Ranger Assassin

Ranger Assassin is the fifteenth episode of Power Rangers: Lost Ninjas.

Synopsis
Sienna and Tyler's mountain hike is interrupted by an attack from Dean.

Last time we saw the Season Rangers...
After Sienna and Tyler recaptured their Megazord, the Thinker decided to create his own Ranger using the captured White Winter morpher. However, the fight he'd set up was crashed by Anya Barnes, an expelled student who'd been committed to an asylum for the criminally insane as a sociopath. Defeating the other combatants, she took the morpher and fled, though a few of the Spider Drones managed to shoot her before being frozen.

February 8th, McAllistair Mountain, New Zealand, 10:30 am
"You were right. This is the perfect way to relax," Sienna said, sitting down on a mossy log with a thump. Pulling a water bottle out of the pouch on her backpack, she took a long drink, tilting her head far back. A few reddish hairs straggled out of her ponytail, clinging to the back of her neck.

Tyler leaned against a nearby tree, sliding his backpack off his shoulders. He looked out the ridge, towards Scrimshaw spread out below them. From here, it was impossible to tell that a giant robot had rampaged through it just days before. Birds and other animals twittered in the trees around them, and the air still smelled new from a rainfall the night before.

"Be careful what you say, you don't want to jinx it," he said.

Sienna stopped drinking, and wiped her mouth on the back of her arm. Leaning forward, elbows on her thighs, she gave him an incredulous look. "Jinx it? Are you serious?"

"Yeah. I've watched the news, I know how this stuff works for Power Rangers," Tyler replied, rolling a shoulder around. "Monsters love irony."

"Ever thought ours might be different? I mean, don't they usually just go after the US?"

"Eh, maybe. Wouldn't count on it, though, taking over Zords isn't exactly new territory."

"Whatever. Enough about Zord stuff; if we want to get to the fjord before noon we'll have to get moving," Sienna said, rising and dusting herself off.

Tyler stood, and shouldered his backpack again. "Lead the way," he said.

Grinning, Sienna moved ahead, and Tyler followed her up the narrow dirt trail. Sienna started whistling, stepping in time with the song. Tyler didn't seem to mind; he grinned at her back.

"You give lo-o-ove, a bad—ooh, a kiwi!" Sienna pointed just as one of the little brown birds skittered across the path. "Those things are so cute."

"Is that why you picked it? I mean, it's the Summer Ninja animal," Tyler said.

"Nah, that was a bonus. Sensei O'Hara recommended I go to the Summer Ninjas, thought it'd suit me," Sienna replied, rounding a large boulder.

"How did you end up in the school?" Tyler asked. He reached forward to push an overhanging branch out of the way, earning a smile from Sienna.

"One of the other girls, a couple of foster homes back. I caught her practicing her powers in the backyard, and when she acted cagey, I followed her to the school."

"You're kidding."

Sienna ducked under an overhanging log in one smooth motion. "Nope! Sensei O'Hara said I had spunk or something and invited me to join, and I thought, 'why not?'" She waited for him to follow. "How about you? How'd you end up in the school?"

Tyler didn't make eye contact. "Nothing that exciting."

"Come on, tell me, I won't make fun of you," Sienna said, walking backwards.

"You're going to trip if you keep that up," Tyler warned her.

Stumbling a little over a rock, Sienna kept going, facing Tyler. "Spill and I'll turn around." He just sighed and shook his head. "Come one, you're just making me want to know more!"

Styles Fjord, 10:53 am
Dean materialized on a rock ledge, overlooking the rushing white water. He'd changed out his Terra Ninja uniform for green-grey-brown camouflage, and he blended in almost perfectly with the forest. Glancing around, he climbed along the cliffside until he found a good ledge, directly beneath a twisted sapling.

Crouching, he unstrapped a long, black metal tube from his back, and set it on the ground. A few silvery metal darts gleamed in their settings around the tube, and more clinked on his belt. Grabbing two, Dean sat down and pulled a small vial out of a belt pouch, labeled Batra. Unscrewing the cap, he dipped both darts in the venom, let them dry for a second, and then loaded them into his gun.

