Disclaimer: Buena Vista owns the Power Rangers. Toby Keith sings "Beer For My Horses" on his album, Unleashed.

#1 -- come up with your Ultimate team of Power Rangers
Once upon a time, or maybe it was just yesterday, there were a lot of Rangers. And among these Rangers were special Rangers. The ones that got all the armor, cool gadgets, significant others, and power-up battlelizers. They were the best of the best, the cream of every crop, and the pick of all the litters.

So they left their regular Ranger teams to form an Ultimate Ranger Team. This Ultimate Ranger Team was loved by all, and much-heralded in song and verse. And this Ultimate Ranger Team was the one called upon in times of great trouble and strife in the universe.

Or they were supposed to be. Be called on in times of great trouble and strife, that is. But things got out-of-hand.

Because people panic, and trouble and strife get exaggerated. A lot. And the Ultimate Ranger Team became over-worked and highly-stressed.

So they went on vacation.

This is not their story.

This rather is the story of those Rangers left behind by the Ultimate Rangers. They are the Rangers who had to fight the real Trouble and Strife (cousins of Chaos and Turmoil) that happened to attack while the Ultimate Ranger Team was off working on their tans, and forgetting their troubled pasts over margaritas at KaliKay's. These are the Rangers that song and verse forgot.

This is their story.

And what a story it is.

#2 -- get them together in a plausible manner
The way Max figured it, it was fate. Or that's what he would have called it if he ever thought about it deeply enough. Life liked throwing him curveballs, and if it looked like fun, he was more than willing to take a few swings.

He had become a Ranger when he had been late heading home from bowling practice. Curveball, swing, homerun.

So when Danny did the very unusual and actually rode with him in the flower shop's delivery van, he thought maybe he should get his bat ready again.

Danny never rode with him when they went to setup for an event. Max would always tease him, of course, about how he wanted to ride with Kendall. Which was entirely true, but Danny was just so shy that Max couldn't resist ribbing his friend. Danny would turn a couple shades redder than Cole's Animal, and Max would laugh until he ended up chasing him.

But today Kendall was already at the event, and Danny had stayed behind to help load the van. Unusual. And Max started to get that prickly feeling that something was going to happen.

Curveball.

If it hadn't been for Danny, he wouldn't have stopped. He would have had the van's radio blaring and wouldn't have paid any attention to the strange grey-haired man gesturing wildly on the side of the deserted road in the wee hours of the morning.

But Danny did see the man standing beside a tall, slender woman. And he recognized them too, despite the fact that they were masquerading as humans.

"Pull over! It's Jindrax and Toxica!"

That was hardly incentive to stop. And the only reason he did stop was because he thought Danny might actually jump from the moving vehicle if he didn't.

Curveball.

He got out of the van, following Danny as he ran over to the Duke Orgs. He sent a silent prayer that Danny wouldn’t invite the former villains to stay with them, like he had at the Animarium. Their apartment was just too small for that.

Jindrax and Danny greeted each other like they were old friends. Toxica's smack on his arm seemed to bring Jindrax back to his senses, such as they were.

Before Max could ask what they were doing there, Toxica had her say. "We're not helping you. Because we're not good."

Jindrax abruptly dropped Danny's hand he'd been shaking. "Uh, yeah. What she said."

"No, of course not. Because you're the big bad evil guys," Max replied, still wondering what this was all about.

"That's right," Toxica folded her arms haughtily.

"Oh Max, they're not bad!" Danny argued, much to the villains' dismay.

"Hey! We are so!" Jindrax asserted. Then did something utterly un-villain-like and started babbling about some other big bad evil that was on the way.

Danny listened intently. Max, on the other hand, could only stare in disbelief at the Orgs. They were trying to prove they were bad guys by warning them of approaching bad guys? Did they know how crazy that sounded?

Curveball.

He shook his head and tried to listen. Really he did. But once his mind decided to ignore the insanity of the situation, it immediately became pre-occupied with other things the situation implied. More important things. To him anyway.

