Storm Before the Calm

"I can't believe this!" Dustin yelled as he walked into ops with a box of oil in his hand. "I ordered four stroke oil and they give me this two stroke stuff! What am I supposed to do with that?"

Kelly and Shane laughed at the yellow Ranger; he turned to them and frowned. "What's so funny?"

"Forget about the oil and pack your bags!" Shane smiled.

"What? Where are we going?" Dustin asked.

"You wanted to freestyle," Kelly smiled as she walked up to the airhead. Dustin had recently announced his change in career. He no longer wanted to race, but to go back to freestyle motocross. "Guess what, you're going to get your chance!"

She gave his a form and told him to fill it out.

"This is for the US action games!" Dustin exclaimed. "Are you serious!?!"

"Yep, and by the way, on the sponsor, write Storm Chargers," the redhead smiled. Dustin turned to Shane.

"Did you know about this?" he asked.

"I'm going too! Skateboarding baby!" Shane exclaimed. The two boys cheered as Kaylee walked into the store. Dustin wanted to tell Kaylee the news but she got to it before him.

"Oh, Kelly's sponsoring you to go to the US action games in freestyle," Kaylee smiled.

"Yeah, how did you know?" Dustin asked.

"She told Tori this morning who told me," Kaylee smiled. Kelly then came from the back room and noticed all the bruises on the young teen.

"Kaylee, what happened to you?" she asked, putting down her papers and walking up to Kaylee.

"Nothing too bad, Dustin tried to teach me motocross. I fell off the bike and into a ditch. It hurt a lot of first but I'm better now," Kaylee hating having to lie to the person who felt like a second sister to her but she knew it was for Kelly's safety.

"Next time, hire a professional," Kelly laughed, teasing Dustin.

Just then the Thunders walked into the shop and Dustin told them the news.

"I know, Kelly told us earlier!" Blake smiled.

"So let me get this straight, everybody knew except for me?" Dustin asked. "Is that about right?" he sat on the couch with the others. Kaylee ran to the lounge area and all the spots were taken up.

"That's about right," Tori laughed as she sat on the floor to let the walking bruise sit on the comfy couch.

"Oh Blake, didn't you test today for Roger Hannah?" Dustin asked. "For the Factory Blue sponsorship."

Blake nodded and Tori turned her attention to him, not that it wasn't already on him to begin with. "Oh yeah, how did that go?"

"There was a photographer there from Dirt Works magazine. He said he hadn't seen anyone test that fast since McGrath in '91!" Hunter smiled, proud for his younger brother. Blake received congratulations from everyone.

"I could Factory ride if I want it!" Blake smiled.

"Well, why wouldn't you want it?" Dustin asked.

"Well don't you think we're a little busy around here?" Blake asked.

"But how can you pass up an opportunity like that?" Shane asked excitedly.

"That's what I told him!" Hunter smiled.

-----Ninja-Storm-----

"The seven teens smiled as they jumped out of the Storm Charger's van and stood in front of the entrance.

"You guys better check in, I'll make sure your gear is okay!" Kelly yelled over the noise of the crowd.

"Oh, we'll check the place out for..." Hunter started.

"Let me guess, chicks?" Tori laughed.

"Now that you mention it!" Hunter smirked.

Once they were inside, Hunter was flirting with some girls as Cam spotted some Kalzaks with Marah and Kapri. When the fight was done, Cam brought the other Rangers to the spot Marah and Kapri were examining.

"I don't see anything," Kaylee frowned. "Okay, Cam, don't freak out, but your amulet is going all... funny."

"What do you mean?" Cam asked, looking down at the amulet. "Whoa! It's frozen!"

"Frozen? Dude, it's like, 80° outside," Dustin laughed.

"I better get back to Ninja Ops and do some tests on it there," Cam sighed.

-----Ninja-Storm-----

The six remains teens watched the skateboard competition as Shane's morpher beeped. The Rangers ran off, past Kelly after getting the information.

"Where are you guys going?" she asked.

