Great, but how do we that?”
“Or you could just kick the
crap out of him like you tried to do with us,” Hunter commented darkly.
“Succeed,” Shane returned
facetiously.
“Tried.”
“All right!” Tori stormed in
between the two, palms of her hands up and toward each of them. “Anyone want a
bath?” She waited, but when Shane just crossed his arms and Hunter narrowed his
eyes, Tori grinned wickedly. “Good. Didn’t think so.”
“
“Well, it looks like we’re
going to get a rematch,”
“Ready, guys?” Shane inquired
firmly.
Hunter was the loudest of all
of them. “Ready.”
“Ninja Storm!”
“Thunder Storm!”
“Samurai Power!”
“Ranger Form!”
!!!
Nosedive Featherburn smirked
under his helmet. Jumping into the air, he struck a man directly in the back,
knocking him to the ground. The man groaned, but flipped onto his back.
Crab-walking backwards, he stared with wide, scared eyes, as Nosedive raised
his blaster and aimed it at the man’s chest. The human shunned away, covering
his body with one arm, though it wouldn’t protect him. Nosedive grinned
deviously. For some reason, he loved being the bad guy. Wanton killing, damage,
and power—Something was wrong with that. He didn’t know what, but something
deep within him screamed the opposite, causing his hand to shake slightly.
And he hesitated.
A white mallard appeared in
his mind, and a fond, warm feeling filled his being. He would look down upon
this, would be disappointed. He shouldn’t kill the man…but Lothor said killing
was good for him. Lothor was his master, right? Lothor had raised him. He had
to listen to Lothor…didn’t he?
A whoosh of wind slammed his
body. Flapping to his side, Hawkstorm appeared at his side. “What are you
doing? Kill him! That’s half the fun!”
Nosedive glared at him.
“What’s the other half?”
“Destroying the Power
Rangers!” Hawkstorm replied maliciously, laughing with a cackling squawk.
That, too, seemed wrong—went
against his whole being…Why?
Before he could explore that
thought, a rumbling jarred the ground under his feet. Thrown carelessly to the
ground and on his back, Nosedive huffed to catch the breath that evaded him,
his chest rising and falling rigidly. He craned his head and narrowed his eyes.
“So, you’ve returned,”
Nosedive taunted, regaining his footing. His thoughts replaced once more with
burning hatred, he had no problem aiming his blaster. “To be honest, I didn’t
think you’d have the guts.”
“Nosedive, don’t make us
fight you!” Tori shouted. “Lothor brainwashed you. We can help you.”
“Brainwashed me?” Teal Ranger
scoffed. “Cha-right. He’s made me who I am—the evil space ninja in front of
you!” He fired once, though his icicle was blown apart by Shane’s hawkblaster.
Roaring with anger, Teal
Ranger raced toward the power rangers, Hawksorm at his heels. He dove headfirst
at Dustin and yelled, “Ninja Sword!” With a swipe, he cut across Dustin’s
chest, sending the Yellow Ranger flying with sparks burning from his chest.
With a roll, he uncoiled to aim a blaster at Hunter, who swung his lance. The
blaster knocked from his hands, Nosedive combated Crimson Ranger with his
sword. With a grunt of effort, he flipped backwards out of the way of Hunter’s
reach and kicked Tori in the stomach, sending her flying backwards.
Immediately moving to his
partner’s aid, who was seriously losing a battle with Dustin and
Whirling the Teal Ranger
about his head, Hunter sputtered, “You gave my brother a cold spell. Let’s see
how you like heat!”
Teal Ranger screamed as
energy raced through his veins, administrating a wave of crushing pain. Slammed
to the floor, Nosedive grunted, writhing as remnants of pain lingering about
his suit in the form of small spurts of red energy.
“We don’t want to hurt you,
Nosedive,” Shane warned, stepping forward in front of the writhing duck.
Dustin stood next to him.
“Yeah, we’re your friends, dude. Remember? At Storm Chargers?”
“I have no friends, and even
if I did,” Nosedive groped for air and finally managed to attain enough to
continue, “they certainly wouldn’t be you.”
“He leaves us no choice,
then,” Shane stated plaintively. “Sorry, Tor.”
Tori bristled next to him,
then sighed as if deflating. “I know. I’m sorry, too.”