Blah blah, big evil a'comin'… hey, back to action! Alright!… blah blah, danger to all… I'll have to swipe the Growl Phones though… blah blah, too powerful… I can't wait to see Sharkie again… blah blah, heading for the hills… Danny is so gonna freak…

Max saw the twin flashes as the Orgs teleported away. So lost in his own thoughts, he hadn't heard how the conversation had ended. But he assumed the hills comment meant that Toxica and Jindrax were headed way away from whatever danger they had just warned them about.

Danny turned a worried look to him. "What are we going to do? Should we call Cole?"

Max kind of wished now that he had at least halfway listened. But he had heard enough to know what he wanted to do.

"Why? We can handle this!"

"Max, we're not Rangers any more. We don't have our Growl Phones."

"So?" he threw over his shoulder as he walked back toward the van. "We'll go get them."

"What?"

He knew Danny would freak. It made the whole thing worth it just to see the expression on his face.

Curveball.

"C'mon," he said, with a mischievous gleam in his eye. He pulled his Animal Crystal from his pocket and headed toward the woods on the other side of the deserted road.

Danny was still protesting from behind him, but catching up, as Max hit the treeline. Holding his crystal in front of him, he let it lead the way and open the portal to the Animarium.

Just because they were no longer Rangers, that didn't mean they couldn't reach the Animarium if they needed to. Cole had figured it out, of course. And Max had been trying to talk Danny into trying it for months. He knew for a fact that Cole snuck up there to visit Lion. Max thought Princess Shayla seriously couldn't have expected Cole of all people to never see Lion again.

But then again, maybe she did. She had taken the Growl Phones with her when she returned the Animarium to the sky. But she had to have known that they could still reach there with their crystals. Didn't she?

Cole had said that Princess Shayla was sleeping again, and that Wolf was gone most of the time. Max hadn't known what to make of that. But for his current mission it just meant, 'don't wake the Princess'.

The jungle of the Animarium seemed to welcome him back like a long lost friend. He didn't stop to see if Danny would follow. He headed toward the temple at the center of the Animarium, trying to be quiet, and wondering just how Cole evaded the Princess' knowledge. She always had acted like she knew everything that went on at the Animarium. Surely being asleep wouldn't change all that.

The stone door slid open silently, and he ran for the room at the back of the temple. It had been where she had held the morphers before. He thought it might be a good place to try to find them now.

They were there, lying on the table at the back of the room. He grabbed the Blue and Black Growl Phones, turned to leave, then stopped. He looked back, snatched something else, and bolted for the door.

He had made it to the edge of the lake when he heard it. He jumped back quickly as a huge wave swamped where he had been standing.

"Sharkie!" he called, as his Animal broke the surface of the lake.

Shark flipped his tail fins at him as he flew through the air and slammed back into the water.

He felt a hand land on his shoulder, and jumped. Danny was standing beside him, smiling, but his eyes were on Bison standing on a hill by Lion's mountain. Bison snorted, shook his horns, and Danny grinned all the more.

Max grinned too, as he handed Danny his Phone and jacket. "I missed these."

Danny just nodded. A man of big emotions and few words.

"C'mon. We've got work to do." They quietly said their good-byes as they left. Danny waved at Bison, and Max stuck a hand in the lake and sent a spray of water at Shark.

As the portal opened, he laughed. Shark was trying to retaliate. The portal closed behind them as the water hit.

There were times she didn't mind that she was a non-corporeal hologram. Like now, standing in a muddy, hilly, apparently deserted field. She could have stayed on the MegaShip, of course. But to be honest, she was bored. And admittedly, more than a little curious about what kind of trouble her boys were trying to get into.

Andros and Zhane were playing spies. Well, Andros got mad when she called it that. He even gave her "the look". He had said that they were on an "information recovery mission". Whatever it was called, it meant that Andros got to wear his dark red cape he was so fond of.

It had taken some convincing before Zhane would put on a cape as well. He had insisted on knowing how the garment would add to their sneakiness. A wink from Zhane only proved what she already knew -- that he was arguing to irritate Andros, and only eventually agreed to wearing it to humor him.

Zhane had drawn the line however as to just how far he would go to be stealthy. And that had left them in their present positions: Andros lying down and peering over the ridge, Zhane squatting beside him, feet squelching in the mud as he shifted his weight, and DECA standing behind.