"Uh, bathroom!" Shane told her.

"All of you?" Kelly asked.

"Shane needs motivation for the big ones," Kaylee laughed.

"Kaylee, stay away from the fight. I don't want you getting hurt!" Tori yelled from her Zord to her little sister.

"So not fair!" Kaylee whined, crossing her arms and sitting on the grass. "And their using the Thunder Storm Megazord!" she said as both the Thunder's and the Wind's Megazords combined.

She watched as her friends fought the giant Vexacus. Vexacus slashed at the Megazord and it came crashing down, nearly landing on the green Ranger. She ran out of the way before becoming a green pancake and the Megazord got up.

"Watch it you giant Lego head!" Kaylee yelled to her friends. She ran behind the Zords as they used the Lion Blaster but it didn't leave a scratch on the fish. "The Hell?"

"Guys, use the mammoth Zord!" Leanne's voice rang through the communicators.

"Now you're talking!" Kaylee smiled and jumped onto the mammoth's head as it combined with the Zord. The six Rangers used their powers but it still wasn't enough to take Vexacus down. He summoned his land Shark and in shot, the Rangers were down. The Thunder Storm Megazord was no more, but the two Primary Megazords still stood tall.

"Victory is mine!" Vexacus laughed. The Thunders dropped a power disk to fight with the serpent sword. They held Vexacus in place and tried to hit him with the sword, but he grabbed it. In a spark of explosions, both Vexacus and the Megazord were gone. The four remaining Rangers ran to the wreckage to find their team-mates.

"Cam, it doesn't look good," Shane told the computer geek.

"Any sign of Hunter and Blake?" Tori asked.

"I'm getting infrared heat signatures from the area but there's a lot of interference. I can't pin point an exact location," Cam explained.

"Keep trying, we're on our way back to ops," Shane finished.

-----Ninja-Storm-----

"What happened?" Shane asked as the four teens ran into ops to see it completely destroyed.

"It's trashed!" Dustin yelled.

"Cam! Sensei!" Shane called.

"Leanne!" Kaylee yelled as she found her sensei in the middle of the wreckage.

"This can't be how it ends," Shane said as he helped the older ninja up.

"What happened here?" Hunter asked as he and Blake walked in.

"You made it!" Kaylee smiled.

"Vexacus torched the Megazord, so we ejected," Blake explained.

"Where's Cam?" Hunter asked.

"We don't know," Shane sighed.

"Sensei?"

"Lothor got here before we did," Dustin explained. "We're too late."

"Better late than never I always say," Sensei smiled as he walked out from the backroom in human form.

"Sensei!" the four Wind Rangers smiled.

"Lothor's energy blast reversed the transformation and allowed me to return to my human form," Sensei explained.

"Huh?" Kaylee asked. Leanne smiled at her student before translating.

"He's finally unstuck," she laughed.

"Oh, but... where is Cam?" Kaylee asked.

"He has been captured," Sensei sighed.

"We'll get him back Sensei," Tori smiled.

"It will not be easy Tori. My darkest fears have come to pass. Lothor is preparing to open the Abyss of Evil," Sensei frowned.

"I thought that was just, ninja folklore," Blake asked.

"Why do you think Blue Bay is home to the Wind Ninja Academy?" Kaylee asked. "We're the guardians of an invisible gateway. Once opened, it will allow all the evil of ages gone by to escape."

"Freaky," Tori poked her sister to make sure she wasn't an all knowing robot instead of the girl who asked for a translation seconds ago.

"Leanne told me about it last week, now I know why," Kaylee smiled as she looked up to her Sensei.

"Well, why hasn't Lothor opened it before now?" Shane asked.

"The Abyss can only be opened when it is filled to its capacity, even then, it can only be opened by a mighty force," Sensei explained.

"The amulet?" Tori asked.

"Yes, but the evil inside the Abyss are not at full strength to fight you. Even with their numbers they have been weakened by previous fights," Sensei said, turning to Kaylee.

