Samurai Ranger
11-28-2003, 10:59 PM
Hello all, Samurai Ranger again. Here's a bold new adventure I hope your ready for. This is based on TimeRed, X1, and Empyrean's hit RPG, known as Power Rangers Ninja: The Next Geneartion. So, sit back, relax, and get ready to read.....
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Episode 1: Return of the Storm Pt.1
Everything was so dark. Just shadowy. 2 Figures walked in out of the darkness, bringing light with them. ''Don't do it Rachel, come over to our side......''
Suddenly their loud yells we're heard as they we're struck, and flew to the ground. Their images, lost and those of the Blue Wind Ranger, and Yellow Wind Ranger, being blasted to the ground, and starting to spark, with evil laugher.
There was a blurry vision of the Mega Battle Red Wind Ranger, who stood still strong and firm. ''I guess it's just you and me Shadow Ranger.''
''Don't do it Shane!!'' yelled another male voice, that of the Green Samurai Ranger.
There was a giant explosion, and the helmet of the Red Ranger flew to the ground, with fire reflecting on the visor.
Suddenly a African-American Male woke up, sweat pouring from his forehead.
''That dream again....'' he thought. ''What the hell does it mean? I....we.....we destroyed those rangers 2 monthes ago!!''
His name is Quentin Scott Roberts. He very much preferred Q. But, unknown to the public, and also very few beings, he was the Black Shadow Ranger, of Lothor's Dark Ninjas. Not the wimpy, feeble, unnesscessary Lothor, that had disgraced the real Lothor's name so long ago.
This was Lothor.
The true Lothor.
A wiped his forehead with a cloth. ''The must prepare.....for the fate Lothor and I shall bring forth to the world.''
Meanwhile, in a Ninja Academy, that of Blue Bay Harbor, slept a young man. This young man's name was Ethan Hunt. The Ninja Academy, was that of the Hayate Way. He was having visions, dark visions. They had become even more apparent, after the death of his mentor, Shane. Thunder flashed outside as he scrunched up his face.
"Mommy! Daddy! Shane! Please don't die! Don't leave me!," the little boy of his visions said as he watched over his parents' and mentor's fallen bodies.
''SHANE!!!!'' yelled Ethan as he woke from his slumber. He shook his head, and than picked up his katana. He looked to his bedside, his love, Kathryn was still asleep. He carefully straped it onto himself, and snuck out of the room. He wallked outside to the mountain Cidadel practicing his Hayate Ninja Style, hoping to get it off my mind so he could get some rest for a change.
Zooming down to a room, we find Ninja Ops. A young boy, maybe around the age of 11, was whining. ''Oh come on Cyber Cam, let me just stay up for a few more hours! I'll go to sleep without any hassle at all!''
The Cyber Cam program was fuzzy and flashed on and off. ''No way yo!! That wh-wh-wh-ack!! You need you s-sl-sleep!!''
Obviously over the years, and the wreckage, Cyber Cam's program had begun to degrade.
''Fine!'' yelled the boy, as he went to his bed, and the Cyber Cam program deactivated. The boy snickered, as he snuck right back out, avoiding all Security Programs, that would show his awakening. Now, this special boy inparticular was named Impy Wolfson. He quickly returned to his project, a chainsaw with a comunicator built in, a small viewing screen, a mp3 player, and a radar cloaking device.
He called it C.H.A.I.N.Y. It stood for Cybernetic Horrifying Apple Initializing Nizzle Yuppie. It was obvious however though, that he just wanted to call it Chainy. He had started working on it 3 monthes ago for his favorite mentor, Dustin. Sadly, the events on the second month rendered it useless.
Yawning, he finished it up, by putting the Tenkuu Samurai Symbol over the Yellow Hayate one, to finish it up. He quietly fell asleep. Luckily it was one of the times he wouldn't need cleaning spray, a box of band-aids, and one of Ethan's shirts. His dreams were the same as always, dreams of a mysterious stranger with a hat and a candy cane saying "If the door leads to the mantis, SO FALLS THE EARTH!". Strange eh?
Elsewhere a girl danced wild and fast. Music raged on, as did the girl. She became one with the beats and rhythm. Her name was Maeve Iwayami. Lights reflected from her long black hair which flashed with her movements. This is how she released her energy. This is how she loved living. Maeve’s breath was becoming ragged, but she was a superb athlete, able to keep going long after others had quit from exhaustion.
Yet, for the first time, she stopped before she was good and ready. The young woman left the dance floor when a slow song started up, pushing her way through the close-pressed partners and heading for one of the back exits, shoving the door open and escaping into the night. The shops and streets began to thin out, giving way to the suburbs. Maeve passed it all by, emerald eyes staring straight ahead, a bit unfocused. Eventually, even the suburbs fell behind her. She kept walking, until she topped a small hillock and found it.
There was a large depression in the earth, absolutely lifeless. The soil was scorched to ash, rocks blackened, no plant life within a ten-mile radius. This is where Blue Bay Harbor's Heroes had fallen. They had only been known under one name. The Power Rangers.
She hadn’t actually been there when it happened. The small Iwayami family was picnicking a few miles away when evil returned. But she’d felt something was wrong, and her parents had brought her there at her insistence. They’d arrived after the fact, to see the Ninja Rangers dead or dying, their blood soaking into the dirt. She hadn’t seen their faces, but just once, the Yellow Ranger seemed to look her way, as if pleading for something....
Touching the ground now, Maeve could almost hear the Rangers’ cries of despair, could almost feel their anguish at having been unable to protect Blue Bay Harbor. She felt a cold energy seep against her sternum, and knew it was the lingering aura of evil. She was no psychic, but being born to two highly historical, mystical, powerful cultures had made her highly intuitive; more sensitive to these things than other people would be. Everything in Maeve screamed that this evil was unnatural, truly vile. She loathed it with all her being, this sickness of the soul. It had to be purged from the universe for once and for all. The trouble was she didn't know anyone that could help.
She didn’t know who could stand up to this evil, this Lothor and his Dark Ninjas, now that the heroes had fallen.
Ethan had finally returned to bed hours before sunrise. He slept until the sunlight came pouring through his bedroom window. Cam had just got done fixing Cyber Cam and knocked on his door. Kay had already showered, gotten ready and had left for the day.
"Who is it?," Ethan groggily asked.
"It's Cam."
"Come on in, Cam."
Cam opened the door and walked into the room.
"I see you were out last night again. The visions still must be getting to you, huh? I heard you leave your room around like 3 am or 4. You must have been shocked. I watched you from the balcony. I've never ever seen you wield that katana like you did earlier this morning. Cyber Cam's back up and running smoothly again so no worries there.," Cam said watching Ethan slowly wake up and come around.
"Cam, they have gotten worse. Ever since Shane died they have been worse. I don't get it at all. I mean last night I beared my entire soul into that katana's blade. I figured maybe just maybe a nice little early morning training in the rain might do me some good.," Ethan said.
Cam pondered to himself, "Well I hate to say this but it's about to get much worse. They're coming. I feel it in my very core. I just hope you're ready to follow the legacy of your father and mentor. I'll be down at Ninja Ops if you need anything, Ethan."
"Thanks, Cam."
Cam nodded and walked downstairs to Ninja Ops. Ethan himself had gotten out of bed and walked on the balcony of his room in The Citadel. The sun gently shimmered on the water below and the waterfall across from his window. It was a beautiful day and he knew he had to take full advantage of it.
In Lothor's Space Fortress: Bridge, Q walked in wearing full ninja uniform.