Andros had complained that they were giving away their position. Zhane just replied that the cape would compensate, which earned him a "look" from Andros before the Red Ranger returned to his surveillance.

"Are you sure this is the right place?"

"He said there's a Ranger that hangs out here that might know something that can help us."

"It's deserted, Andros."

"No, it's not. I heard something a little while ago."

DECA continued to monitor their conversation, but she had turned her optical sensors elsewhere. Andros was correct; they were not alone. She had been observing the lone biker for some time as he practiced motocross stunts several fields over. The reason they no longer heard him was because he had crashed rather spectacularly.

But before DECA could check on his condition, he had hopped up and started looking over the damage to his bike. He appeared fine, but she scanned him anyway to make sure, then turned her attention to his bike. Like him, it would need repairs, but nothing critical. Over the last few minutes he had been pushing his bike toward their location.

She debated telling Andros and Zhane about his approach. But as her scan had revealed that he was a Ranger, he most likely was the person they were seeking. Why not just let him come to them?

Besides, she was bored…

He heard rubber on metal and turned. A young man was pushing a bike up their hill. The bike was damaged, the front tire rubbing against the strut, accounting for the sound he had heard. Zhane glanced at DECA who simply shrugged.

Everything must be okay, he reasoned. If there had been any danger, DECA would have warned them long before the boy had gotten that close. Zhane stood to get a better look, and took in the boy's appearance: yellow and white loose fitting clothes covered by some type of body armor, helmet and goggles hooked around his elbow, and mud-splatter from head-to-toe.

As the teenager neared the top of the hill, he happened to glance up. To Zhane, he didn't look at all surprised to see two guys in capes and a semi-transparent woman standing in the middle of a muddy field in the rain. Has to be a Ranger, he thought. Who else would be so accepting of zaniness in their lives?

DECA crinkled her fingers in a friendly wave, and Zhane had to stifle a laugh as he added a wave of his own. The teenager made what should have been an awkward attempt, considering the multitude of things he was doing, to return the waves. But he managed it quite nicely and actually looked semi-graceful as he waved enthusiastically and yet still held the bike upright on the slippery slope with his helmet crooked around his arm.

Zhane wondered if he should tell Andros that they had a visitor to their "secret strategic outpost". But really, why should he? It was more fun this way.

Besides, he was bored…

He stared off, his attention focused on the empty track in front of him. Most of his attention anyway. The rest of it was preoccupied with how wet and miserable he was. And bored. He couldn't forget bored. But he'd be damned if he'd admit it. Zhane and DECA would enjoy that a little too much.

And he knew he was right. All his carefully gathered information had told him a Ranger hung out here. A Ranger who might have the information they needed to complete their mission. But why here of all places?

*What kind of Ranger hangs out in a mud pit?* he complained.

*Well, apparently us,* came Zhane's smirking reply. Andros rolled his eyes, and Zhane continued. *And him.*

That got all of his attention. Andros rested his weight on one elbow as he turned to glance over his shoulder. Zhane had shed his cape and was standing beside DECA. Both were shouting greetings to a teenager who had reached the top of their hill.

Andros tried to jump to his feet, but he became tangled in his own cape, which was mud-soaked and wouldn't do that cool swishing motion when he moved. Instead it stuck to him and he tripped. But somehow he caught himself before he hit the ground, and managed an 'I meant to do that' look. Not that anyone was looking. But he glared at the back of Zhane's head anyway. Just because.

"Dudes! What's up?" the teenager shouted, slapping hands with Zhane. The Silver Ranger returned the gesture like he'd known the boy for years.

"Greetings," DECA answered as the boy transferred the helmet and goggles from his arm to the handlebars. "That was an impressive crash for you to have survived relatively unscathed."

"Yeah! Dress for the crash, not the ride, ya know!" he rapped his knuckles on his chest plate. "It was totally like, whoa, and then I -- wait," he trailed off and looked quickly over his shoulder. "You saw that from here?"

She smiled, "Actually I saw it from up there," and pointed toward the sky.

He looked up, then back at her. Or actually through her. Andros thought he could almost see the wheels turning as he tried to figure it out. The boy's hand was raised and the expression on his face clearly was asking for permission. DECA nodded, and the boy slowly reached through her.