Calling upon their powers,
Shane blasted Nosedive with a burst of air, while Tori shot a stream of water
directly into Nosedive’s chest. The teen duck sprawled backwards, rolling upon
the ground and cringing in pain. A violent jumbling shook his body, and he was
blasted suddenly into the air. Agonizing in pain, he couldn’t catch his bearing
and smashed into the concrete, writhing. His chest heaved up and down
lethargically. He gripped his hands together in fists, then released them as
the pain didn’t seem to end.
Next to him, Hawkstorm cawed
when he slammed into the pavement, a macabre reverberation echoing in the air.
Those insufferable Crimson and Samuri Rangers…
Burning with fury, Nosedive
affixed the rangers with a hard glower, even though they couldn’t see it
through his helmet. Pushing one hand to the ground to steady himself, he
struggled to his feet and barely stood, his body hunched over in unfathomable
pain.
“This isn’t the end of it!”
Teal Rangers hollered. “I can finish you!”
A cocking, accented by a
glistening noise, sounded next to him, and he looked to his left. Shocked,
Nosedive stared, eyes gaping at the two mallards to his left.
“I don’t know who you are,”
the white mallard, horribly familiar, said firmly, “but you will not hurt
anyone.” He aimed his gauntlet at Nosedive, while the blazing red eyes of his
golden mask conveyed the truth in his words.
The dark-skinned mallard next
to him held a golden sword, though his stance was much more secure than
Nosedive’s had been, knowing how to wield it correctly. “On your knees, kid.”
Teal Ranger blinked, eyes
transfixed upon the two. As much as a part of him screamed at him to look away,
he couldn’t find the strength inside himself to tear away. Breathing shallowly,
he gazed, his world slowly putting itself back together. The ducks, especially
the white one, were so familiar, yet Nosedive couldn’t… quite… place… them…
“YOU WON’T STOP US!”
Hawkstorm squawked and lunged for the two ducks.
WILDWING!
Impulsively, Teal Ranger dove
for Hawkstorm. “NO!” Entangling his arms about Hawkstorm’s torso, Nosedive
forced the monster to the ground as the beak blaster fired directly into the
his chest—
!!!
Shane and Hunter were already
moving.
“Storm Surge!”
“Thunder Blaster!”
The five rangers, minus
Wildwing retreated, Duke on
his heels, as Hunter and Shane blared, “FIRE!”
The two potent balls of
energy entwined together, becoming one massive energy weapon. Smacking directly
into Hawkstorm’s stomach, the balls exploded into a super, awesome fire.
When the smoke cleared and
the two ducks returned, all they found was a burn mark and the residue of the
fire.
!!!
Nosedive never remembered
having a migraine before and wished to the Stars he never had one again.
Hissing in pain, he pushed his hand against his face and winced when he
attempted to get up.
“Don’t,” a gentle voice
admonished. A hand lightly applied pressure to his shoulder, urging him to once
more lay down.
Cracking open one eye,
Nosedive focused, albeit with two visions, at the girl kneeling at his side.
“Tori? Stars, what happened?” As the words fled his beak, the last day and half
flooded into his consciousness. “OH STARS—What have I done?”
“It wasn’t your fault,” a new
voice said flatly.
Hearing shifting, Nosedive
glanced at the man at his side, a little bit older than he, in his early
twenties. The man resituated his glasses and looked deeply into Nosedive’s left
eye, then right. Nosedive smirked as he remembered the many times Tanya had
done the same thing to him. A second later, the older man waved a hand-held
device over Nosedive’s head and body, to which the teen duck gripped the side
of the wooden bed.
“You were brainwashed by
Lothor,” the man informed, looking at the scan on the device. “He’d done that
once with Blake and Hunter. The only difference with you is that he completely
erased your memory, not just a few weeks worth.”
“Oh.” Nosedive squirmed
slightly, uncomfortable. “That’s why I didn’t remember Wing or Duke.”
“Who?” the man asked,
genuinely confused.
Nosedive turned to Tori,
thumbing back at the man. “Not a hockey fan, is he?”
“No,” Tori chuckled, “I don’t
think so.”