"You summoned me?"
Lothor stood there. looking out at Earth. They were facing Egypt.
"Yes, we finally located the one we seek...in Egypt."
"Great, shall I rally the troops?"
"Not yet. Where pray tell are the White Spirit Ranger and Marigold Thunder Ranger?"
"Dunno. Haven't seen them for two months. You want me to search for them?"
"No need. Why dont you go to Earth and visit your woman...Valerie, was it?"
"Yes... that's her name...Thank you, sir."
"Well look who finally decided to get up," Mrs. Iwayami drawled as her daughter blearily stumbled into the cheerful yellow-decorated kitchen.
Maeve shot her mother a Look. "It's ten in the morning, Mami," she groaned. "That's too f--kin' early."
"I'm not the one who stayed out until three-thirty in the morning," the green-eyed older woman replied, picking up the newspaper and eating a forkful of poundcake. Mrs. Iwayami never had breakfast or lunch, just brunch. She claimed it helped keep her weight in check.
“You need to pay attention to important body signs," the younger woman grumbled, "like the sign that means ‘Shut up, I haven’t had my coffee yet'.”
"I'm also not the one who forgot to turn off her alarm clock," Mrs. Iwayami reminded.
"But then again, you can fall asleep real easy. Once I'm up, I'm up," Maeve retorted, getting some coffee. "Ah, coffee. Nectar of the gods. When it comes to caffeine, just say YES OH YES!"
Her mother chuckled. "So how will you keep yourself out of trouble today?"
"Thought I'd take my bike and ride up towards the mountains," Maeve mentioned. "Get some practice done."
"You won't forget your pepper spray, will you?" her mother questioned.
"Have I ever forgotten it?"
"Don't take that tone with me, kiddo. Your father and I gave that to you because we worry. You know that."
"A real kunoichi never needed pepper spray," Maeve grumped.
"You aren't a real kunoichi, despite Kibami's best efforts," Mrs. Iwayami reminded her offspring.
Maeve sighed, and nodded defeat. "Wakata yo, Mami," she said. (I understand, Mom.)
The Irish woman patted her daughter's shoulder, and accepted this.
Half an hour later, Maeve had packed a lunch, showered and dressed in a white tank top, baggy yellow slacks and a bright yellow backpack, and taken the sidecar off her motorcycle before donning helmet and leather jacket and taking off.
It was a long drive, but the girl didn't mind. It was worth it to reach one of her favorite places: A clearing in the thick mountain forest, a rocky river running through the center. Maeve always felt so comfortable there; perhaps her name had something to do with it.
Iwayami. Stone Shadow.
Maeve parked her bike at the foot of the mountain she so loved, taking off her helmet and hanging it on the handlebars before dismounting and arming the security system. Then, she started hiking, humming to herself.
It took about ten minutes to reach her little clearing. Once there, the teen put her backpack down and dug a small crystal vial from one of the side pockets. It was full of sake, snuck from her parents’ liquor cabinet and purified by four different ceremonies: Taoist, Shinto, Buddhist and Druidic. Maeve raised the vial to the sky, then poured a few droplets in all directions, including the center. Then she sat the sake aside and knelt in the center of the sake-circle, hands flat on her thighs and head bowed, eyes closed.
This was her meditation ritual. This was how she found her center: The power of her heart.
Maeve breathed slow and deep, emptying her mind of all thought, all emotion: Peace awaited her.
Or so she thought.
The vision came too swiftly, too ruthlessly to deal with:
Screams shattering the air as the man of madness descended upon the land-
Six hearts filled with determination-
The evil man calling forth his legions of horror, laying waste everywhere-
Two powers flowing, conflicting: One of hate and darkness, the other of light and love-
The ultimate clash-
The ultimate sacrifice-
Too fast!
Gods, no!
Six souls crying out in pure sorrow....
The six heroes falling as the earth itself wailed Her pain and despair as Her skin was utterly polluted and the heroes began to die....
One yellow-clad figure, looking her way-
A waterfall-
Something calling-
“GAH!”
Maeve eyes snapped open and she toppled onto her side, breathing raggedly as her heart raced out of control. In the aftermath of the vision, she could only think one thing:
What the f---.... What the f---.... What the f---.... What the f---....
“Something’s calling me,” Maeve whispered moments later, and slowly sat up. “But who or what could it possibly be, and what would it possibly want with ME?”
Ethan spent the morning out in the courtyard practicing his ninja techniques. There was a certain excitement and tension in the air that made him want to push himself even harder. Finally after months and years of training he'd mastered the ultimate Air Wind Ninja technique of flight. He soared through the clouds unaided seeing the Citadel below him from a whole new level. The cool air filled him with utmost joy. The sky was his playground now and forever or so it seemed. The Earth seemed so small from up above. He didn't fly off to far but stayed within the grounds of the Academy. He finally landed on the beach, calmed himself down, and began to meditate hoping to find some sort of relief from everything he'd gone through the night before. He was at peace, he felt the sun shine brightly on his face, a gentle cool breeze blow by him, and he heard the waves gently crash upon the shore.
"Aw, crap." said Impy upon seeing Cyber Cam was fixed.
"That's right, hip-hop kiddo, i'm back."
"Why in the hell do you use that god-awful ancient slang?"
"Because I'm programmed to."
The teen muttered to himself that it was further proof that Cam brings shame to the word "nerd", and then he finished off the last bites of his Salmon Cocoon*one of his better dishes, which was basically fry bread completely encompasing salmon*
Suddenly he had a vision of a beautiful girl outside the waterfall enterance.
"Woah."
"Last time I use Ethan's 'oregano' for my fry bread." he said, shrugging it off.
Little did he know that the vision was not the product of substance abuse, but rather something much more important.
Ethan continued flying into the starry expanse back to the Academy, as he had spent the remainder of the day meditating and clearing his mind.
Then, for a moment, it looked as though a star had fallen to Earth. A light flared in the woods beneath him, hot and bright. Curiosity got to him, and he decided to make a "pitstop", so he landed a few feet away from what seemed to be a camp of some sort. But it wasn't a camp, even though there was a small fire.
A girl was there, long black hair whipping though the air as she went through the motions of a kata. Her moves were raw, but powerful, and she seemed to know what she was doing. Ethan dared not disturb her: It was like watching poetry in motion.
As he watched, the girl suddenly came to a halt, and spun to face his hiding place. “Show yourself,” she said clearly.
“I mean you no harm, I assure you,” Ethan called.
“Show yourself,” she repeated, “and I’ll decide that.”
The young man slowly moved out of the bush. “See, I have no weapon or intention of harming you.”
“I can’t be sure of that,” the girl answered, eyes narrowed and glowing in the firelight. “What’re you doing here?"
“I live here,” Ethan readily replied. “Well, not here in the woods, but up at that Citadel.”
She frowned. “What Citadel?”
“You see that mountain over there?” he asked as he pointed north.
The girl glanced that way. “Yeah. What about it?”
“You see that citadel on it?”
The other half of the conversation shook her head.
“Here, let me help,” Ethan offered, stepping forward. “Give me your hand.”
The girl held out her hand, but in a warning gesture. “Nothing funny now, or I’ll get ninja on your skinny ass,” she stated.
“Nothing funny. Here, look.” Ethan gradually began rising from the ground.
The girl’s jaw dropped as she watched. “You.... can fly?”
“Yeah. It’s great.”
“But how?!”
“I too am ninja.”
“But ninjas don’t fly!” the girl protested. “You’d have to be some sorta kami or something.”
