The Hunters (Formerly Known as Strike Force)

[jetfire85]

Starting with #14, "Strike Force" is going to become "The Hunters" and it'll be posted in this thread. Zeo Red has a fic called Strike Force that he wants to relaunch, and the title fits his fic more than it does mine, so he can have it.

The original thread (http://www.rangerboard.com/showthread.php?t=54900)

[jetfire85]

Well, after a long hiatus, it's back. The events in this story spin out of Countdown to Infinite Crisis. If you don't own the issue yet, it's been reprinted this week, or you can find a summary online. New readers of this fic should read the link in the first post. Anyway, here we go!

Fourteen: Requiem for a Beetle

“Ted Kord is dead? You’re joking.”

“I wish I was, Kyle,” Michael Jon Carter said over the phone.

“But… how? Who would do that?”

“No one knows yet. The funeral is this Saturday in Gotham.”

“I’ll make sure to tell my Rangers.”

“About the Rangers… I suppose the United is coming.”

“Don’t worry, Booster. Jason has enough of a control on his temper to not interrupt the funeral. And if he does, I can take care of him.”

“Thanks, Kyle.”

“I just can’t believe it. It was only a few months ago that we lost Sue.”

“Yeah. Between Sue and Ted getting killed and Captain Atom vanishing, it’s been tough for us old Leaguers. It’s like someone’s trying to wipe us out.”

Donna walked into the living room of her and Kyle’s apartment, looking a little sad. She mouthed, “Did you hear about Ted?”

“I’m on the phone with Booster,” he mouthed back. “Booster, Donna’s here. You want to talk with her for a minute.”

“Sure.”

Kyle handed the cordless phone over to his fiancée, then picked up his cell phone and called Tony Rodriguez.

“What’s up, boss?” the Red Hunter Ranger asked.

“We’ve got a funeral to go to tomorrow.”

“Kara just told me about it. Blue Beetle, right?”

“So you’re coming?”

“Of course I am. The word’s already gone around.”

“Saves me a few minutes… have you talked to Jason yet?”

“He hasn’t called me, and I sure as hell am not calling him.”

“Good thinking. Maybe the funeral will change his mind.”

“Change Jason’s mind? Hah.”

“Yeah, what the hell was I thinking?”

“See you Saturday, boss.”

“Right. And don’t get into any trouble.”

Kyle ended his call as Donna ended her chat with Booster. She was openly crying now. She remembered when the JLI had helped the Teen Titans on a few missions, and how Beetle was always so helpful.

“Who did you call?” she asked.

“Tony. Just making sure that the Hunters are going to the funeral.”

“And they are?”

“Yeah, all of them. I just hope we can avoid having to deal with Jason.”

“If he ruins Ted’s funeral, I’ll pound his head in,” she said angrily.

“You and all six teams, babe. We all miss Ted. How’s Dick, by the way?”

“He’s good. It was nice having the Outsiders over for dinner… though I didn’t know they added Batgirl to the team.”

“No kidding. Cassandra Cain? Does Batman know?”

“Yeah, Dick and Tim had to talk him into letting her join.”

“I thought he and Dick were buddies now.”

“Batman’s been weird since Sue’s death. Really paranoid and all that.”

“Then nothing’s changed. Remember how he had those files on the League?”

“How could I forget? Roy kept accusing Dick of having files on the Titans. But this time it’s different. Dr. Light kept babbling on about how the League ‘warped his mind’… I wonder if Batman had anything to do with that.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised, Donna. Not in the least.”

#

Booster Gold, Mr. Miracle, J’onn J’onzz, Superman, Hal Jordan and Guy Gardner served as pallbearers for Ted Kord. Originally Captain Marvel was going to serve as the third pallbearer, but J’onn took his place to atone for his snap judgment of Ted only days before his death. The turnout was as large, if not larger, than the turnout for Sue Dibny’s funeral only a few months before. Like that sad event, the heroes were all in costume. The Hunter Rangers wanted to take off their helmets, but Kyle insisted that they keep them on in order to preserve their secret identities.

Kyle, Donna, the Hunter Rangers, the Teen Titans and the younger JSA members sat in the fifth row of the Gotham Grand Cathedral. Tony had his arm around Kara, while Marissa was leaning on Grant. Donna was trying and failing to hold back her tears as the six heroes put the coffin down.

“Our first speech will be from Booster Gold,” the preacher announced.

“I wouldn’t expect anyone else,” said Ray Terrill.

“Since when is the Ray a member of the JSA?” I asked Kara.