Lying down on his stomach, Dean set the blowgun aside, and pulling out a pair of binoculars, looked around the fjord. The only living things around were animals. Dean focused on slowing down his breathing, keeping alert for any movement, especially from the trail a few yards away.

McAllistair Mountain, 10:59 am
"Okay, okay, fine!" Tyler threw up his hands.

Happily, Sienna turned around and skipped ahead, glancing back occasionally as the Orange Ranger followed. She'd bonked her head on a couple of low-hanging branches, but didn't seem bothered.

He rolled his eyes and sighed. "I was trying to get into a normal martial arts class, but I couldn't find any good ones until one kid recommended I try this one. Happy?"

"Any good ones? There are plenty of great non-superpowered schools around Scrimshaw," Sienna retorted. She gave him a studying look. "What were you looking for?"

Tyler's smile faded, and he looked down at the leaf-strewn ground. Noticing the change, Sienna slowed to a halt.

"You know I'm really from Australia," he began, fiddling with one strap of his backpack.

Sienna nodded. "Yeah, the accent sort of gave it away."

"About . . . I guess it's been five months now, my family got caught in a wildfire." Sienna stopped up short, and Tyler quickly added, "They all survived, but they've been in the hospital since, recovering. I guess, I wanted to learn how to stop anything like that from ever happening again."

"Oh. I'm sorry," Sienna said, putting a hand on Tyler's shoulder. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

Tyler shrugged. "It's no big deal."

"Are they doing okay?"

Digging a toe into the loam, Tyler still didn't look at her. "Yeah. We've been writing each other pretty steadily. I think my little brother's about ready to get out of the hospital."

"That's great! Do you think he'll come up here with you?"

"Probably. Hey, isn't that the fjord?" Tyler pointed, and Sienna swung around.

"Yeah! Come on!" Sienna raced down the trail, and Tyler followed on her heels.

The two ran out on a rocky outcropping, and stopped. The fjord lay below them, sparkling blue-white through the trees. Faintly, they could hear the rumble of the water far below. Sienna walked further out, dropping her backpack on the mossy rocks, and whooped. Her voice echoed around the valley, startling a flock of birds so they took off.

"This is . . . wow," Tyler said at last, coming up beside her.

Sienna bounced on her toes, grinning. "I love it here."

However, as Tyler turned a full circle to look at it all, he caught a flicker of movement on a ledge. Wondering if it was an animal, Tyler looked more closely. All he could see was a dark blur on the rocks.

It couldn't be an animal. Eyes widening, Tyler sprang back, seized Sienna and swung her behind a tree. He was just in time: with a zip-thunk, a metal dart buried itself in the ground where she'd been standing. A second followed barely a second later, hitting the tree they'd ducked behind.

"What's hap—morph?" Sienna said, looking around at Tyler.

"Morph."

The two grasped their belt buckles. The sniper was already up and running for a better angle.

"Autumn Storm, Ranger Form! Autumn Blasters!"

"Summer Storm, Ranger Form! Sunbeam Daggers!"

The two Rangers sprang back into the open, looking around for their attacker. All the noise and flashing had scared off even more animals; the woods were full of scurrying and squawking. Slowly, the pair circled.

"Did you see who shot at us?" Sienna asked, twirling one dagger nervously.

"Not really—I think it was a person, not a monster," Tyler said.

"Great, that's all we need, bad guys with faces."

The animals calmed down, and an eerie near-silence fell. Every rustle made the two teenagers jump. Tyler's foot bumped one of the darts with a clink, and he flinched. Pausing, he looked more closely at them.

From below, a volley of darts peppered the two, making their suits spark. They staggered back as their attacker backflipped onto the ledge—and stared. It was a Red Ranger, holding a red-striped black blowgun. Before they could recover, he raised the gun and fired again. Tyler leaped in front of Sienna, firing back, but the hits threw his aim. Orange lasers scorched the rocks and earth around their attacker.

"How is he even shooting that thing with a helmet on?" Sienna yelled, hurling a dagger over Tyler's shoulder. He dropped to one knee with a grunt, still firing blindly, and the Red Ranger easily ducked the dagger. Shoving Tyler aside, she charged, throwing up a hand. The darts hissed and melted, metal splattering against her suit. "Ow, ow, ow, hot!"