“Kami(god)?” Ethan laughed. “Nah. I’m just an Air Ninja.”
“But ninjas don’t fly!” the girl insisted. “Dad told me most of that supposed power is just bulls---t, and he should know.”
“Bulls---t? I hardly think so,” the red-clad boy snorted. “It’s the most highly advanced technique of the Air Wind Ninja of the Hayate Way Wind Ninja Academy. It’s taken me years to master it.”
“I don’t get any of this,” the girl growled from the ground.
Ethan landed next to her. “I’m from the Hayate Way Wind Ninja Academy.”
“What the Hells is that?”
“A Ninja Academy. The school and its techniques span back eons.”
“A ninja school in Blue Bay Har- Whoa. Wait. Wait a f--kin’ second.” Those green eyes widened. “My Gods. THAT explains the Ranger!”
“What Ranger?” Ethan asked as he stood there, puzzled.
“Ranger. Rangers. The Ninja Rangers. The yellow one that looked my way,” the girl ranted, beginning to pace. “That school’s how they knew the way of the ninja outside of the East!”
“Yellow Ranger? What did this Ranger look like?” the other teen inquired.
“How should I know? He was in costume,” the girl told him shortly. “But he looked my way as he and the others died.”
“No, I mean the costume.”
“Yellow, duh.”
“I mean, what did the costume look like? I’m looking for specifics here,” Ethan volleyed.
She shook her head. “It looked like a helmet and spandex with silver arms. There was some sorta growling beastie on the helmet.... A cat or something, I can’t be sure.”
“Holy s--t,” Ethan breathed. “You’ve gotta come with me!”
Now it was her turn to be puzzled. “Why? I don’t even know you.” She paused. “Come to think of it, you never gave me your name, either.”
“Well, I guess introducing myself would be the first step, no? My name is Ethan Hunt.”
“Maeve Iwayami. I would say 'hajimeshite’, but I can’t be sure yet if it’s a pleasure to meet you or not.” The yellow-clad young woman crossed her arms over her well-rounded chest. “So what’s so urgent?”
“The Ranger you saw was a very good friend of mine, Dustin.”
Maeve’s eyes bugged out. “You knew him??!”
“Yes, I grew up at Ninja Ops,” Ethan told her. “My parents died when Lothor invaded the school, so Cam and the others took me in and took care of me.”
“Holy....” The raven-hair shook her head again. “Then why’re you telling me all this?”
“If you saw Dustin in your dream, then you’re the one he’s chosen to succeed him,” Ethan said.
“I didn’t dream it. I saw them die,” Maeve retorted.
Ethan seemed a bit taken aback, and saddened. “Regardless-”
“Wait.” She cut him off again. “You said I had to succeed Dustin. You mean I have to be the next Yellow Ranger?!”
“It’s what he wanted, apparently,” Ethan commented.
Maeve grabbed his right bicep in a very hard hold. “Where do I sign?!"
Ethan pried her hand off. “Well first, we gotta get you to Cam. I don’t even know if the powers are still around.”
“Yeah whatever, let’s just go! We can take my bike,” Maeve said excitedly.
“Your bike? That’ll take too long.”
“Bad choice of words. It’s a motorcycle.”
“That’ll do, but I’ve been meaning to try my powers out, since I’m just now mastering this flying thing,” Ethan mentioned.
“Right. So I head north?” Maeve wanted to know as she busily gathered her things and put the fire out.
“Yes.”
“Gotcha. See you there then, flyboy.”
“I’ll beat ya there,” Ethan returned, and took off, flying with intense speed.
“Whatever,” the kunoichi laughed, and started racing down the mountain. “Hot damn, the Gods were listening! WHOOOOO HOOOOOO!”
Somewhere on Earth, Q was meeting his girlfriend, Valerie, for a movie. He gets there and sees a young beautiful lady waiting at the front door. He comes up behind her and puts his over her eyes.
"Guess who?"
"Hmm I don't know...who ever you are my boyfriend is coming, and he might not like you hitting on me."
"But what would you do if I was your boyfriend?"
"Heh. Well let me see if you are him?"
Q released her eyes. And she turn to see him. They kiss.
"I should thank Mr. Luther for letting you off."
"Yeah remind me to thank him again."
To Valerie, Q is head security at Luther Industries, which is actually a cover for Lothor.
Little does he know the secret that he hides from her is actually not one to her.
"Come on we're to miss the movie!"
Maeve had abandoned her motorcycle a while ago. The trees had gotten too thick for her to maneuver through, so she jogged instead, a small flashlight in hand as she followed the rising sound of a waterfall. Ethan flew in overhead and landed in front of her. "Couldn't get your ride through here huh?"
Maeve jumped and almost slugged the young man, but held herself in check. "A little warning next time would be nice," she growled. "So what if I couldn't get my bike through. I'm here, aren't I?"
Ethan snickered, "I only asked you if you wanted a ride. The rest was your fault. You should have come with me and I could have flown us there with no problems.," Ethan said.
"Shut up, flyboy. I got here and that's what counts. So where's this Citadel?" the ravenhair asked impatiently, flipping her gold bangs away from her eyes.
"Ever heard the saying Patience is a virtue."Ethan said.
"Ever hear the saying 'Patience is a virtue I don't have'? Now c'mon, what's the deal?," Maeve retorted.
"Air, Earth, And Water as one.," Ethan said. They were teleported into the main grounds of the Citadel. Maeve jumped, and shook her head, rubbing her eyes. "Whoa," she muttered. "That was weird."
She took a few looks around. "So.... this is behind that waterfall?"
"Yeah. Pretty cool, huh?," Ethan said as Cam walked up and joined them.
"Welcome to the Hayate Way Wind Ninja Academy, Maeve."
The teen started. "Who're you and how'd you know my name?" she demanded, aiming the flashlight at Cam's face. "I had a feeling you'd be coming with Ethan."
"That doesn't answer my questions," Maeve grumbled. "But anyway, what do I have to do to kick some alien ass?
"
"Slow down abit here. Training comes first."
"Training? What training? I can take care of myself," the girl protested. "My parents taught me everything they knew about the way of Shinobi and the Celtic warrior."
"Regardless. Training comes first."
Maeve snarled low in her throat, a frustrated sound. "What's the holdup? Do you need a Ranger right away or not?"
"Relax, Maeve. Cam knows what he's doing.," Ethan said.
"Okay. Fine. You wanna test me, go ahead. I'll get it all done in no time flat," the kunoichi snapped. "But don't complain with this evil alien comes to whip your asses and I'm unable to back you up 'cause I'm still in 'training'. Let's start right now."
"I agree with her, Cam."
"We need to move now. We can't be sitting on our asses for training.," Ethan said. "Okay. We need to get her an Earth Wind Ninja training ninja suit."
"I agree Ethan. Follow me." They were taken into an underground chamber.
Maeve didn't say anything else, just smirked as she took in her surroundings, memorizing the details of everything. Making an unfamiliar place familiar was one rule she'd been taught again and again in her training. Ethan felt right at home.
''Hey wait up!'' yelled a voice from behind. It turned out to be Kathryn, Ethan's girlfriend. Kathryn pecked Ethan on the cheek. ''So Cammy, what'd you need?''
Cam glared at the name 'Cammy'.
"It's been too long since I've been done here." Cam opened up a small box that contained the Wind and Thunder Morphers and the Cyclone Morpher.
"Ethan, you will be the Red Ranger with the power of the hawk. Maeve, the Yellow Lion of the Earth is yours. Kathryn will be the Blue Ranger. Together, the 3 of you will be known as the Wind Power Rangers.''