"Whoa! I so know someone you should meet!" he paused and quickly removed his hand. "Uh, ma'am."

DECA laughed. She laughed? What was with everyone today, Andros wondered. "DECA is fine."

"Oh yeah, I'm Dustin," he reached for her hand, then stopped and waved instead.

"Zhane," Andros heard his friend say. Then Zhane jerked his thumb over his shoulder, "And the talkative guy back there is Andros."

He made a face. *What are you doing?*

*Being sociable. You should try it sometime.*

"Love the cape, dude," Dustin unknowingly interrupted them.

Andros looked down at his mud-soaked, no-longer-red cape and started to wonder just when this day had gotten so out of control.

*We're supposed to be looking for the Ranger, Zhane. Not --*

Zhane stopped him. *He is the Ranger, Andros.*

*How do you know?* he asked, as he pulled the cape over his head.

*How could he not be?*

*What kind of answer is that?*

*The right one? Look, he isn't exactly trying to hide his nifty accessory, is he?* Zhane nodded at Dustin's morpher on his wrist.

Andros just grunted in acknowledgement.

Meanwhile, DECA and Dustin had continued to talk, and Dustin's sudden exclamation startled the two AstroRangers. Whatever DECA had said, it was apparent that Dustin had just figured something out and was thrilled.

"I knew it! I know you guys! You're in the comics! The AstroRangers!"

Zhane smothered a laugh, while Andros groaned and buried his face in his hands. He knew they'd never live those books down.

"Oh man! I knew it!" Dustin clapped, then pointed at them with both hands. "I mean, even after we became Rangers, they were all still, oh that's just Dustin and his comic books. But I just knew you guys were real!" He was practically bouncing as he gestured wildly.

*Well, he's excitable, isn't he?* Andros commented dryly.

*I think it's cute,* Zhane answered.

*You would.*

Zhane just smirked back.

With their silent conversation, they had missed some of Dustin's ramblings.

"…and when you attend a secret ninja academy, why is it so hard to believe in books about a bunch of color-coded, rubber-suited weirdos?"

That snapped Andros' attention from Zhane back to Dustin. "What did you say?"

"Oh dude, I'm sure they totally meant it in the most respectful way," Dustin assured, then stopped. He looked around quickly and added from behind his hand, "And uh, you didn't hear that ninja thing, right? Thanks, man."

"What?" Feeling completely lost in the conversation, Andros turned back Zhane. *"Rubber-suited"?* But Zhane was laughing too hard to even meet his eye.

Zhane noticed his expression and tried to regain control. *So we found him. What do we do now?*

*Now, we ask him what we need to know.*

*Okay. Do you know his Red?*

*No, he wasn't at the meeting,* and before Andros could elaborate Zhane took matters in his own hands.

"Hey, could you like, take us to your leader?" Andros made a move to smack Zhane, which he dodged. Even DECA made a face. Dustin however appeared to totally miss the bad joke.

"Oh, dude, tough request." At Andros' questioning look he added, "We sorta got two Red Rangers. And they're both out of town. But Cam calls the shots most of the time anyway."

"Well, can you take us to him?"

"Um, no."

Andros took a deep breath, mustering his patience, "And why not?"

"You kinda have to know Cam to understand. But I'll call him!" Dustin beamed. Andros just shook his head, as Zhane patted his shoulder.

Dustin spoke into his morpher, "Dustin to Cam."

"What is it?" came the testy reply.

"Could you come to the track?"

"Dustin, I'm really busy right now. If you want to get on the road, I have work to do."

"But dude, this is important."

"What, did you land your new trick on your bike?"

"Yeah! Well, not exactly. But this is serious. Could you just come?"

The voice on the other side of the morpher let out what sounded like a long-suffering sigh. "Fine. I'll be right there. But this had better be good."

"Cool!" Dustin answered, and closed the link.

"He's your leader?" Andros asked, incredulously.

"He's much nicer in person. Usually. Sorta. I mean…," Dustin stumbled. "You kinda -- "

"-- have to know Cam, I get it." Andros finished with a sigh of his own.

Cam still couldn't figure out how it had happened. That the Winds and the Thunders wanted to go to the X Games wasn't surprising. After all, they were being held in California, and it was the first year that surfing was an event. What was surprising was that he had agreed to go along. Or at least he told himself he had agreed. Hunter had asked, the rest had pestered, and somehow he was going.