“He’s taking over Dr. Fate’s spot, now that he’s in Infinity Inc. Besides, he’s good friends with Grant.”

“I’m not complaining. Speaking of Infinity Inc., do I see who I think I see?” Tony asked his girlfriend, pointing across the aisle to the team.

“Yes, Emerald and Darkstar joined Infinity Inc.”

“Emerald… that’s Stacey’s new name? Not bad. And Sarah taking over for her parents sounds good. We need some new heroes.”

“Especially after this,” Kara said. “I barely knew Ted, but from what I hear, he was a good man. He was Tim’s personal hero.”

Tony looked down the pew and saw Robin crying into Stargirl’s shoulder.

“I’ve never seen a Bat-Family member cry.”

“He’s lost his father, Stephanie, and now Ted.”

“Poor guy. I’d probably quit if I’d lost all that.”

Tony and Kara looked back up at Booster Gold, who was now in tears. His speech was over, and he returned to his seat in the front of the cathedral. A few moments later, the service was over.

“We’re having a reception at the JSA Brownstone,” Courtney reminded Tony.

“They’ll be there soon,” Jason Lee Scott told Stargirl.

“Oh boy,” sighed Tony. “Well, Jason? I guess it’s time to talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. We’ve made our decision, Tony.”

“Without consulting us?” asked Kyle, approaching with the rest of the Hunters.

“Like I said, we made our decision. You’re off active duty. We’re putting Dino Thunder back in. Your power was halved five minutes ago.”

Marissa gasped. “But… you can’t do that!”

“Actually,” said Jason, “we can.”

“Who’s taking Tommy’s place?” Tony asked.

“His lab assistant, Hayley Adams. Now if you’ll excuse me…”

“Not going to the reception, are you?” asked Kyle.

“No, we have other things to do.”

“Yeah, God forbid you spend any time with your colleagues.”

“Kyle—” Donna interceded, grabbing her fiancée’s arm.

“This has gone on long enough!” Kyle said. “We’re superheroes, dammit! We’re here to help each other!”

“KYLE!” Booster Gold yelled as he stepped between the Red and Green Rangers. “Don’t do this here. Please.”

“I… I’m sorry, Booster,” said Kyle. “I overreacted.”

“Sorry,” Jason said, sounding a bit insincere. He wordlessly teleported away.

“Kyle,” Tony said quietly, “remember what Mr. Terrific said at that council meeting, about helping the Rangers reconfigure the Morphing Grid so that all teams could run at peak efficiency?”

“Vaguely,” Kyle replied.

“Well… maybe we could get him to do it.”

“You mean hack into the Grid?”

“That’s exactly what I mean.”

“Is that even possible?” the Green Ranger asked.

“We won’t know until we try. C’mon, to the Brownstone!”

[jetfire85]

Fifteen: Hacking the Grid

The Hunter Rangers were the last of the heroes to arrive at the JSA Brownstone and were just in time to see the unveiling of Ted Kord’s statue in the museum. The statue was right next to that of Ted’s mentor and predecessor, Dan Garrett, the first Blue Beetle. As the heroes went into the ballroom for the luncheon, Tony and Kyle located Mr. Terrific.

“Michael,” said Kyle, “we need a favor.”

“What’s the problem?” he asked.

“Jason took the Hunter Rangers off of active status.”

“Hmm… and you want me to reverse it?”

“Pretty much, yeah,” said Tony.

To the shock of the Rangers, Michael Holt, the second Mr. Terrific, smiled. “I like a challenge. I can’t do it alone, though. Let me gather some friends.”

“Since when does Mr. Terrific gather friends?” asked Kyle.

“I know my limitations, Kyle. Meet me in the planning room in five minutes.”

As Mr. Terrific left, Tony felt a hand on his shoulder. He turned around and found himself face-to-visor with Ninjor.

“Aah!” Tony yelped. “How’d you do that so quietly?”

“Apparently you forgot the ‘ninja’ part of my job description.”

“How’d you get in here?” asked Kyle.

“I’m one of the advisors for the United. I walked in.”

“Yeah… fair enough. So what’s doing, Ninjor? You here to spy on us for Jason?”

“No, I’m here to help you modify the Morphing Grid.”

“You know about that?” Tony asked.

“Remember Cyclis, the robot that appeared when Cyclopsis was destroyed? He’s the creator of the Morphing Grid and is linked directly to it. He’s given me the pass codes into the Grid so that you can alter it without harming him.”

“Wait,” said Tony. “I thought Zordon created the Morphing Grid.”