"Yeah-hah!" Maeve cheered, grabbing the appropriate morpher. "Those space-creeps are in for it now!"
They each took their respective morphers and put them on. Cam kept walking,
"This VR system is state of the art. It works in conjunction with each of your own ninja powers. No outside force will be able to enter and exit the simulation. I'll be monitoring you from the Mainframe here in Ninja Ops while you guys are in the VR Chamber. There will be mission objectives that you must follow and levels to complete, please treat this an actual mission. You will not need to morph before you enter it. In each mission you will have a point man depending on each situation of the mission. You will battle the villains Rangers before you have faced. Not only will this VR system help you master your skills and hone them every further, it will also serve as a "proving ground" if you will for many new tools and weaponry. Some of the weaponry includes new Zords, how they are created will be based on the combat data recorded from the Mainframe as to how these new Zords will work, they will utilize the same Power Sphere Combat System that all the Megazords use. The VR gear you will be using is already there and has been already been implemented into your Ninja Form suits. And as always good luck and may your powers protect you."
Maeve grinned, eyes glittering. "I think I'm gonna like this job."
"I guess it's time. I've been wanting to do this for a long time! NINJA STORM! RANGER FORM HA!"
Ethan transformed into the Red Wind Ranger. "POWER OF AIR!"
"Whoa. I'M THE RED WIND RANGER! YES!"
"So that's how it works," Maeve observed.
Ethan slowly took off his helmet and looked into a mirror. "Wow. I make this look good."
"I'll probably make mine look better," Maeve responded, only partly joking.
Ethan gave her a look. "Why do you say that?"
The ravenhair grinned even more brightly. "'Cause I got curves."
"Yeah you'll make that look damn good.," he said looking her up and down.
Kathryn, smacked Ethan.
"You know it," Maeve crowed, giving her hips a quick sway and her breastt a quick shake.
"Ninja Storm, Ninja Form," Ethan said as he powered down.
"Thanks for the demo," Maeve stated, adjusting the strap of her new morpher. "So how do we start this whole training thing? Or do I get to kick ass right away?"
"Okay. On this table are a set of two devices. You'll put these on like you would be wearing a set of head phones," Cam said as he opened a small drawer before the threshold of the VR Chamber and put the small devices on a small silver table.
Maeve plucked one of the objects from the surface and examined it critically before putting it on.
"So this has been your little project all these months, Cam. Sweet they even have our Ranger symbols on them," Ethan commented as he put the devices on.
"Yeah, I finally perfected it late last night after I heard you get up.," Cam said.
"Any time you're ready?" the new Yellow Ranger asked impatiently from the VR Chamber.
"Let's go. We're ready, Cam," Red Wind Ranger mentioned, following Maeve in.
Cam nodded and closed the huge magnetic chamber door behind them.
"Well, looks like we're on our own," Ethan said.
His new teammate was looking around the chamber, taking in the dull, metallic walls and the size of the area. "So what can I expect?" she wanted to know.
"Even I haven't been in here before," Ethan explained as he took in all of the sights.
There was a small hum beginning to build up below them. The lights went out and a set of 6 chairs rose from the floor. "Please sit down," Cam said over the loudspeaker.
Maeve did so, wondering what the challenge in this would be. She was quickly getting bored. Not that she had a short attention span, unlike her predecessor, but she preferred being in action.
"Think of this as kind of like entering The Matrix. Sit back and relax," Cam commented.
"This should be good," the teenaged girl remarked, and tilted the chair onto its back legs, arms behind her head.
Ethan relaxed in his own chair. In a matter of seconds the visors had come to life: The chairs were arranged in 2 rows of 3 with each row of 3 facing each other. Maeve sat directly in front of Ethan. "Let's do this thing. Ready?" he questioned as he prepared his mind for what was ahead.
"When you are, babe," the other teen said cheekily, still in her relaxed pose.
Within seconds the devices activated and a red energy beam appeared before Ethan's eyes. "Well. Here goes nothing," Ethan said to himself
Maeve blinked a couple of times, adjusting to the gold light right in her line of vision. "Okay. Now what?"
The room had completely changed. Now it seemed they were outside in the woods.
Out of nowhere, Kelzaks appeared left and right. "Ummm, Kelzaks Party of 10," Ethan noticed.
"What the f--k're these things?!" Maeve yelped, taking a fighting stance.
"Oh great. This day just keeps getting worse. Damn I HATE THESE freakin' THINGS!" Ethan screamed as he started beating Kelzaks down.
Maeve gave an angry shout as one of the weird things tried to grab her, and high-kicked it in the jaw, sending it right to the floor before she whirled on the others and attacked. Her moves were all power, almost no grace, raw and edgy, but boy, did they WORK.
Ethan fought them all as best he could, and got a cocky smile on his face. "I think we oughtta kick this bitch into high gear. What you think Maeve?"
"I've been in high gear since I started! There's no other way to fight!" the girl yelled, and pile-drove a Kelzak into the ground.
Ethan clearly showed signs of annoyance. "I meant this.... NINJA STORM! RANGER FORM! HA!" He transformed into the Red Wind Ranger and pulled out his Ninja Sword.
Maeve snorted. "I'll do that only if I wanna make the fight a little too easy," she sassed, and tripped a Kelzak, slamming her hand into the back of its neck and dancing away as it fell.
"Whatever," Ethan growled as he slashed a few Kelzaks in half.
Cam chimed in, "You’re supposed to work together, not fight each other."
"I'm not fighting him. You don't see me touching him, right?" the Yellow Ranger chirped, and rammed a Kelzak's head into a “tree”. "There, now they're thinning out."
"Then what would you call it, Maeve?" Cam impatiently questioned.
"Verbal sparring," Maeve laughed, and finished one of the last Kelzaks.
"Wind Staff! It's time to step up to the bar kiddies!" the Red Ranger exclaimed as he typed in a new code into the Ninja Sword. The Sword transformed into a gold and red version of the Thunder Staff.
Meanwhile, Maeve simply leaned against a "tree" and watched as her new teammate took out the rest of the threats.
"Too easy," Ethan muttered as the last of the Kelzaks were defeated.
"Like I said," the girl remarked, rather insolently.
Outside the VR Chamber, Cam dropped his head into his hands and wondered if making Maeve a Ranger had been such a good idea.
Meanwhile, inside the VR Chamber...
"Hey, Cam, whozat lady in the VR Chamber? Why does she have a morpher?" says a certain person.
"Errrrr...ummm..." says Cam.
"You're giving out powers, aren't you?"
"Well...ummm...sorta..."
"Where are my powers?"
"Ermmm....ummm...."
"Where are my damn powers?!?"
"Eheheheh..."
"You promised me powers last four x-mas's!"
"Fine..." Cam says, throwing him the Cyclone Morpher.
"The Cyclone Morpher? The freakin' Cyclone Morpher?!? I am touched, man!"
"Well I DID promise."
"Dude, you are SOOOO off my hit list"
"Hit list?"
"Errrrr....I mean....my....ummmm.....frisbee."
"Eheh, ooookay."
"Samurai Storm! Ranger Form!"
A flash of green light.
"Holy Crap! IT WORKED! IT WORKED!"
"Wait...am I taller?"
"No."
"Phew, scared I might pull a Justin!"
"A what?"
"A...ummmm....frisbee."
"So are you going to enter the VR Chamber?"
"Ok."