"Good thing I have power over the gem now...," she gulped.

"I believe Lothor intends to use Cam's amulet to open the Abyss, and Kaylee to strengthen his army," Sensei said.

"We have to stop the Abyss from opening!" Dustin said, holding Kaylee close to him.

"We need help, Ninja help," Blake said.

"Where are we going to find that?" Shane asked.

"Lothor's ship!" Hunter exclaimed. "Every ninja on the planet is locked up there."

"We can take the Dragon Force Vehicle!" Dustin smiled.

"Wait, Blake and I should go alone, we've been on Lothor's ship and we know where to look for the others," Hunter said.

"I wanna come with you," Kaylee said, stepping out of Dustin's grip. "My parents are trapped up there and the further away I'm from the Abyss, the less of a chance Lothor has of using me to power up his team."

"Kay..." Tori sighed.

"Please Tori. I can get Mom and Dad back. I didn't get to fight Vexacus, let me do this!" Kaylee begged.

"Be careful," Tori smiled.

-----Ninja-Storm-----

"We don't have much time before this place self destructs! Let's get out of here!" Choobo yelled as he ran down the halls with the Kalzaks, unaware of the three ninjas around the corner.

"Great, a ticking clock on top of everything else!" Blake said the stress showing in his voice.

"We better find Cam," Hunter announced.

"And my parents!" Kaylee reminded the boys. They were about to run off when she felt light headed.

"I thought you had the gem of souls with you?" Blake asked as he helped her stand.

"I do, but if the amulet's being drained, it must be interfering with my powers," Kaylee explained. "Let's just stop this before anything really bad happens.

They ran into the main room and found Cam tied up with Marah and Kapri.

"Bug head," Kaylee scowled. She and the boys untied the darker green Rangers as Marah and Kapri begged to be freed.

"Why shouldn't we leave you here?" Hunter asked.

"Because their family," Cam sighed. Blake nodded and helped Kapri out while Kaylee was forced to help Marah. There was an explosion on the ship and Cam turned to his cousins.

"You know the yellow Ranger? I was just wondering if he was still mad at me 'cause I think he's really cute and..." Marah was cut off by a painful slap in the head by Kaylee. When she turned to the blonde she received the evillest stare the villain had ever seen.

"Can we talk about that later?" Cam asked.

"Mine!" Kaylee yelled. She pushed the sisters towards the door when Choobo cut them off.

"I see you have some new friends," he said.

"For old time's sake?" Kaylee asked the three.

"You sure you should be doing this, with the amulet and all?" Hunter asked.

"Oh yeah," Kaylee smiled.

"NINJA STORM."

"THUNDER STORM."

"RANGER FORM!"

The four teens fought the Kalzaks and Choobo while Marah and Kapri cheered on the sidelines. Kaylee got her revenge on Marah by kicking a Kalzak into the bug head. As they fought, the clock was slowly ticking.

"Okay, Cousin," Marah yelled over the tiny explosions on the ship. "If you blow that console it will short out all the ship's main operating systems and will release the Ninjas."

"You really aren't dumb!" Cam said in shock.

"Yeah I know, I keep telling people that but no one every listens to me!" Marah said.

"I have my reasons!" Kaylee yelled, destroying the console. The students were freed but the ships countdown clock reached zero and the teens were stuck in the explosion. Two of the orbs holding the ninjas appeared before Kaylee.

"Mom, Dad?" Kaylee asked as her parents were released.

"You have to get your friends out of here!" her father told her, handing her the samurai Amulet he had found on the ground.

"Take this back to earth. With it in your hands, Lothor has no chance of giving his army your power," her mother smiled.

"What about you?" Kaylee asked.

"We'll clear a path for you six to get out!" her father told her, pushing her to her friends. Using water powers, he pushed the rubble out of the way of the exit.

"MOM! DAD!" Kaylee yelled as she was pulled to the Dragon Force Vehicle by Hunter. She watched from a distance as she ship exploded.