“Zordon has taken credit for many things,” replied Ninjor. He pressed a few sheets of paper into Tony’s hands. “These are for you and your allies. Now, go, and fix your powers.”

Silently, the purple ninja stalked off. Kyle said, “Creepy.”

“Yeah. Helpful, but creepy.”

“Kyle! Tony!” declared Courtney Whitmore, poking her head down the stairs. “C’mon, we’re waiting for you guys.”

“Coming,” replied Kyle. He and Tony went downstairs to the command room… and gaped in awe. “You’re kidding.”

“Nope. We’re going all out,” said Barbara Gordon, otherwise called Oracle.

The JSA planning room had been converted into a set of computer terminals. Oracle, Power Girl, Mr. Terrific, Tim Drake and Johnny Yu were all pounding away at keyboards. In the center of the room, a hologram projector formed a cube: an image of the Morphing Grid. Many of the other superheroes stood in a circle, watching the procedure in approval.

“When you come to a password query, we have them,” Kyle said, passing the papers to the hackers.

“Should we do this so soon after the funeral?” Tony asked Kara, finding her among the superheroes scattered around the room.

“Tim says that Ted Kord would’ve liked this,” Kara said.

“Ted never liked the Rangers,” added Power Girl.

The cube image began to twist, revealing a compartmentalized structure within; each section was marked with a symbol.

“We’re getting closer,” said Johnny. “Guys, we have a decision to make.”

“What about?” asked Kyle, walking over to Johnny.

“We have to pick where we’re going to divert power from.”

“Aren’t we just switching ‘active status’ from Dino Thunder back to us?”

“We could do that… but we could do something more.”

“A cunning plan, eh? I’m listening,” Kyle said with a smile.

“The United currently has two power sets on reserve: Mythic and Ninja. We could reroute power from those two systems into our morphers… in addition to the power from our own section of the Grid.”

“We’d be running on 150 percent of power… holy crap…”

“I thought you’d like it,” Johnny said, looking up at Kyle.

“Can our suits handle that much power?”

“They’re built to handle a 350 percent overload.”

“Well, then, let’s give it a shot. Terrific, Oracle, Tim, Peege, you heard Johnny.”

Suddenly, there was a loud chime.

“Passwords required,” a booming voice said.

Zordon’s voice.

“Okay,” said Johnny. The five hackers typed their passwords in, and the cube hologram changed once more to reveal three parallel cubes.

“We’re in!” announced Oracle. “Johnny, handle the Hunter section. Tim and I will take the Ninja section; Terrific, Power Girl, take the Mythic section.”

“On it,” replied Mr. Terrific.

Moments later, lightning bolts linked the three cubes. Tony watched his morpher glow as his power level returned to normal, and then above normal.

“We have the power!” declared Tony.

[StrikeForceRed]

Thanks a million for the name change. I am a writer for Strike Force and it would not look good for there to be to fan fics with the same name. Look for Power Rangers Strike Force, coming soon!!

[jetfire85]

Sixteen: Running Hot

While the Morphing Grid was being hacked, the Dino Thunder Rangers were out practicing with their new Black Ranger.

“You ready?” asked Conner McKnight.

“You bet,” replied Hayley Adams.

“Dino Thunder! Power up! Ha!” Conner, Kira and Ethan declared.

“Dino Thunder! Power up! Ha—aaaaaaa!” Hayley screamed as her morpher sparked and knocked her down.

“Hayley!” declared Conner, who had morphed successfully. “What’s wrong?”

“This stupid thing nearly exploded!”

“We’d better get it over to Damon.”

“Sorry about the little disturbance, but we were just fixing some things,” someone said above them. Five colored streaks raced past them, then circled around and landed, revealing themselves to be the Hunter Rangers. Their suits glowed, creating an aura around them.

“You’re supposed to be off active duty,” said Kira Ford.

“Yeah, funny how that works,” replied Tony.

“What’s up with the glowing?” asked Ethan James.

“We decided to have a little fun with the Morphing Grid,” Tony said.

“Ninjor will stop you,” warned Conner.

“Not likely,” said Marissa. “He helped us in the first place.”

“Kira, Ethan, you know what to do,” said Conner.

“Triassic Ranger Power!” they declared together. With bright red explosions, Conner transformed into the Triassic Ranger.

“Oh, come on!” declared Tony. “You’re not even going to try to fight us?”

“What did you expect?” Alex said to him. “He’s King of the Battilizers.”

“At least I respect my predecessors,” Conner spat at them, running towards them, the Triassic Shield’s blade extended.

“Oh, please,” muttered Tony. “Aura Blast!”