Suddenly, walking through that needlessly high-tech looking door, he felt like he was in the same room. Except with sand, and two other people, and people in black uniforms who had the crap beaten out of them.
"Wow, that took a long time"
------
Episode 1: Return of the Storm Pt.1
Everything was so dark. Just shadowy. 2 Figures walked in out of the darkness, bringing light with them. ''Don't do it Rachel, come over to our side......''
Suddenly their loud yells we're heard as they we're struck, and flew to the ground. Their images, lost and those of the Blue Wind Ranger, and Yellow Wind Ranger, being blasted to the ground, and starting to spark, with evil laugher.
There was a blurry vision of the Mega Battle Red Wind Ranger, who stood still strong and firm. ''I guess it's just you and me Shadow Ranger.''
''Don't do it Shane!!'' yelled another male voice, that of the Green Samurai Ranger.
There was a giant explosion, and the helmet of the Red Ranger flew to the ground, with fire reflecting on the visor.
Suddenly a African-American Male woke up, sweat pouring from his forehead.
''That dream again....'' he thought. ''What the hell does it mean? I....we.....we destroyed those rangers 2 monthes ago!!''
His name is Quentin Scott Roberts. He very much preferred Q. But, unknown to the public, and also very few beings, he was the Black Shadow Ranger, of Lothor's Dark Ninjas. Not the wimpy, feeble, unnesscessary Lothor, that had disgraced the real Lothor's name so long ago.
This was Lothor.
The true Lothor.
A wiped his forehead with a cloth. ''The must prepare.....for the fate Lothor and I shall bring forth to the world.''
Meanwhile, in a Ninja Academy, that of Blue Bay Harbor, slept a young man. This young man's name was Ethan Hunt. The Ninja Academy, was that of the Hayate Way. He was having visions, dark visions. They had become even more apparent, after the death of his mentor, Shane. Thunder flashed outside as he scrunched up his face.
"Mommy! Daddy! Shane! Please don't die! Don't leave me!," the little boy of his visions said as he watched over his parents' and mentor's fallen bodies.
''SHANE!!!!'' yelled Ethan as he woke from his slumber. He shook his head, and than picked up his katana. He looked to his bedside, his love, Kathryn was still asleep. He carefully straped it onto himself, and snuck out of the room. He wallked outside to the mountain Cidadel practicing his Hayate Ninja Style, hoping to get it off my mind so he could get some rest for a change.
Zooming down to a room, we find Ninja Ops. A young boy, maybe around the age of 11, was whining. ''Oh come on Cyber Cam, let me just stay up for a few more hours! I'll go to sleep without any hassle at all!''
The Cyber Cam program was fuzzy and flashed on and off. ''No way yo!! That wh-wh-wh-ack!! You need you s-sl-sleep!!''
Obviously over the years, and the wreckage, Cyber Cam's program had begun to degrade.
''Fine!'' yelled the boy, as he went to his bed, and the Cyber Cam program deactivated. The boy snickered, as he snuck right back out, avoiding all Security Programs, that would show his awakening. Now, this special boy inparticular was named Impy Wolfson. He quickly returned to his project, a chainsaw with a comunicator built in, a small viewing screen, a mp3 player, and a radar cloaking device.
He called it C.H.A.I.N.Y. It stood for Cybernetic Horrifying Apple Initializing Nizzle Yuppie. It was obvious however though, that he just wanted to call it Chainy. He had started working on it 3 monthes ago for his favorite mentor, Dustin. Sadly, the events on the second month rendered it useless.
Yawning, he finished it up, by putting the Tenkuu Samurai Symbol over the Yellow Hayate one, to finish it up. He quietly fell asleep. Luckily it was one of the times he wouldn't need cleaning spray, a box of band-aids, and one of Ethan's shirts. His dreams were the same as always, dreams of a mysterious stranger with a hat and a candy cane saying "If the door leads to the mantis, SO FALLS THE EARTH!". Strange eh?
Elsewhere a girl danced wild and fast. Music raged on, as did the girl. She became one with the beats and rhythm. Her name was Maeve Iwayami. Lights reflected from her long black hair which flashed with her movements. This is how she released her energy. This is how she loved living. Maeve’s breath was becoming ragged, but she was a superb athlete, able to keep going long after others had quit from exhaustion.
Yet, for the first time, she stopped before she was good and ready. The young woman left the dance floor when a slow song started up, pushing her way through the close-pressed partners and heading for one of the back exits, shoving the door open and escaping into the night. The shops and streets began to thin out, giving way to the suburbs. Maeve passed it all by, emerald eyes staring straight ahead, a bit unfocused. Eventually, even the suburbs fell behind her. She kept walking, until she topped a small hillock and found it.
There was a large depression in the earth, absolutely lifeless. The soil was scorched to ash, rocks blackened, no plant life within a ten-mile radius. This is where Blue Bay Harbor's Heroes had fallen. They had only been known under one name. The Power Rangers.
She hadn’t actually been there when it happened. The small Iwayami family was picnicking a few miles away when evil returned. But she’d felt something was wrong, and her parents had brought her there at her insistence. They’d arrived after the fact, to see the Ninja Rangers dead or dying, their blood soaking into the dirt. She hadn’t seen their faces, but just once, the Yellow Ranger seemed to look her way, as if pleading for something....
Touching the ground now, Maeve could almost hear the Rangers’ cries of despair, could almost feel their anguish at having been unable to protect Blue Bay Harbor. She felt a cold energy seep against her sternum, and knew it was the lingering aura of evil. She was no psychic, but being born to two highly historical, mystical, powerful cultures had made her highly intuitive; more sensitive to these things than other people would be. Everything in Maeve screamed that this evil was unnatural, truly vile. She loathed it with all her being, this sickness of the soul. It had to be purged from the universe for once and for all. The trouble was she didn't know anyone that could help.
She didn’t know who could stand up to this evil, this Lothor and his Dark Ninjas, now that the heroes had fallen.
Ethan had finally returned to bed hours before sunrise. He slept until the sunlight came pouring through his bedroom window. Cam had just got done fixing Cyber Cam and knocked on his door. Kay had already showered, gotten ready and had left for the day.
"Who is it?," Ethan groggily asked.
"It's Cam."
"Come on in, Cam."
Cam opened the door and walked into the room.
"I see you were out last night again. The visions still must be getting to you, huh? I heard you leave your room around like 3 am or 4. You must have been shocked. I watched you from the balcony. I've never ever seen you wield that katana like you did earlier this morning. Cyber Cam's back up and running smoothly again so no worries there.," Cam said watching Ethan slowly wake up and come around.
"Cam, they have gotten worse. Ever since Shane died they have been worse. I don't get it at all. I mean last night I beared my entire soul into that katana's blade. I figured maybe just maybe a nice little early morning training in the rain might do me some good.," Ethan said.
Cam pondered to himself, "Well I hate to say this but it's about to get much worse. They're coming. I feel it in my very core. I just hope you're ready to follow the legacy of your father and mentor. I'll be down at Ninja Ops if you need anything, Ethan."
"Thanks, Cam."
Cam nodded and walked downstairs to Ninja Ops. Ethan himself had gotten out of bed and walked on the balcony of his room in The Citadel. The sun gently shimmered on the water below and the waterfall across from his window. It was a beautiful day and he knew he had to take full advantage of it.
In Lothor's Space Fortress: Bridge, Q walked in wearing full ninja uniform.
"You summoned me?"
Lothor stood there. looking out at Earth. They were facing Egypt.
"Yes, we finally located the one we seek...in Egypt."