And to say Hunter had asked was a stretch. If he remembered correctly, the conversation had gone something like,

"You're going."
"Oh really."
"Yeah."

And before he could contradict with the proper sarcasm called for in such a situation, the Winds had changed the subject to when they would have to leave to make Los Angeles in time to see specific events. The subject had not come up again, so his attendance was apparently assumed and required.

Not that he minded going. Actually he did mind, but that was beside the point. It was more how the inviting had been done that irked him. So he had retaliated accordingly.

He procrastinated. Or to be accurate, he let the others think he was too busy and had too much to do to be ready in time to leave. He had packed, but had hidden his bag. And there were many things he wanted to setup before he left NinjaOps, like guinea pig-proofing the mainframe and triple checking CyberCam's programming. He had everything planned perfectly to make it appear like he would miss the trip. Just to get back at Hunter. Juvenile, yes. But that was also beside the point.

So, of course, something had to go wrong. Lothor had impeccable timing, and had chosen the perfect moment to launch an attack. And Cam watched his carefully laid-out plans go straight to hell.

Soon he was scrambling to get things done. Hunter even accused him of intentionally procrastinating. An allegation he of course had denied. Whether the others bought it or not was debatable.

Despite his best efforts, the time to leave came and went. And he had missed his ride. Tori didn't want to miss the opening events, and since it was her van they left when she said so. But at least he hadn't been the only one left behind.

Dustin had stayed behind to finish some work at the shop. Kelly had given him the time off, but he had to take some promotional items from Storm Chargers to the X Games. As soon as he finished, he was leaving for LA in the Storm Chargers' van. Cam planned to catch a ride with him. If Dustin didn't get them lost or dead along the way, they should make LA in good time.

And this was Dustin, so Cam thought he had plenty of time. But Dustin was motivated. He wanted to see the X Games as much as his teammates -- or the majority of his teammates anyway. He had his Storm Chargers' bike repair work done and the van packed in record time. Then he waited in NinjaOps for Cam to finish.

And he waited. Training. Playing his saxophone. Talking. Just being Dustin.

Until finally Cam couldn't take it anymore. He had sent him to the track. Told him to go ride or something. Basically anything to expend some of his excess energy and keep him out of Cam's hair.

And now that Cam was nearly finished, Dustin was calling him to the track?

He had a bad feeling about this.

CyberCam teleported him to a remote part of the track. Not that anyone was there, in the rain. With the track as wet as it was, riding wasn't exactly safe. Or as safe as it ever was. Cam wondered if he should feel guilty about sending Dustin out here in the rain when the conditions were such that there was a high potential for injury. But he reasoned Dustin was a big boy, and if he had been worried at all, he could have protested being thrown out of NinjaOps. Dustin had actually seemed pretty happy to leave. Which made Cam wonder if he had been played all along. Okay, he didn't mind not feeling guilty.

And when he caught sight of Dustin, he knew the Yellow Ranger had fallen prey to the soggy track. Muddy and looking much the worse for wear, he was talking to several very unique looking individuals. Cam headed in their direction, wondering what weirdness he was about to get dragged into.

"Cam!" Dustin called, waving his arms so Cam could see him among the crowd that wasn't there.

"Dustin," he glanced warily at the strangers. "What's going on?"

"These, are AstroRangers," Dustin said with the proper dramatic pause.

"Really," Cam answered, with the equally proper amount of sarcasm.

The blonde man seemed totally unruffled and stepped forward with his hand outstretched.

"Hi, I'm Zhane. And this is Andros and DECA," he pointed to his teammates in turn.

Cam took in the frowning man with striped hair, and spared an extra moment to study, in a trying-not-to-stare-but-scientifically-curious kinda way, the translucent woman. "Nice to meet you," he said, shaking Zhane's hand. "What brings you to Blue Bay Harbor?"

"Dude, they need our help!" Dustin exclaimed a little too excitedly.

"Don't you just love that new Ranger enthusiasm?" Zhane commented, meeting Andros' eye in what appeared to be a private joke.

"Hey, I've been a Ranger for a while."