He summoned two glowing globes into his hands and shot them forward. The globes hit Conner in the feet, knocking him down.

“You—how’d you do that?” Conner asked through gritted teeth.

“Our suits are at 150 percent power.”

“How the hell did you get into the Morphing Grid?”

“We’ve got friends in high places.”

The Triassic Ranger got to his feet and declared, “Super Fire Mode!”

“See? Like I said, King of the Battilizers,” Tony muttered as Conner’s armor assembled around him.

“Think you can deal with this? Dragon Yo-Yo!”

“How the hell do you say that with a straight face?”

“Tony, shut up and watch out!” Brian called out.

“Eh, he doesn’t scare me,” Tony said, jumping out of the way of the attack.

“How the hell did you dodge that?” Conner asked, bewildered.

“That’s nothing. You want to see an attack?”

“I think we’d better back up,” Marissa said to the others.

“Mythic/Ninja Transformation! Armor up!” called Tony.

A red forcefield appeared, and pieces of armor jumped out of it. Most of them were dragon-themed, except for gigantic gauntlets and boots. “Hey, Conner, what do you get when you cross an ape and a dragon?”

“A barbecued ape?”

“No, this! Double Fist Strike!”

A dragon’s roar and an ape’s bellow sounded, and Tony’s gauntlets fired off and hit the armored Conner straight in the chest, cracking the Battilizer and sending the armor on its way while demorphing him back to his regular Ranger form. Simultaneously, Tony deactivated his armor and sent it away, landing by his team.

“Well, that isn’t supposed to happen,” said Ethan as he and Kira powered up.

“Five on three?” asked Johnny. “This isn’t fair, is it?”

“Oh, it’s fair,” said Hayley, who had her Black Ranger suit on now. The White Ranger teleported in moments afterward.

“Tony,” said Alex, “I want to take on Conner.”

“Sounds good. I’ll take Hayley. Hunter Rangers, scramble!”

“‘Scramble?’ What kind of lame catchphrase is that?” Ethan asked Johnny.

“At least we have a catchphrase,” Johnny shot back, deflecting Ethan’s punches. He charged his right fist with energy and floored the Blue Dino Ranger.

“SCREEEEEEEE!” shouted Kira, aiming her sonic pulse at Marissa.

“Oh, please,” Marissa said, creating a pink shield that blocked the blast. “Only Black Canary can get away with that. And you—”

“Oh, no…”

“—are no Black Canary!” Marissa finished, firing two aura blasts at Kira.

“Hey, Conner, the Speed Force called!” Alex said as she outran the Red Ranger. “It wants you to stop ripping it off!”

“Outrun this!” Conner said, throwing his Thundermax Saber at Alex’s head.

“I don’t have to,” she replied, vibrating through the sword and shattering it.

“No way… you’re a real speedster? Like the Flash and all them?”

“Yeah, the Flashes told me how much you ripped them off.”

She delivered twenty quick kicks to Conner’s head, taking him down.

“That was for Jay, Wally, Bart and all the others. Slow down next time.”

“Drago Sword, power up!” Trent ordered as he tried to land a blow on Brian.

“Nice try,” said Brian, parrying with his own sword. He charged the blade with black energy and chopped at Trent, hacking the Drago Sword in half.

“You—you can’t do that!”

“I just did.” Brian’s right foot glowed with energy, and Trent took on the full brunt of a turbo-charged jump kick.

“If I can dodge Conner, I can dodge this staff,” Tony said to himself as he jumped out of the way of Hayley’s fire blast.

“Give it up, kid!” she ordered, splitting the ground in half.

“Kid? I’ve been a Ranger longer than you have.”

Tony floated above the fissure and drew his sword, converting it to twin-blade staff mode. He charged forward and whacked Hayley across the helmet, nearly knocking her down into the crack in the ground.

“Help!” she screamed, trying to crawl out of the hole her staff had made.

“Here,” said Tony, lifting her up out of the hole. “We’re not murderers.”

“You had me fooled,” she said coldly.

“Just give the word to Jason that we want our full status back.”

“You think he’ll do it after this?”

“Good point. Then let him know that we’re not going down without a fight.”

“You think you’re so great, just because you’re friends with Superman and all the others? Well, news-flash: you’re weak. You rely on them too much.”

“Lady, you’re out of your mind. Now if you’ll excuse us…”

“Wait. You just came here to kick our asses?”

“No, we came here to deliver a message. Conner started the fight.”

“Did not!” the Red Dino Ranger insisted.




“And they call us immature,” Marissa muttered.

“Anyway,” said Tony. “The message is delivered. Hunters, out.”