"Great, shall I rally the troops?"
"Not yet. Where pray tell are the White Spirit Ranger and Marigold Thunder Ranger?"
"Dunno. Haven't seen them for two months. You want me to search for them?"
"No need. Why dont you go to Earth and visit your woman...Valerie, was it?"
"Yes... that's her name...Thank you, sir."
"Well look who finally decided to get up," Mrs. Iwayami drawled as her daughter blearily stumbled into the cheerful yellow-decorated kitchen.
Maeve shot her mother a Look. "It's ten in the morning, Mami," she groaned. "That's too f--kin' early."
"I'm not the one who stayed out until three-thirty in the morning," the green-eyed older woman replied, picking up the newspaper and eating a forkful of poundcake. Mrs. Iwayami never had breakfast or lunch, just brunch. She claimed it helped keep her weight in check.
“You need to pay attention to important body signs," the younger woman grumbled, "like the sign that means ‘Shut up, I haven’t had my coffee yet'.”
"I'm also not the one who forgot to turn off her alarm clock," Mrs. Iwayami reminded.
"But then again, you can fall asleep real easy. Once I'm up, I'm up," Maeve retorted, getting some coffee. "Ah, coffee. Nectar of the gods. When it comes to caffeine, just say YES OH YES!"
Her mother chuckled. "So how will you keep yourself out of trouble today?"
"Thought I'd take my bike and ride up towards the mountains," Maeve mentioned. "Get some practice done."
"You won't forget your pepper spray, will you?" her mother questioned.
"Have I ever forgotten it?"
"Don't take that tone with me, kiddo. Your father and I gave that to you because we worry. You know that."
"A real kunoichi never needed pepper spray," Maeve grumped.
"You aren't a real kunoichi, despite Kibami's best efforts," Mrs. Iwayami reminded her offspring.
Maeve sighed, and nodded defeat. "Wakata yo, Mami," she said. (I understand, Mom.)
The Irish woman patted her daughter's shoulder, and accepted this.
Half an hour later, Maeve had packed a lunch, showered and dressed in a white tank top, baggy yellow slacks and a bright yellow backpack, and taken the sidecar off her motorcycle before donning helmet and leather jacket and taking off.
It was a long drive, but the girl didn't mind. It was worth it to reach one of her favorite places: A clearing in the thick mountain forest, a rocky river running through the center. Maeve always felt so comfortable there; perhaps her name had something to do with it.
Iwayami. Stone Shadow.
Maeve parked her bike at the foot of the mountain she so loved, taking off her helmet and hanging it on the handlebars before dismounting and arming the security system. Then, she started hiking, humming to herself.
It took about ten minutes to reach her little clearing. Once there, the teen put her backpack down and dug a small crystal vial from one of the side pockets. It was full of sake, snuck from her parents’ liquor cabinet and purified by four different ceremonies: Taoist, Shinto, Buddhist and Druidic. Maeve raised the vial to the sky, then poured a few droplets in all directions, including the center. Then she sat the sake aside and knelt in the center of the sake-circle, hands flat on her thighs and head bowed, eyes closed.
This was her meditation ritual. This was how she found her center: The power of her heart.
Maeve breathed slow and deep, emptying her mind of all thought, all emotion: Peace awaited her.
Or so she thought.
The vision came too swiftly, too ruthlessly to deal with:
Screams shattering the air as the man of madness descended upon the land-
Six hearts filled with determination-
The evil man calling forth his legions of horror, laying waste everywhere-
Two powers flowing, conflicting: One of hate and darkness, the other of light and love-
The ultimate clash-
The ultimate sacrifice-
Too fast!
Gods, no!
Six souls crying out in pure sorrow....
The six heroes falling as the earth itself wailed Her pain and despair as Her skin was utterly polluted and the heroes began to die....
One yellow-clad figure, looking her way-
A waterfall-
Something calling-
“GAH!”
Maeve eyes snapped open and she toppled onto her side, breathing raggedly as her heart raced out of control. In the aftermath of the vision, she could only think one thing:
What the f---.... What the f---.... What the f---.... What the f---....
“Something’s calling me,” Maeve whispered moments later, and slowly sat up. “But who or what could it possibly be, and what would it possibly want with ME?”
Ethan spent the morning out in the courtyard practicing his ninja techniques. There was a certain excitement and tension in the air that made him want to push himself even harder. Finally after months and years of training he'd mastered the ultimate Air Wind Ninja technique of flight. He soared through the clouds unaided seeing the Citadel below him from a whole new level. The cool air filled him with utmost joy. The sky was his playground now and forever or so it seemed. The Earth seemed so small from up above. He didn't fly off to far but stayed within the grounds of the Academy. He finally landed on the beach, calmed himself down, and began to meditate hoping to find some sort of relief from everything he'd gone through the night before. He was at peace, he felt the sun shine brightly on his face, a gentle cool breeze blow by him, and he heard the waves gently crash upon the shore.
"Aw, crap." said Impy upon seeing Cyber Cam was fixed.
"That's right, hip-hop kiddo, i'm back."
"Why in the hell do you use that god-awful ancient slang?"
"Because I'm programmed to."
The teen muttered to himself that it was further proof that Cam brings shame to the word "nerd", and then he finished off the last bites of his Salmon Cocoon*one of his better dishes, which was basically fry bread completely encompasing salmon*
Suddenly he had a vision of a beautiful girl outside the waterfall enterance.
"Woah."
"Last time I use Ethan's 'oregano' for my fry bread." he said, shrugging it off.
Little did he know that the vision was not the product of substance abuse, but rather something much more important.
Ethan continued flying into the starry expanse back to the Academy, as he had spent the remainder of the day meditating and clearing his mind.
Then, for a moment, it looked as though a star had fallen to Earth. A light flared in the woods beneath him, hot and bright. Curiosity got to him, and he decided to make a "pitstop", so he landed a few feet away from what seemed to be a camp of some sort. But it wasn't a camp, even though there was a small fire.
A girl was there, long black hair whipping though the air as she went through the motions of a kata. Her moves were raw, but powerful, and she seemed to know what she was doing. Ethan dared not disturb her: It was like watching poetry in motion.
As he watched, the girl suddenly came to a halt, and spun to face his hiding place. “Show yourself,” she said clearly.
“I mean you no harm, I assure you,” Ethan called.
“Show yourself,” she repeated, “and I’ll decide that.”
The young man slowly moved out of the bush. “See, I have no weapon or intention of harming you.”
“I can’t be sure of that,” the girl answered, eyes narrowed and glowing in the firelight. “What’re you doing here?"
“I live here,” Ethan readily replied. “Well, not here in the woods, but up at that Citadel.”
She frowned. “What Citadel?”
“You see that mountain over there?” he asked as he pointed north.
The girl glanced that way. “Yeah. What about it?”
“You see that citadel on it?”
The other half of the conversation shook her head.
“Here, let me help,” Ethan offered, stepping forward. “Give me your hand.”
The girl held out her hand, but in a warning gesture. “Nothing funny now, or I’ll get ninja on your skinny ass,” she stated.
“Nothing funny. Here, look.” Ethan gradually began rising from the ground.
The girl’s jaw dropped as she watched. “You.... can fly?”
“Yeah. It’s great.”
“But how?!”
“I too am ninja.”
“But ninjas don’t fly!” the girl protested. “You’d have to be some sorta kami or something.”
“Kami(god)?” Ethan laughed. “Nah. I’m just an Air Ninja.”
