The Hidden Eye

By CypherCA

"Okay Rich., I called you here for a reason."

"Fine. What do you need now? My feelings on another torture scene?"

"No..I want you to look for a fic for me."

"What?! You can't be serious. You have almost a hundred files on fics!"

"That's why you're going to look inside while I look outside."

"Wait, inside? What do you mean?"

"I mean...this!" Rich suddenly disappeared from the room and reappeared in a room full of doors.

"Where am I?"

"This is my memory. Behind these doors are fics. You must travel to each one and figure out which fic is which. I know one of them MUST be The Hidden Eye." Rich sighed.

"Alright..can I have some chalk?"

"Uh..sure." Chalk suddenly appears in Rich's hand.

"Thanks. Well, here goes nothing." Rich first writes a number one on a door, then enters it.

"OW! Thanks for the soft landing Cyph!" Rich yelled to the sky as he landed after a fall from the very same sky.

"Sorry. Now, have fun..and don't mess up the fic too much."

"Have fun he says. Sheesh." Rich got up and brushed himself off, then looked around. "What an odd place. Wait." Rich turned around. "Never mind. Just Mia's back yard. But why does it look so...charred?" A blast of flame flew overhead and landed nearby. "Thanks for the prompt response." Rich donned his sub-armor and ran towards the origin of the fireball. As he expected, there was Ryo and the others.

"What the?!" Rich exclaimed as he saw Ryo and the other Ronins wearing some strange armor. More form fitting, and black instead of white. "Okay, where have I seen those armors before?" Rich was so busy trying to figure out where the armor was from, that he didn't notice the Dynasty soldiers behind him.

"Another Ronin in normal sub-armor." Rich spun around and faced the menace. Before another second passed, Rich had punched his fist through the armor's stomach. He was surprised to see it still standing.

"What the hell?!" It was then Rich noticed the wiring and circuitry in his hand. He jumped back, right into an armor bearer.

"Watch the ____ where you're going Rowen!" A female voice yelled at him.

"I'm terribly sorry. But I didn't see you behind me. And now I must run. Ta ta." Rich jumped over the now surprised armored person and ran across the battle field before taking another look at the fight. "I know I've seen this somewhere before...but where?" Rich shrugged then continued running into the woods.

"Did you see that guy? He looked exactly like you Ro." Sage said told the group after the fight with the Dynasty soldiers was over.

"He bumped into me and apologized before running off. He didn't sound anything like you blue-boy." Rowen glared at Tanya.

"Well, did anyone see where he went?" Ryo asked.

"I did." Mia said. "Into the woods. But he could be long gone by now."

"He's not Dynasty." Rowen suddenly said.

"How do you know?" Kento asked.

"I don't know. I just feel it. Besides, if he was Dynasty, why didn't he attack us?"

"Rowen has a point on the attack thing." Cale added.

"Well, why don't we go find him then?" Tanya asked.

"Okay, we'll split up."

"No need." A voice behind them said. They all turned around and found the stranger standing there.

Rich wasn't entirely sure why he came out into the open after the battle. Maybe it was because he wanted to meet the new people. Maybe it was the heat. Maybe it was Cyph threatening to write a VERY hentai fic about him if he didn't get back out there. But here he was.

"So, are you just going to stare, or are you all going to gape like codfish?" Blank and somewhat annoyed stares glared back at him.

"No one gets your jokes here."

<I really hate you Cyph...>

"Who are you? Some Strata/Rowen doppleganger?" Sekhmet asked. He received many strange looks.

"No. I'm Rich. Rowe-oh wait. I don't exist in this world...oh dear. Um, how do I explain this. Well, you see, I'm Rowen's little brother, but not in this world..I'm kinda hopping from world to world to try and find something."

"You expect us to believe that sh^t?" The girl asked.

"And who are you, may I ask?"

"Tanya of the Typhoon, Lady Ronin of Hope."

"Now I know that sounds familiar..."

"I don't care if it does."

"Wait, is that Anubis?"

"That is my name." Rich walked up to him, punched him in the gut, then walked back.

"That was for nine months of torture in my sleep. Now, let's see. I know! It's Aftermath by Mardrena!" The Ronins looked at Rich like he was insane.

"Sorry. Wrong. Try again."

"What do you mean wrong?! It's the only one with Tanya of the Typhoon!"

"Um, excuse me-"

"Butt out of this Cye. Come on Cyph! Give me a clue!"

"Look behind you."

"Behind me?" Rich turned around and saw a metal horse with wings and a horn watching him with laser eyes. "What's this prove?"