Leaping, she kicked their attacker in the head, following it up with another blow to the chest. He staggered back as she landed, planted her free hand on the ground, and kicked again, hitting his legs. With a yell of pain, he went over the ledge.

Sienna scrambled back to Tyler, catching him by the shoulder. His suit was scored with black marks and even rips, and he was out of breath.

"You okay?" She asked.

He gulped, trying to catch his breath. "Fine." Sienna smacked his shoulder, and he yelped in pain.

"Liar," she said, rising and crossing the ledge again. "Thanks for the human shield bit, though."

"Any time."

As Sienna collected both darts and her dagger, a rumble carried up from the fjord. Looking over the edge, she stared, and sprang back, tucking the darts into her belt.

"He's coming back!" She yelled, running back to Tyler.

Sure enough, the Red Ranger reappeared, riding a steaming geyser of water. It twisted sideways at his gesture, dropping him on the land and splitting around him to blast both Season Rangers with scalding liquid like a fire hose. It flung them both into the trees, hard enough to crack the wood, and kept going, pelting them with rocks, leaves and small branches.

After a full minute, the Red Ranger dropped his arms, and the water stopped. Both Season Rangers crumpled to the now-muddy ground. They were still morphed, but aside from breathing, they didn't move.

A little breathless, the Red Ranger sloshed through the puddles, and nudged Tyler with a foot. His head lolled limply. Collecting his dropped Autumn Blasters, the Red Ranger managed a shaky laugh.

"Thinker, I've got your Rangers," he said, touching the side of his helmet with one hand. Hearing movement behind him, the Red Ranger turned—just in time to see Sienna lunge at him, daggers raised.

"Solar Slash!" She yelled, and the blades lit up with golden fire. She brought them down in a fiery X across his chest. With a bang, he staggered back, suit blackened. Taking both daggers in one hand, she yanked the Autumn Blasters out of his hands.

Tyler flipped himself upright, swaying a little, and Sienna tossed him his weapons. The Red Ranger aimed a kick at her, feinted and delivered a right hook to the ribs. She doubled over with a grunt.

"Fall Beam!" The Orange Ranger shouted. Two bronze-orange beams fired from the guns, striking the Red Ranger and immobilizing him. In seconds, the blackened fabric of his suit shredded, and his visible wounds grew infected, as if left untreated for weeks, but in fast-forward.

Tyler stopped shooting, and the stranger dropped to his knees, coughing raspily. He demorphed, revealing a dark-skinned young man in now-tattered camouflage. The two Season Rangers closed in on him, and he cast venomous, fever-bright glances towards them.

"Who are you? Where did you come from? Who's the Thinker?" Sienna demanded, reaching towards him.

However, before she could grab the stranger, he vanished in a flash. Stopping, she looked around in confusion. This time, nobody else attacked. Slowly, the two Rangers relaxed.

"I think they're done," Tyler said.

"Your attack is cool."

"Thanks. Power down." Tyler grunted a little in pain as he demorphed. He looked okay, but a few visible bruises already bloomed on his arms.

Following suit, Sienna stretched, and squelched back into the trees. Their backpacks had been thrown into the forest by the blast, and both were soaking wet. She dragged them back, and plopped down on the edge of the ledge.

"Now what?" She asked.

"Rest?" Tyler suggested.

Sienna chuckled. "Sounds good. Guess we'll check these out later," she said, pulling out the two darts. Delicately, she wrapped them up in a wet handkerchief and shoved them into a pocket on her backpack.

"Sure, maybe my unc—what's that?" Tyler reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out his morpher. It beeped steadily.

"What's that mean?" Sienna asked.

Tyler looked up at her, his expression serious. "Someone's going after the Zords again."

Sienna backed up, pulling off her backpack and tossing it into the trees. "Oh, for the love of—let's go."

Trivia

 * The opening scene was almost cut, since the results of that ending Zord invasion were going to be the focus of this chapter, but it ended up taking longer than expected, and Dean really wanted a turn to fight.