When they got back to earth, the four ninja ran to help their friends, who were trapped inside a circle of all their old foes, the generals and Kalzaks.

"Mind if we help!" Hunter smiled as he hit some of the monster with his blaster.

"You will never stop me!" Lothor yelled.

"But we will!" Blake said. Lothor turned to the Navy Ranger and noticed that behind him stood Cam and every Ninja he had captured.

"Where's Kaylee?" Shane asked.

"She's coming... soon," Hunter said, because of his helmet, the others couldn't see his saddened face.

"Batalizer!" Shane called before the amour protected his body.

It was the biggest fight in history as the Rangers and Ninja pushed some of their foes back into the Abyss. Some of them went down pretty easily. Others took a lot of energy. Once the soldiers and generals were gone, Shane used his flight mode to attack Lothor from the skies. Lothor refused to admit defeat and blaster Shane with his energy. The Red Ranger fell to the ground and his friends came to help.

Lothor wasted no time going after the team. Even though it was six against one, Lothor's experience and dedication to taking over the world fuelled his energy. He fought the Bradley brothers and Cam and the three boys managed to get him off his feet but he quickly took advantage of it and hit the boys with his energy beam.

Tori and Dustin were next. The swept their legs under him but Lothor jumped up, avoiding the attack and once again used his beam to get the Ranger out of his sight. The Yellow and Blue Rangers landed on the ground and Shane stood protectively before them as Lothor shot again. His hit was accurate and Shane fell to the ground.

"Enough!" Lothor yelled.

"I agree!" Kaylee yelled as she jumped from behind the Evil Ninja, hitting the top of his head with her foot. Lothor fell face first in the dirt as Kaylee stood before her friends.

"You have the Amulet?!" Lothor asked in shock.

"'Course I do. It the one thing you can't take from me!" Kaylee yelled.

"That's what you think!" Lothor ran to the green Ranger and the two fought. He brought his foot up to hit her in the stomach but she blocked him with her arms. He took that chance and hit again. When she blocked it he quickly used his hand to grab her. As he held her in his arms he took the amulet from her hand and the gem of souls from her pocket.

"Give me your powers!" he yelled, holding up the amulet with his free hand. The amulet glowed green as it sucked the Ranger powers out of the teens.

The Rangers stood strong, much to Lothor displeasure.

"Haven't you had enough?" he yelled, hitting them with another beam. The six teams fell but quickly stood up again. "Let's finish this!"

Lothor put the gem of souls together with the amulet, breaking all connection and power Kaylee had over it. The gem and amulet glowed a light green as it gave Kaylee's life to Lothor.

"Let her go!" Dustin yelled as the Rangers ran for another fight. Lothor threw the lifeless girl to the side and overpowered the six teens.

Shane, Dustin and Tori did not stop when Lothor easily pushed them back. They got up, and attacked him together, but he was still stronger. Nothing could stop this crazy ninja.

"I have your Ranger powers!" Lothor smiled. "You are at my mercy once and for all!"

"We won't let you win!" Shane growled.

"What can you do to stop me?" Lothor asked.

"This!" a voice yelled as Lothor was shot back, closer to the Abyss. The Rangers turned and saw Kaylee standing, holding the gem of souls in her hand.

"But I have your life!" Lothor yelled.

"Something you should learn Lothor, my dad would never give me anything that would hurt me," Kaylee smiled as she pulled out another amulet from her pocket. It was the original, and Lothor, held in his hands, a fake.

"What?" Lothor asked in shock.

"We may not have our powers, but we're still Power Rangers!" Shane smiled.

"POWER OF AIR!"

"POWER OF EARTH!"

"POWER OF WATER!"

The wind around Lothor started to pick up. The villain watched in fear as Tori, Shane and Dustin aimed their Ninja powers at them. The water beam, the air beam and the dirt beam fused into one powerful beam and Lothor was sent over the edge, into the Abyss. There was one final explosion as the hole closed up and Lothor was sealed away forever.

"What happened?" Tori asked.