A shuffling of feet sounded
behind Nosedive, and he sat up with a strained effort. Crossing his legs, he
looked over his shoulder. Down the stairs walked four teenage boys, each one
wearing a black jumpsuit, though accented by a different color. Nosedive made a
mental note that each one wore the colors they had the other day.
“Are you sure you’re feeling
okay?” Hunter demanded of Blake, hovering near the younger brother. “Handling
the Zord wasn’t too much?”
“I’m fine!” Blake emphasized,
turning furiously toward his brother. “Will you just give me a little space?
You’ve been all over me since
“Hey,” Dustin broke out in
between them. He smiled at Nosedive and jumped to the teen duck’s side. “When
you’d wake up?”
“About ten seconds ago,” Tori
seethed. She reached over Nosedive and pushed Dustin back a little. “Why don’t
you give him some place?”
“Um…” Nosedive put up his
hand. “Could someone please tell me what the hell is going on here!”
“You have been given a great
gift, Nosedive Featherburn.”
Nosedive searched for the
owner of the voice, finding in him a box decorated like a Japanese house. His
breath fled his lungs. His eyes widened in shock, though they really shouldn’t
have. Since arriving on Earth a little over a year ago, he had seen enough
weird things to last him a lifetime.
“A rodent is taking to me.”
He beseeched with wide, frantic eyes to the group, “Please tell me you hear it,
too.”
“Says the talking duck,”
Hunter commented, playfully whacking Nosedive on the shoulder as he took a seat
behind him on the table.
Shane fell cross-legged to
the ground next to Dustin. “That’s Sensei. He’s the one who taught us all those
moves you wanted to know.”
“Which now you will learn,”
the guinea pig asserted.
Nosedive blinked. “W—What?”
His beak agape, his mind failing to process everything, he simply was
remembered silent. Ironically, he could hear his brother’s teasing voice,
“That’s a first for you, baby bro.” “Look, I—I—Who are you? W—What the hell are
you? And where am I, and what’s going on? And what is all—” He rambled on,
unable to stop himself. He would have continued if not for the talking guinea pig.
“You have been chosen to
become the Ice Power Ranger,” Sensei declared. His box scooted forward,
stopping just in front of the table Nosedive occupied. “Involuntarily, you have
been entrusted with the Ice Crystal. With it comes a profound responsibility—responsibility
to the planet, responsibility to your predecessors, responsibility to—”
“W—Whoa! Hold it! Time out!”
Nosedive crossed his hand in a T-shape. “What happens if I don’t want it? I
never asked to be given this thing!” He motioned to the morpher on his wrist.
“I have enough on my plate as it is with Dragaunus and—and—and my team—and—”
Sensei nodded thoughtfully.
“Understandable, but by taking yourself out of this war will not elevate your
participation. As long as you possess the Ice Powers, Lothor will perceive you
as a threat.”
“Then I’ll give it up.”
Nosedive unclipped the morpher from his hand and held it out to Sensei. “See!
All done!”
“If it were only that easy,
Nosedive,” Sensei sighed and shook his head regretfully. “I’m sorry to say that
once you accepted the Ice Powers, they bonded to you. Pending death, the power
will always be yours.”
Nosedive stared at the guinea
pig, his eyes wide and frightened. Looking down at the morpher at him, he felt
the smooth band in between his fingers, remembering the feeling of it against
his wrist—constricting him, entrapping him, a chain. He suddenly felt
lightheaded and collapsed backwards to the table, his head bonking once, twice,
three times against it. “Maybe this is a dream. Maybe I can just wake up from
it all.” Scowling, he covered his face with his hands and sighed loudly.
No one dared to move, as
Sensei instructed.
Closing his eyes, Nosedive
thought of what happened to him, what Lothor had done to him. Lothor had
brainwashed him to kill, stole the memory of his brother, and threatened the
world. With he first and last of that list, he could turn his back. He was
already fighting for the safety of the planet, and even though Lothor was just
as dangerous as Dragaunus, come on! He was only one duck. But stealing his
brother from him—that was inexcusable. Nobody, and he meant nobody, messed with
his brother, memories or not.
And he couldn’t escape the
power.
And Lother was a threat to
Earth, too, and if he gained control, it would be Puckworld all over again.
And if the rodent was right,
Nosedive had processed the power to help stop him.
He was one of the seven
chosen.
It seemed like everything was
chosen for him.