Cam restrained himself from rolling his eyes at Dustin. He was just surprised the Yellow Ranger had noticed the remark had been about him. Oblivious to a lot of things, it was amazing what Dustin actually picked up on. "Yes, Dustin, I'm sure your three months as a Ranger make you an old veteran." Cam just hoped Dustin wouldn't mention that his tenure with the Power was even shorter than his. "Why didn't you just bring them back to NinjaOps?" he asked, trying to change the subject.

"After the way you rode Tori for bringing Blake there?" he asked incredulously. "No thanks!"

"But they were 'evil' Rangers at the time!"

Dustin gave him a look that clearly said, "duh," -- something Dustin usually received, so he was very familiar with it.

Damn. He hated it when Dustin got somewhere before him. Dustin wasn't stupid. He just had a very different way of thinking. When he did get things, it was usually several minutes after everyone else. But occasionally, rarely, his way of thinking beat everyone else there. And Cam hated it when Dustin got there before him. If Dustin had brought the AstroRangers to NinjaOps, the first thing Cam would have done was yell at him for bringing strangers in.

"What we really need," Andros interrupted, looking between them, "is some information."

Cam sighed and reached for his morpher to call CyberCam. "Okay, let's get out of the rain and we'll talk things over."

"But Cam," Dustin looked down at his injured bike. "What about my bike?"

"What about it?" he answered. He really didn't have time for this. And he didn't know if Dustin looked more shocked or hurt at the thought of leaving his precious bike behind.

"Dude, I am not leaving my bike here," he finally responded, protectively holding the handlebars.

"I could take care of it for you." It was the first time Cam had heard the woman speak, and he took it as an opportunity to get a better, or at least longer, look at her. "I could teleport it back to the MegaShip."

Dustin was staring at her with what could only be called eternal gratitude. "That would be awesome! Uh, ma'am, I mean, uh, could you really?"

Zhane shrugged, "DECA can do whatever she wants."

"And usually does," Andros muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear.

Cam had to wonder just who or what this woman was. They had called her a teammate, but there seemed to be an aspect of autonomy about her as well. As he called CyberCam, out of the corner of his eye he saw Dustin's bike disappear to wherever the MegaShip was. They soon followed it, disappearing to NinjaOps.

As soon as they arrived, he wished they hadn't. Cam watched his holographic duplicate catch sight of DECA. He didn't know what was coming, but he began to think that standing in the rain wasn't such a bad idea.

"Hey baby!" CyberCam leered as he left the mainframe and advanced on the tall blonde woman. Pointing at Cam he said, "How about we ditch the loser and go have some fun?"

He couldn't believe he was watching himself make a pass at this woman. And much to his dismay, DECA looked directly at him before she answered his duplicate. She smiled as she said, "Sorry, but I do not believe I am your type."

"Okay!" he said quickly, voice raised, desperate to regain control of the conversation. "Andros, what exactly is the situation we're up against?"

So the Red AstroRanger began to grudgingly outline the information they had. If he seemed unwilling to share, Cam took it as a wariness of working with strangers. He had the impression that Andros would much rather just get whatever information the Ninja Rangers supposedly had and be on his way. And what little friendliness he was showing was probably only to make Zhane happy, as he kept throwing Zhane looks every so often whenever his friend nudged him to continue.

That Cam even made these observations was testament to his amazing multi-tasking skills. He was listening to Andros, but he was also watching CyberCam's continued attempts to hit on DECA. She was being terribly polite in turning him down, which only seemed to egg him on. And as her smile grew, Cam was beginning to believe she was enjoying it. But she kept looking in Cam's direction and he hated to admit that it was making him paranoid.

All he really wanted at this point was to get out of town. This mission was sounding complicated enough to make them miss the X Games. All his carefully planned procrastination was definitely coming back to haunt him.

"Okay, so this is like no problem," Dustin began as Andros finished. "I'll go in first and scope out the situation for you. Then you can take it from there, and we'll be there to back you up if you need it."

"I don't think so," Andros cut in, again displaying his inability to play well with others.

"Why not, Andros? Sounds like a good idea to me," Zhane answered.