"Lothor's evil, it must have overloaded the Abyss," Blake said.

"Causing it to implode on itself," Cam finished.

"So like, boom?" Kaylee asked, hitting her hands together.

"So he's gone?" Dustin asked.

"I believe so," Cam smiled.

"And our Ranger powers?" Hunter asked.

"Boom," Kaylee sighed.

-----Ninja-Storm-----

After the big mess, the Action Game were finally open and Dustin and Shane each won a medal in their own categories. Dustin came in third for freestyle and Shane finally found a sponsor.

-----Ninja-Storm-----

"Shane Clarke," Sensei called as he handed out the diplomas. Shane accepted his and Sensei called the next Ninja.

"Tori Hanson," Tori smiled as she took her diploma and moved out of the way.

"Dustin Brooks," Dustin took his award and smiled.

"Blake Bradley."

"Hunter Bradley."

"Cam Watanabe," Sensei smiled down on his son as he gave him his certificate.

"You have all earned the badge of honour that is to graduate from the Wind Ninja Academy! I could not be more proud of you. Of the sacrifices you have made for your school and indeed for your planet. The world is a better place today, because of you!" Sensei finished his speech and the six teens cheered.

She decided to wait for the end of the ceremony to pull the blonde aside.

"Tori, can I talk to you?" Kaylee asked her older sister.

"Yeah," Tori frowned when she saw her sister looking so down. "I'll be right back guys," she told the boys and Leanne. Hunter, Blake and Cam sighed as the two girls walked off.

"What?" Shane asked.

"This isn't going to be pretty," Hunter said.

-----Ninja-Storm-----

Kaylee took Tori by the lake and sat her sister down. The two girls put their feet in the water and Kaylee began.

"Mom and Dad won't be coming back," she said. Tori turned to her sister.

"What do you mean? You freed the Ninjas so they should be here," Tori asked.

"We freed them, but not in time. When we destroyed the box, the ship was exploding. We didn't have enough time to make it out."

"How did you get out then? Where are mom and dad?" Tori asked, a tear making its way down her cheek.

"They came to me and the others. Dad gave me the fake amulet. I didn't know it was fake then until I found the real one in my pocket. Mom must have put it there when Dad was talking to me... they told me I had to get the others off the ship... they cleared a path for us to get out... but they d-didn't follow... they stay behind to make sure we got out... they ship b-blew up. They were inside... they aren't coming home," Kaylee said, stumbling over her words as she told the story.

"You're sure?" Tori cried.

"I wish I wasn't. I wish they would come back like I have so many times," Kaylee put her head in her hands and Tori looked out onto the water.

"They can't be gone..." Tori whispered.

"They are..." Kaylee said. She looked up at her sister.

"I never got to say goodbye..." Tori realised. When she did, tears found their way out, running down her face and landing in the grass and lake.

Kaylee watched as every tear from her sister made the water change. One drop would create a tiny wave and another would rip its way to the bottom. Kaylee turned her attention to the water Ninja, putting her arms in the lake before she did and holding some water in her hands. Standing in front of her sister, she held the water. Tori down at the liquid and noticed that it changed into a watery picture of their parents. The water figures looked up at their daughters and smiled before turning back into regular water.

"Bye..." Tori whispered. The water started dropping out of Kaylee's hands. The youngest blonde started to panic as her parents disappeared. Tori grabbed her sister in a hug and let Kaylee cry on her shoulder.

-----Ninja-Storm-----

The next day, the seven teens were saying their goodbyes at the Academy before heading in different directions. Tori and Blake were taking a walk down the training field.

"So when do you leave?" Tori asked the Thunder.

"We start testing next week and our first race is in a month," Blake smiled.

"Yu must be really psyched!" Tori said.

"Yeah it's great," Blake couldn't get the smile off his face. "So, you think you might wanna come out and watch me sometime?"

"Yeah, I'm all over it!" Tori said. "But only after Kaylee gets used to her new school in Reefside."