Damn.
Wing was going to kill him
for getting himself into yet another predicament. He just knew it.
Finally collecting himself,
Nosedive pulled himself into a sitting position and crossed his legs. He
narrowed his accusing eyes toward the guinea pig. “Okay. Tell me this. What,
exactly, have I got myself into?”
Shane slapped his back.
Hunter punched his fist, while Blake nudged him in the side. Tori drew him into
a quick hug, and Dustin ruffled his hair. In the seat by the computer, the
Asian man dressed in green smirked.
The most disturbing reaction
was the guinea pig, who smiled, or so it seemed. “Nosedive Featherburn, Ice
Ranger, welcome to the
!!!
Wildwing stormed into the
store, trembling eyes searching frantically. He stopped at the sight of the
blonde teenager in the middle of a pack of other ragged looking teens.
Not out of place, Nosedive
turned from his conversation and met his brother’s eyes. His beak broke into an
immediate, instinctive smile.
“Wing!” He raced across the
store and dove into his brother’s welcoming arms. He reveled in Wildwing’s
presence when his older brother’s arms curled about his back. He smiled as Wildwing ducked his head and
nuzzled the top of his.
“Oh, Stars, you’re okay,”
Wildwing breathed, holding him closely before pulling back slightly. He bent
down to peer into his brother’s eyes. “What happened? Where did you go? And
just for your information, you are never leaving my side again. I don’t care
what Thrash and Mookie say. You hear me?”
Nosedive smirked and embraced
his brother again. “I love you, big bro.”
Wildwing deflated instantly
and returned his hug. “Stars, baby bro, you scared the shit out of me.”
Wincing as his cracked ribs
were compressed, Nosedive still couldn’t find the will to tell his brother.
Wildwing had been scared to the point of swearing, which Nosedive knew was that
was only a small indication of the torment his brother had endured. “I know,
but it’s okay. I’m okay. ”
Wildwing stiffened in his
embrace, then detached one hand from Nosedive’s back to brush the boy’s bangs
from his eyes. Hues of black, blue, and purple still remained about the teen’s
left eey. “That is not okay. Whole
story. Now.”
“I’m not sure you want it…” or I can tell it.
!!!
“So, the evil guy, Lothor,
thought he could use me for this twisted plan to take over the world,” Nosedive
rambled on, sitting back in his chair in the Migrator and snuggling into its
puffy cushions. It was comforting to be back in familiar territory. Grinning
gently at his brother next to him, he braced his torso as the Migrator rolled
over a bump in the road and jarred. Nosedive sparred Mallory an evil glare for
her driving and continued, “So, anyway, Lothor thought I would be a good
candidate for the Ice Powers.”
Duke leaned forward in his
chair and repeated disbelievingly, “Powers?”
Nosedive cringed. How to
explain this… “Uh, yeah. See, the Power Rangers have these powers, kinda like
the elements: Earth, Wind, Water. But in place of Fire, they have Ice and
Lightning. Since we’re from Puckworld, Lothor thought I would be the perfect
for the Ice Powers.”
“Were you?” Wildwing pressed.
His voice conveyed his trepidation.
Nosedive met his worried gaze
squarely, the words of Sensei echoing dismally in his mind like a faded memory,
“You mustn’t tell anyone about this. Your identity must always remain a
secret.”
“I have to tell my brother,”
Nosedive told the guinea pig firmly. “You don’t understand. I tell Wing
everything. He doesn’t know, then—”
Sensei looked him at him, his
voice stern but his eyes relaying his understanding. “I know how hard this is
for you, but it is for your family’s safety. It is an unnecessary risk. If they
know, they would be in danger.”
“But Sensei, if I just told
Wing—”
“—then he could very well be
placed involuntarily in this fight, as you were, only without the help of our
powers.”
Shane’s story of his
brother’s plight rang true in his heart, and he knew what he had to do, even
though it was hardest thing he ever had to.
“No,” Nosedive said, bowing
his head and looking away. “Luckily, the powers didn’t bond to me.”
Reaching inside his pocket,
he felt the morpher’s cold sensation and smooth metal, and his heart failed to
beat the same.
I’m sorry, big bro.
The End
For more on Nosedive’s
adventures with the power rangers, please read “Collision Course.”