“But ninjas don’t fly!” the girl insisted. “Dad told me most of that supposed power is just bulls---t, and he should know.”
“Bulls---t? I hardly think so,” the red-clad boy snorted. “It’s the most highly advanced technique of the Air Wind Ninja of the Hayate Way Wind Ninja Academy. It’s taken me years to master it.”
“I don’t get any of this,” the girl growled from the ground.
Ethan landed next to her. “I’m from the Hayate Way Wind Ninja Academy.”
“What the Hells is that?”
“A Ninja Academy. The school and its techniques span back eons.”
“A ninja school in Blue Bay Har- Whoa. Wait. Wait a f--kin’ second.” Those green eyes widened. “My Gods. THAT explains the Ranger!”
“What Ranger?” Ethan asked as he stood there, puzzled.
“Ranger. Rangers. The Ninja Rangers. The yellow one that looked my way,” the girl ranted, beginning to pace. “That school’s how they knew the way of the ninja outside of the East!”
“Yellow Ranger? What did this Ranger look like?” the other teen inquired.
“How should I know? He was in costume,” the girl told him shortly. “But he looked my way as he and the others died.”
“No, I mean the costume.”
“Yellow, duh.”
“I mean, what did the costume look like? I’m looking for specifics here,” Ethan volleyed.
She shook her head. “It looked like a helmet and spandex with silver arms. There was some sorta growling beastie on the helmet.... A cat or something, I can’t be sure.”
“Holy s--t,” Ethan breathed. “You’ve gotta come with me!”
Now it was her turn to be puzzled. “Why? I don’t even know you.” She paused. “Come to think of it, you never gave me your name, either.”
“Well, I guess introducing myself would be the first step, no? My name is Ethan Hunt.”
“Maeve Iwayami. I would say 'hajimeshite’, but I can’t be sure yet if it’s a pleasure to meet you or not.” The yellow-clad young woman crossed her arms over her well-rounded chest. “So what’s so urgent?”
“The Ranger you saw was a very good friend of mine, Dustin.”
Maeve’s eyes bugged out. “You knew him??!”
“Yes, I grew up at Ninja Ops,” Ethan told her. “My parents died when Lothor invaded the school, so Cam and the others took me in and took care of me.”
“Holy....” The raven-hair shook her head again. “Then why’re you telling me all this?”
“If you saw Dustin in your dream, then you’re the one he’s chosen to succeed him,” Ethan said.
“I didn’t dream it. I saw them die,” Maeve retorted.
Ethan seemed a bit taken aback, and saddened. “Regardless-”
“Wait.” She cut him off again. “You said I had to succeed Dustin. You mean I have to be the next Yellow Ranger?!”
“It’s what he wanted, apparently,” Ethan commented.
Maeve grabbed his right bicep in a very hard hold. “Where do I sign?!"
Ethan pried her hand off. “Well first, we gotta get you to Cam. I don’t even know if the powers are still around.”
“Yeah whatever, let’s just go! We can take my bike,” Maeve said excitedly.
“Your bike? That’ll take too long.”
“Bad choice of words. It’s a motorcycle.”
“That’ll do, but I’ve been meaning to try my powers out, since I’m just now mastering this flying thing,” Ethan mentioned.
“Right. So I head north?” Maeve wanted to know as she busily gathered her things and put the fire out.
“Yes.”
“Gotcha. See you there then, flyboy.”
“I’ll beat ya there,” Ethan returned, and took off, flying with intense speed.
“Whatever,” the kunoichi laughed, and started racing down the mountain. “Hot damn, the Gods were listening! WHOOOOO HOOOOOO!”
Somewhere on Earth, Q was meeting his girlfriend, Valerie, for a movie. He gets there and sees a young beautiful lady waiting at the front door. He comes up behind her and puts his over her eyes.
"Guess who?"
"Hmm I don't know...who ever you are my boyfriend is coming, and he might not like you hitting on me."
"But what would you do if I was your boyfriend?"
"Heh. Well let me see if you are him?"
Q released her eyes. And she turn to see him. They kiss.
"I should thank Mr. Luther for letting you off."
"Yeah remind me to thank him again."
To Valerie, Q is head security at Luther Industries, which is actually a cover for Lothor.
Little does he know the secret that he hides from her is actually not one to her.
"Come on we're to miss the movie!"
Maeve had abandoned her motorcycle a while ago. The trees had gotten too thick for her to maneuver through, so she jogged instead, a small flashlight in hand as she followed the rising sound of a waterfall. Ethan flew in overhead and landed in front of her. "Couldn't get your ride through here huh?"
Maeve jumped and almost slugged the young man, but held herself in check. "A little warning next time would be nice," she growled. "So what if I couldn't get my bike through. I'm here, aren't I?"
Ethan snickered, "I only asked you if you wanted a ride. The rest was your fault. You should have come with me and I could have flown us there with no problems.," Ethan said.
"Shut up, flyboy. I got here and that's what counts. So where's this Citadel?" the ravenhair asked impatiently, flipping her gold bangs away from her eyes.
"Ever heard the saying Patience is a virtue."Ethan said.
"Ever hear the saying 'Patience is a virtue I don't have'? Now c'mon, what's the deal?," Maeve retorted.
"Air, Earth, And Water as one.," Ethan said. They were teleported into the main grounds of the Citadel. Maeve jumped, and shook her head, rubbing her eyes. "Whoa," she muttered. "That was weird."
She took a few looks around. "So.... this is behind that waterfall?"
"Yeah. Pretty cool, huh?," Ethan said as Cam walked up and joined them.
"Welcome to the Hayate Way Wind Ninja Academy, Maeve."
The teen started. "Who're you and how'd you know my name?" she demanded, aiming the flashlight at Cam's face. "I had a feeling you'd be coming with Ethan."
"That doesn't answer my questions," Maeve grumbled. "But anyway, what do I have to do to kick some alien ass?
"
"Slow down abit here. Training comes first."
"Training? What training? I can take care of myself," the girl protested. "My parents taught me everything they knew about the way of Shinobi and the Celtic warrior."
"Regardless. Training comes first."
Maeve snarled low in her throat, a frustrated sound. "What's the holdup? Do you need a Ranger right away or not?"
"Relax, Maeve. Cam knows what he's doing.," Ethan said.
"Okay. Fine. You wanna test me, go ahead. I'll get it all done in no time flat," the kunoichi snapped. "But don't complain with this evil alien comes to whip your asses and I'm unable to back you up 'cause I'm still in 'training'. Let's start right now."
"I agree with her, Cam."
"We need to move now. We can't be sitting on our asses for training.," Ethan said. "Okay. We need to get her an Earth Wind Ninja training ninja suit."
"I agree Ethan. Follow me." They were taken into an underground chamber.
Maeve didn't say anything else, just smirked as she took in her surroundings, memorizing the details of everything. Making an unfamiliar place familiar was one rule she'd been taught again and again in her training. Ethan felt right at home.
''Hey wait up!'' yelled a voice from behind. It turned out to be Kathryn, Ethan's girlfriend. Kathryn pecked Ethan on the cheek. ''So Cammy, what'd you need?''
Cam glared at the name 'Cammy'.
"It's been too long since I've been done here." Cam opened up a small box that contained the Wind and Thunder Morphers and the Cyclone Morpher.
"Ethan, you will be the Red Ranger with the power of the hawk. Maeve, the Yellow Lion of the Earth is yours. Kathryn will be the Blue Ranger. Together, the 3 of you will be known as the Wind Power Rangers.''