"Yeah, why do you want to move?" Blake asked. "Don't you want to spend more time in Blue Bay to really say goodbye to your parents?"

"We do, but Kay's semester starts pretty soon and we wanna get out of here before it becomes way too hard. If we were to stay in our old house too many memories would come up," Tori sighed. "And I already bought the house so I would be stuck with two."

"Well, hey, if you ever need to talk to someone, my line's always open, twenty-four seven," Blake smiled. The two Ninjas stopped walking when they noticed Kaylee sitting on a bench, eating popcorn.

"Don't mind me, continue the scene," the samurai smiled. Tori laughed at her sister as Hunter jumped up behind them.

"I can't believe this!" he smiled. "Sensei Omino just asked Leanne and I to be the head teachers at the Thunder Ninja Academy!"

"You ruined it!" Kaylee whined, throwing her popcorn to the floor.

"That's great!" Tori smiled, putting her hand on Kaylee's shoulder and squeezing it.

"Oww... yeah, great!" Kaylee said, rubbing her shoulder when Tori let go.

"So Kay, what are you doing after this?" Hunter asked.

"I wanna get out of the Ranger business so I'm going to Reefside High to be a normal student," Kaylee smiled.

"You didn't want to graduate?" Hunter asked, remembering how Kaylee was not giving a certificate yesterday like the rest of them.

"Naw, I dropped out here so I could have more time doing homework or hanging out with friends. Leanne's a little upset cause I'm her first student and didn't graduate but I told her I needed to slow down for a bit," Kaylee smiled.

-----Ninja-Storm-----

"New students, check in over there," Cam, the new head teacher of the Wind Ninja Academy, pointed as students walked into the Academy. He saw Marah and Kapri come in and sighed. "You're kidding!"

"Hello, family right?" Kapri smiled.

"Hey Cam, can we talk about these outfits because it makes my butt look really big!" Marah said.

"Not as big as you head," Kapri said.

"I do not have a big head!" Marah snapped. The girl kept their bickering as they walked away. Sensei walked up to his son.

"It is a same one cannot chose his family," he said.

"I'm just glad I don't have to feed mine guinea pig food anymore!" Cam smiled.

"Or change his cage!" Kaylee laughed, running up behind Cam. The three turned their heads as three other students ran up to the gate.

"You three?" Cam asked, recognising the teens from their last fight. The three tried to help Cam and Hunter, but the Rangers yelled at them.

"Ninjas dude!" one of the boys smiled.

"No one says dude anymore!" the girl said. They kept fighting as they walked to the sign in spot.

Kaylee watched the teens leave then thought of her sister, boyfriend and Shane. The resemblance, both in attitude and in looks scared her. She then realised that the students were her age and frowned.

"But... I don't wanna be with them. I wanna hang with the big kids!" she whined. Cam laughed then turned to his father.

"I don't think I have it in me to go through all this again," Cam sighed.

"Then perhaps we should leave their training to the three new teachers," Sensei turned to face Shane, Tori and Dustin, who walked in with their Sensei uniforms on.

"YAY! Tori's got a job!" Kaylee smiled, running to hug her sister as the Thunders showed up.

"You're forgetting me!" Dustin smiled, pulling his girlfriend away from her sister for his hug.

"How could I?" Kaylee smiled. She kissed him before remembering she had a gift for his promotion. "Close your eyes!" she smiled. Dustin did as she told him.

"Hold out your hands," he put his hands together to make a sort of bowl. Kaylee pulled a little toy out of her pocket and put it in his hands. He opened his eyes and smiled. "Now when I wanna play Power Rangers, you don't have to be a Barbie!"

"Thanks Kay," Dustin smiled, holding the little toy lion as she gave him a kiss on the cheek.

Unfortunately this is the end of Ninja Storm. I wish i could continue but sadly there is no more series. But don't you all just love good news. Kaylee will be returning in Dino Thunder. My friend, Always have a little Faith, is writing it and will be uploading it soon. Check it out and review mine!