"Hey Ryo. Who's this guy?" A young boy asked.

"Wait a sec, Yuli didn't get White Wind and actually ride him with armor until.....IT'S FOES FROM ANOTHER WORLD BY MARDRENA!!" Rich suddenly disappeared from the scene.

"How strange." Anubis muttered.

"Very good Rich. But it's not the fic I'm looking for. Try again."

"Oh....alright." Rich walked up to the next door, wrote ‘2' on it with chalk, then entered.

"Oof! Okay, Cyph, we gotta work on these doorways so I don't fall fifty feet to the ground each time. If it weren't for my sub-armor..."

"Oh, stop complaining and duck."

"Duck? ACK!" Rich ducked as a spear flew over his head. He got up and jumped out of the middle of the battle to the edge and immediately was caught in a fight with a Dynasty soldier. "Great. Another battle."

"Hey Ro!" Sage yelled as he punched the soldier's head off. "Need a hand?" Sage's smile suddenly disappeared as he took in Rich's black and white sub-armor. "Who're you and where's Rowen?" Rich looked around.

"Rowen's over there, Sage." Rich said while pointing to the blue armored figure. "Now, would you mind telling me where the heck we are?"

"Who the hell are you?" Ryo asked coming up from behind him.

"I'm not Dynasty, and frankly, I'm getting annoyed at this. All I want to do is go home, take a nice, long bath, and go to bed."

"Not happening anytime soon."

"Shut up Cyph." Rich mumbled under his breath.

"Sage, keep an eye on him." Ryo said as he returned to the battle.

"Right Ryo." Sage replied as he held up his no-datchi.

"I'm not going anywhere." Rich said.

After the Dynasty soldiers had been destroyed, all the warriors surrounded the now nervous new boy.

"So, who are you?" Rowen growled. Rich blinked.

"What's wrong with your eyes? They're supposed to be like mine."

"What do you mean?" A girl asked.

"Who're you?"

"I'm Randi."

"Why're you wearing the Strata armor? That's Ro's."

"It's also mine." Rich was very confused now.

"Um...right...okay. I think I need to sit down for a bit." Rich sat on the ground and closed his eyes. Rowen growled and forced Richard to his feet.

"Listen you little-"

"Calm down bro. Sheesh."

"WHAT?!"

"Oops. Um...." Rich wiggled out of Rowen's grasp and took a step back from the fuming Rowen. "Now, Ro, just, calm down. Remember your blood pressure. Where did that come from?"

"Me..hehe...just fiddling with you mental parameter."

<I really hate you.>

"Um....Ro?" Rich took many steps back as Rowen took a step forward.

"MY ONLY BROTHER IS DEAD! HOW DARE YOU-" An angry aura surrounded Rowen as he advanced.

<Uh oh..better think quickly...> Then, he remembered. <Randi...>

"That's it! Randi is Strata! And Ro is Strata! And Randi has friends that have armors like the originals! So this is Wishing on a Star by Aleska!" Rich disappeared just as Rowen fired his attack.

"That was close."

"Thanks for the help, oh omnipresent one."

"You're welcome..still no luck finding that fic?"

"None."

"Keep searching." Rich sighed, wrote the number three on the next door, and entered.

"Hi-yaa!" Were the first words to enter Rich's ear as he landed, surprisingly on his feet.

"Now what?" Then he saw it. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!! CYPH!! IT'S THE POWER RANGERS!!! GET ME OUT OF-" He disappeared.

"-HERE!!!" Rich looked around and saw he was back in the room of many doors. He also saw that door number three now had many boards nailing it shut.

"Sorry. Babysitting does that to a memory."

"That was the most, evil, frightening thing I've seen in my life!"

"Try six straight hours of it. Try the next door. It should be safe." Rich nodded and entered the next door.

Rich once again landed on his feet, and came face to face with.....a panther. No, not any ordinary panther. This one had sky blue eyes, and black wings. Rich blinked.

"Wait, that looks like me." The panther said in Rich's voice.

"And that looks like an angel." Rich responded, pointing to a winged woman coming closer.

"ACK!" The panther flew off as the winged woman came to a halt before Rich.

"AAAHHH!!! It's wearing black! Kill it! Kill it! Kill it!" Rich looked at the woman, then at the Ronins running up to her.

"Hold on, is your name Kikyo?" The woman stopped at stared at Rich.

"Yes..." She replied suspiciously.

"And, that winged panther, did Rowen swear that it could talk?" Kikyo blinked and looked hard at Rich.

"Yes...." She replied again.