"Yeah-hah!" Maeve cheered, grabbing the appropriate morpher. "Those space-creeps are in for it now!"
They each took their respective morphers and put them on. Cam kept walking,
"This VR system is state of the art. It works in conjunction with each of your own ninja powers. No outside force will be able to enter and exit the simulation. I'll be monitoring you from the Mainframe here in Ninja Ops while you guys are in the VR Chamber. There will be mission objectives that you must follow and levels to complete, please treat this an actual mission. You will not need to morph before you enter it. In each mission you will have a point man depending on each situation of the mission. You will battle the villains Rangers before you have faced. Not only will this VR system help you master your skills and hone them every further, it will also serve as a "proving ground" if you will for many new tools and weaponry. Some of the weaponry includes new Zords, how they are created will be based on the combat data recorded from the Mainframe as to how these new Zords will work, they will utilize the same Power Sphere Combat System that all the Megazords use. The VR gear you will be using is already there and has been already been implemented into your Ninja Form suits. And as always good luck and may your powers protect you."
Maeve grinned, eyes glittering. "I think I'm gonna like this job."
"I guess it's time. I've been wanting to do this for a long time! NINJA STORM! RANGER FORM HA!"
Ethan transformed into the Red Wind Ranger. "POWER OF AIR!"
"Whoa. I'M THE RED WIND RANGER! YES!"
"So that's how it works," Maeve observed.
Ethan slowly took off his helmet and looked into a mirror. "Wow. I make this look good."
"I'll probably make mine look better," Maeve responded, only partly joking.
Ethan gave her a look. "Why do you say that?"
The ravenhair grinned even more brightly. "'Cause I got curves."
"Yeah you'll make that look damn good.," he said looking her up and down.
Kathryn, smacked Ethan.
"You know it," Maeve crowed, giving her hips a quick sway and her breastt a quick shake.
"Ninja Storm, Ninja Form," Ethan said as he powered down.
"Thanks for the demo," Maeve stated, adjusting the strap of her new morpher. "So how do we start this whole training thing? Or do I get to kick ass right away?"
"Okay. On this table are a set of two devices. You'll put these on like you would be wearing a set of head phones," Cam said as he opened a small drawer before the threshold of the VR Chamber and put the small devices on a small silver table.
Maeve plucked one of the objects from the surface and examined it critically before putting it on.
"So this has been your little project all these months, Cam. Sweet they even have our Ranger symbols on them," Ethan commented as he put the devices on.
"Yeah, I finally perfected it late last night after I heard you get up.," Cam said.
"Any time you're ready?" the new Yellow Ranger asked impatiently from the VR Chamber.
"Let's go. We're ready, Cam," Red Wind Ranger mentioned, following Maeve in.
Cam nodded and closed the huge magnetic chamber door behind them.
"Well, looks like we're on our own," Ethan said.
His new teammate was looking around the chamber, taking in the dull, metallic walls and the size of the area. "So what can I expect?" she wanted to know.
"Even I haven't been in here before," Ethan explained as he took in all of the sights.
There was a small hum beginning to build up below them. The lights went out and a set of 6 chairs rose from the floor. "Please sit down," Cam said over the loudspeaker.
Maeve did so, wondering what the challenge in this would be. She was quickly getting bored. Not that she had a short attention span, unlike her predecessor, but she preferred being in action.
"Think of this as kind of like entering The Matrix. Sit back and relax," Cam commented.
"This should be good," the teenaged girl remarked, and tilted the chair onto its back legs, arms behind her head.
Ethan relaxed in his own chair. In a matter of seconds the visors had come to life: The chairs were arranged in 2 rows of 3 with each row of 3 facing each other. Maeve sat directly in front of Ethan. "Let's do this thing. Ready?" he questioned as he prepared his mind for what was ahead.
"When you are, babe," the other teen said cheekily, still in her relaxed pose.
Within seconds the devices activated and a red energy beam appeared before Ethan's eyes. "Well. Here goes nothing," Ethan said to himself
Maeve blinked a couple of times, adjusting to the gold light right in her line of vision. "Okay. Now what?"
The room had completely changed. Now it seemed they were outside in the woods.
Out of nowhere, Kelzaks appeared left and right. "Ummm, Kelzaks Party of 10," Ethan noticed.
"What the f--k're these things?!" Maeve yelped, taking a fighting stance.
"Oh great. This day just keeps getting worse. Damn I HATE THESE freakin' THINGS!" Ethan screamed as he started beating Kelzaks down.
Maeve gave an angry shout as one of the weird things tried to grab her, and high-kicked it in the jaw, sending it right to the floor before she whirled on the others and attacked. Her moves were all power, almost no grace, raw and edgy, but boy, did they WORK.
Ethan fought them all as best he could, and got a cocky smile on his face. "I think we oughtta kick this bitch into high gear. What you think Maeve?"
"I've been in high gear since I started! There's no other way to fight!" the girl yelled, and pile-drove a Kelzak into the ground.
Ethan clearly showed signs of annoyance. "I meant this.... NINJA STORM! RANGER FORM! HA!" He transformed into the Red Wind Ranger and pulled out his Ninja Sword.
Maeve snorted. "I'll do that only if I wanna make the fight a little too easy," she sassed, and tripped a Kelzak, slamming her hand into the back of its neck and dancing away as it fell.
"Whatever," Ethan growled as he slashed a few Kelzaks in half.
Cam chimed in, "You’re supposed to work together, not fight each other."
"I'm not fighting him. You don't see me touching him, right?" the Yellow Ranger chirped, and rammed a Kelzak's head into a “tree”. "There, now they're thinning out."
"Then what would you call it, Maeve?" Cam impatiently questioned.
"Verbal sparring," Maeve laughed, and finished one of the last Kelzaks.
"Wind Staff! It's time to step up to the bar kiddies!" the Red Ranger exclaimed as he typed in a new code into the Ninja Sword. The Sword transformed into a gold and red version of the Thunder Staff.
Meanwhile, Maeve simply leaned against a "tree" and watched as her new teammate took out the rest of the threats.
"Too easy," Ethan muttered as the last of the Kelzaks were defeated.
"Like I said," the girl remarked, rather insolently.
Outside the VR Chamber, Cam dropped his head into his hands and wondered if making Maeve a Ranger had been such a good idea.
Meanwhile, inside the VR Chamber...
"Hey, Cam, whozat lady in the VR Chamber? Why does she have a morpher?" says a certain person.
"Errrrr...ummm..." says Cam.
"You're giving out powers, aren't you?"
"Well...ummm...sorta..."
"Where are my powers?"
"Ermmm....ummm...."
"Where are my damn powers?!?"
"Eheheheh..."
"You promised me powers last four x-mas's!"
"Fine..." Cam says, throwing him the Cyclone Morpher.
"The Cyclone Morpher? The freakin' Cyclone Morpher?!? I am touched, man!"
"Well I DID promise."
"Dude, you are SOOOO off my hit list"
"Hit list?"
"Errrrr....I mean....my....ummmm.....frisbee."
"Eheh, ooookay."
"Samurai Storm! Ranger Form!"
A flash of green light.
"Holy Crap! IT WORKED! IT WORKED!"
"Wait...am I taller?"
"No."
"Phew, scared I might pull a Justin!"
"A what?"
"A...ummmm....frisbee."
"So are you going to enter the VR Chamber?"
"Ok."
Suddenly, walking through that needlessly high-tech looking door, he felt like he was in the same room. Except with sand, and two other people, and people in black uniforms who had the crap beaten out of them.
"Wow, that took a long time"