Cam couldn't believe he was going to say it, but he was. "Actually Dustin's right." And he had. He had actually said it. And it sounded so very wrong. "He's a ninja after all. He's trained to be sneaky." He left off all the sarcastic jokes and comments questioning Dustin's competence that he normally would have added there. Because to him, Dustin's idea really was brilliant -- in the respect that if it worked they might actually get to leave town and not be terribly late.

"Yeah, Andros. Sneaky, as in a guy pushing a broken motorcycle wouldn't take him by surprise?" Zhane smirked.

But Andros just folded his arms and muttered, "Fine."

"Great. I'll get things set up here," Cam said, hoping it wasn't too obvious that he wanted them gone. He didn't think it would be very discrete to turn off CyberCam when he was in mid-conversation with DECA. And besides, the sooner Dustin helped them, the sooner they could get on the road.

"Ha!" Dustin cheered as he jumped excitedly. "Let's go!" He started toward the steps to the surface, only to stop and say, "This is going to be so much fun!" Then he ran up the stairs.

"Is he always like that?" Andros asked.

"Most of the time, yeah," Cam answered, with a sigh. He was already programming the mainframe for what he needed to do.

Andros shook his head as he and Zhane followed Dustin out.

"I like it," Zhane offered.

"You would," Andros retorted, and Cam got the impression this was an oft-repeated exchange between them. And much to Cam's relief, DECA headed out behind her teammates despite CyberCam's best efforts to talk her into staying.

As they headed up the steps, the last thing Cam heard was:

"Hey Andros, guess what?"

"What?"

"I think Dustin just became the leader."

Cam echoed the groan from the steps. The mission was doomed. They'd never make it to the X Games now.

Not that he wanted to go.

Somewhere under the sea…

"Joel, it's time!"

"But I've got--"

"Joel!"

"Anything for you, babe. Lightspeed Rescue!"

Max was going to get them killed. That much he was sure of. That and if they called their Wild Zords they'd probably wake up the Princess.

So much for the secret part of the secret mission.

"Wild Zords, descend!"

#3 -- give them an evil force to defeat

#4 -- whether they defeat it or not is up to the author

They fought, they won, they went for tacos…

no rule, just my random aftermath
"That was so awesome!" Dustin repeated for the fifth time. "I mean, you were like pow, then there was a bang, and then, hey," he finally stopped long enough to take a breath. "Did anyone else see the flying shark? I'd swear there was a giraffe riding on its back!"

"Uh, yeah," Andros started, like someone not sure how to explain. "I'm pretty sure those were some of the Wild Force Rangers' Zords. The Shark and Giraffe. And the Bull. And the Rhino. And," he sighed, "the Armadillo."

"Dude, the armadillo was so cool! I wish Tori could have seen the shark though," he looked over at Cam.

"Don't get any ideas, Dustin. I already have enough to do without adding your crazy ideas to the Zords," Cam countered with a shake of his head.

"Oh sure, like you weren't inspired by that green copter. Any ideas for the Samurai Star come to mind?"

"Yeah, I think that was a Lightspeed Rescue Ranger," Andros continued, filling in the gaps.

"Gee, Andros, just how many people did you invite on this 'secret' mission?" Zhane teased.

"I didn't invite them!" he answered defensively. "They just…"

"Showed up, yeah, we got it," Zhane finished with a smirk that DECA was sure would have earned him a smack upside the head if Andros hadn't been restraining himself trying to impress the new Rangers.

They were standing just beyond the waterfall that led to the Ninja Rangers' secret base. Dustin had obviously enjoyed his part in the mission and had dozens of questions for the senior Rangers. Cam though, kept checking his watch, as if anxious to be somewhere that wasn't there. DECA took pity on him and decisively ended Dustin's questions.

"My bike!" he shouted as it appeared. He ran over to re-assess the damage, his attention successfully diverted. Now for everyone else.

"Andros, there is an incoming message from Aura. Carlos would like us to meet him on Aquitar." Not entirely a lie, but close enough.

"Right. We should get going," he answered.

Dustin jumped up, shifting his attention from his bike long enough to thank her again with another "ma'am", and bid them all good-bye. Cam shook hands as Zhane said, "Hey, we should do this again sometime. Only with less fighting and more Mexican food." And Zhane again did what he could do better than any other -- earn another 'look' from Andros.