"This is an easy one. A Parallel Dimension fic written by JFKLINKE." Rich disappeared as the others finally arrived to Kikyo.

"That was an easy one Cyph."

"You're point?"

"Okay, no point. Let's try this door." Rich entered.

"I see we're back to falling again."

"Quite complaining."

"Sorry Cyph. So, where are we now?" Rich looked around. He was inside Mia's house, and it was dark. "Okay, well, let's just go upstairs and see who's home." Rich went up the stairs, straightening a picture or two along the way, and headed for his and Ro's room. He opened it and found Ro in bed, along with someone else. "SAGE?!" Both Sage and Rowen sat bolt upright.

"Who the f^ck are you?" Sage demanded.

"Who cares! What're you doing in bed with my brother?!"

"You're brother?" Sage raised an eyebrow and looked at Rowen. Rowen had wide eyes but shook his head no. Rich quickly ran from the room to the bathroom, and promptly threw up. When he was finished, he looked up to find the whole Ronin gang there.

"Hi guys." He said weakly.

"Who are you." Ryo ordered more than asked.

"I'm Rich. Just a traveler. Don't mind me."

"Why're you wearing sub-armor?" Kento asked.

"Long story. Not really in the mood."

"We understand." Cye said as he picked up Rich and carried him to a bedroom. "You just get some rest. Okay? We'll figure this all out int he morning."

"Thanks." Rich closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Rich woke up to the smell of pancakes. He quickly got up and hurried downstairs.

"Good morning." He said to Cye as he sat down.

"Oh, hello. Feeling better?"

"Of course I am." Rich replied confused. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"You threw up pretty badly last night."

"What?" Rich racked his brain, then remembered seeing Sage and Rowen in bed. "Oh, that. I'm sure..that, it, well, um, why me." Rich thumped his head on the table multiple times.

"Well, look who's up." Rowen said as he entered the kitchen. Sage followed right behind him.

"Morning Sage, Rowen. Please tell me what I saw last night was a dream."

"It wasn't. They've been a couple since that snow day." Ryo said, walking in behind Sage.

"Snow day? Um..right...well, how about breakfast?"

"Hold on, who're you?" Ryo asked.

"Oh, I'm just, a traveler, from another world, trying to find something."

"Find what?" Kento asked.

"Something called The Hidden Eye."

"Never heard of it." Rowen said.

"You wouldn't have. It's not exactly a statue or anything." Rich sighed. <I have no clue what this fic is.> "Well, um, look, why don't we eat breakfast, okay?"

"Yeah!" Kento exclaimed enthusiastically before diving into the pancakes.

Later, Rich had convinced the guys to let him take a walk alone around the lake while he thought about the fic.

"Okay, Ro and Sage are together. That's still disgusting. What fic could this be? There are a million of them!" He heard a rustle behind him. "Okay, I know that's a Dynasty soldier, but I don't feel like fighting. I know, if I keep on walking, and ignoring it, it won't attack me. You hear that you tin can? I'm not going to notice you. In fact, I'm just going to keep walking around the lake. And then I can go back to the house, but I don't have to worry about the soldier as long as I ignore it."

"Rich! Look out behind you!" Rowen yelled.

"What?" Rich looked around, saw the Dynasty soldiers, then ran for the house. "Damn it!" The others ran out in sub-armor and destroyed the soldiers within a few minutes. "Thanks a lot Ro. I was using the Wild-E-Coyote effect."

"The what?"

The Wild-E-Coyote effect. Nothing bad will happen unless I notice it. Like when the coyote runs off a cliff and keeps on running until he notices there's nothing under him." All five boys looked like he was short a few screws.

"Whatever you say." Ryo said.

"Wait! I got it! I just figured out where the Hidden Eye is! Cyph! Bring me back! I know where the Hidden Eye is!" Rich disappeared in a flash of light.

"So, where is it?"

"It's this entire thing. Don't you see? This is the Hidden Eye fic! The readers are the Hidden Eye, watched everything that's happening to me and...well...me."

"Very good Rich."

"So, what happens now? Do I return to my fic?"

"Well, not exactly. You see, nowadays, many people like a twist at the end. A simple fade out just doesn't do it. So..." Cypher pushed a button, and a secret door opened.

"OH MY GOD! IT'S THE MOST EVIL, VILE, DISGUSTING CREATURE I'VE EVER MET!!" Rich yelled.

"Yep." With that, Cypher ran out the room and locked the door behind him.

"Hi there. Will you be my friend? My name's Barney. Let's sing a song. I love you." The purple dinosaur walked closer to Rich, who was pounding on the door begging for Cypher to let him out.