Zhane winked at her, taking her lead to get them out of there. Andros was about to retort, but he stopped him by saying, "If we're going to stay, then I bet Dustin would love a chance to try out the Galaxy Gliders."

"We're going," Andros said swiftly. "Say good-bye, Zhane."

"Good-bye Zhane," he smirked, and waved as they teleported out.

As she too disappeared, she simply could not resist a parting shot of her own.

"Tell CyberCam to call me."

The last thing she saw was the priceless look of horror on Cam's face.

“Dustin.”

“Dustin.”

The dark head didn’t look up. He just continued to examine his bike, even producing a socket and wrench from parts unknown. They were still where the AstroRangers had left them, in the forest outside NinjaOps. Dustin was so deep in bike repairs he couldn't see anything else.

“Dustin, can you hear me?”

“Oh, hey Cam!” He finally glanced up, apparently surprised that Cam was even there. One thing about Dustin, he could focus when he really tried. It was just usually on things completely separate from the topic at hand.

“Don’t you think we should be leaving?”

“Hmm? Oh yeah,” he muttered, but didn’t stop his work.

“Dustin!”

“All right. Geez Cam, you’d think you really wanted to see the X Games or something!”

“I do want to see them,” he lied. “I thought you did too. And thanks to the little Ranger adventure you invited us along on, we’re really late.”

Dustin stood then with an infuriatingly innocent smile. “Chill dude. Hunter will understand.”

“What?” Cam managed to finally get out. But Dustin never noticed. His concern was already back to his bike, and as the socket wrench vanished, he dusted off his hands and propped up the bike.

“Hey Cam, what about my bike?”

Conversations with Dustin really kept people on their toes. From one topic to the next in the blink of an eye. Veiled comments one second, random inquiries the next.

Cam felt a horrible sense of déjà vu as he said, “What about it?”

And Dustin greeted him with the same look of shock and hurt as he repeated, “Dude, I am not leaving my bike here.”

He felt sure he had sighed more since meeting Dustin than any other period in his life. “Fine. You can put it in the hangar with the Tsunami Cycles.”

“Really?” Dustin responded excitedly, not waiting for confirmation and already heading toward the hidden entrance.

“Yeah. Just be careful. I saw what happened the last time you repaired the Tsunami Cycles.”

“I was helping.”

“You made a mess!”

“But I fixed them!”

That pretty much ended the bickering as Dustin disappeared into the hangar. Cam was left alone to wonder about Dustin’s comment. About what exactly he knew and how.

By the time Dustin got back, Cam had finished the NinjaOps preparations. The mainframe was newly rodent-proof, and CyberCam had promised to be on his best behavior -- with his fingers crossed behind his back when he thought Cam couldn't see.

Dustin walked up to the low table, and slung Cam's backpack across his shoulders. "Are you ready?"

"Yeah," he said, picking up his other bag. "I -"

"Dude, no." Dustin interrupted. He said nothing else, but shook his head and left NinjaOps.

"What?" Cam glanced down. He thought he looked okay, considering he had no idea what one would wear to a multiple day extreme sports competition. "What?" he shouted again as he ran up the stairs after Dustin.

He caught up with him on the other side of the waterfall. Dustin stowed Cam's backpack in the Storm Chargers' van, then turned.

"Are you sure you want to take that?"

"Take what, oh." Cam knew as soon as he asked what he was talking about. "Yes, Dustin, I'm taking my laptop." He shifted the case's strap on his shoulder.

"But you're supposed to be on vacation!"

"I am on vacation. With my laptop."

Dustin relented and waved his hands at the open cargo door. As he circled around to the driver's door, he muttered, "What will Hunter say?"

It was said quietly enough that Cam doubted he was supposed to hear it. So he let it pass, knowing that he'd probably have a lot more to deal with in the long road trip ahead.

He put his laptop safely in the back and slid the door closed. As soon as he was settled in the passenger seat, Dustin cranked the engine, then the radio.

Avril had just come on the station, and Dustin began singing along with "Sk8er Boi" as he drove the van down the narrow forest path to the access road that would take them to the highway.

Yeah, this would be a very long trip.

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