Chapter 1 – Where The Wild Wind Blows
February 5 2003 – Wind Ninja Academy, Blue Bay Harbor
The road leading up into the mountains surrounding the city of Blue Bay Harbor was extremely quiet. Except of a lone red pickup truck heading towards the summit, there was no one else around for miles. As the truck continued to climb up the road, the weather conditions turned extremely misty and visibility was getting low. The vehicle slowed down and turned off the main road, opting to drive down a dirt track heading into the trees.
After several minutes the truck came to a halt near a waterfall and the driver stepped out. He was dressed in a pair of cargo shorts, work boots and a long sleeved white top with a red checked shirt over the top. The man shivered slightly, he wasn't anticipating the forest being this cold. Normally it was a little bit warmer, even during winter. He was about to walked towards the waterfall when he suddenly stopped and looked down at his outfit, "Oh yeah, better change first". He grabbed the top of his shirt and quickly ripped off his clothes, instantly changing into a leather ninja style outfit complete with a red trim.
"Halt stranger", a commanding voice called out. The man turned around and came face to face with three other ninja's, "Oh Sensei DeSantos, I forgot that you were coming today".
"Don't mention it", Rocky replied to the guards, "I'm a little late, I hope that Sensei Watanabe will forgive me".
Stepping up to the waterfall, Rocky was instantly teleported through a secret portal. He took a couple of steps forward and he was instantly transported to a place he considered his second home. Nothing had really changed, the Japanese inspired buildings that housed the student dormitories and indoor training facilities. The different coloured flags that represented the three elements that the students were taught were still fluttering in the stiff breeze. There were a few eager students getting in some early sparring practice in the open air arena. Rocky couldn't help but smile at one of his fellow air ninja's, "Keep your legs bent", he called out, "you'll be less like to lose your balance".
The student paused and noticed Rocky's Sensei uniform, "Thank you Sensei", he bowed respectfully towards the former red returned the bow and continued towards the main building where the head of the academy stayed.
After finishing his tour of duty as a ranger, Rocky had enrolled full time at the Wind Ninja Academy. The abilities gained from his old Ninja Power Coin gave him an advantage over his fellow students but he did had to work hard to maximise his skills. His training was rewarded three years old when he was appointed a Sensei of the air style. Unfortunately he left his post after eighteen months due to personal reasons.
The former red ranger was about to enter the building when someone called out his name, "Hey Rocky". Heading his way was a skinny looking Asian male in his early twenties. He was wearing a green polo shirt, cargo pants and a pair of glasses, "Father will meet you downstairs".
It had been a couple of years since Rocky had last seen Cameron Watanabe in person but they had been in regular communication via Hexagon. He remembered meeting him for the first time when he was the red ranger, little Cam was a snarky kid then and other than being a few years older, he still had the same attitude. Another thing that hadn't changed about Cam was his brain, he had always been a genius but his work with Hexagon had proved it. The basic designs for the Academy's morphers were done by someone else but Cam had tweaked them to be fully compatible with his school's requirements.
To his surprise, Cam opened a hatch in the ground and led Rocky inside. After a short walk down a flight of stairs until they reached a lock that required a palm print, "New security system", Cam said, "designed by myself and will only work for me". The machine scanned his print and the door opened, revealing a darkened room with a small table in the middle. Cam flicked on some lights, "Welcome to Ninja Ops", he stated.
"Not bad", Rocky admired the super computer in front of them, "I see the investment hasn't been wasted".
Cam walked up to the computer and began the boot up sequence. He didn't turn around as he asked, "Since you're here, I guess that means you're our Hexagon assigned monitor".
Rocky opened his mouth but no sound came out, that wasn't the question he was expecting Cam to ask, "Much conflict I sense in you Rocky", a voice said from the shadows.
"Hello Sensei", Rocky sighed, "still channelling the spirit of Master Yoda I see".
Kanoi Watanabe gave one of his favourite pupils a little smile, "Cam, please give us a few minutes", he said to his son. Cam groaned but he respected his father's wishes and departed for one of the back rooms, "In the words of my young students, spill it Rocky", he said to the former red ranger.
Rocky sighed deeply, "Where do I begin?"
"I usually find the start is a good place", Kanoi smiled.
"Hexagon has turned down my request to work with you ranger project", Rocky took a seat at the table. "It's like I'm still in the dog house, I mean I know I was wrong to lose my temper like that four years ago but I've work hard since then", he groaned loudly, "I've worked harder than anyone but still I get overlooked".
"I can attest to your hard work", Kanoi replied, "maybe if I put in a good word for you".
"Thank you Kanoi but it's not just that", he paused for a moment, "did you know that all of the previous red rangers went on a mission to the Moon a few months ago".
The academy Sensei shook his head, "No, how did it go?"
"I dunno", Rocky shrugged, "I wasn't invited. I didn't even find out until a couple of days after they came back". He began to tap his fingers on the table, "I'm at a loss about what to do next". Kanoi Watanabe didn't say anything in response, sensing that his old student had more to say, "Yuri never returned from Japan either", he finally added.
"Ah", Kanoi nodded, "I think we're getting to the root of your turmoil".
Rocky's long term girlfriend Yuri had left for Japan in an attempt to re-establish the forest ninja academy after a millennia in isolation. Yuri's life had been a little unusual, even by the standards of a ninja. She was born in the early part of the eleventh century in Japan, at a time when women were banned from being ninjas. She had been coerced into joining a rogue all female ninja group, the Nusiachi, who learned the ways of the Forest Ninja. Things soon went wrong and she and the other four had been executed for their crimes. She returned as a vengeful spirit before being sealing away. That was until Lord Zedd broke the seal and released the five ninja's on the world. Eventually Yuri turned against her sisters and helped the original Ninja Rangers seal the Nusiachi away permanently. She was rewarded with a fresh start and brought back to life.
Due to the negative association with the Nusiachi, the ways of the Forest Ninja had been forbidden, labelled as dark ninja powers. There were only two known practitioners, Yuri herself and Kat Oliver nee Hillard, who owed her powers to her possession by the leader of the Nusiachi. Unfortunately there was a disagreement between the young woman and Sensei Watanabe about reopening the Forest Ninja Academy. Rocky had tacitly come down on his old Sensei's side, forming a rift between the couple which still hadn't healed, "I'm sure your paths will cross again in the future", the old Sensei stated vaguely.
"Yeah but that doesn't help me now", Rocky groaned, "I need something to sink my teeth into".
"A distraction", Kanoi tapped his finger again his chin, "technically you are a Sensei of the Air Ninja style, I could give you your old job back. If you path happened to cross with our Rangers", he let his voice trail off.
Rocky gave him a broad smile, "You sneaky old fox", he placed his hands on the table, "so any ideas who the power will choose?"
The Sensei pulled a scroll out of his robes, "There was a prophesy made a long time ago that predicted exactly that".
Rocky looked at the scroll and frowned slightly, "I'm not a huge fan of Prophesies if I'm honest but I guess we'll see what happens". He handed the scroll back to Kanoi, "So you think this Lothor guy is coming to Earth?"
"I'm sure of it", Kanoi sighed, "unfortunately we share a rather unique connection. I've felt the familiar darkness growing and I fear that it won't be long until he arrives here".
"Any idea how long we've got"?" Rocky asked.
"Put it this way, don't make any major short term plans", Kanoi stood up from his seat, "but fortunately he won't be here today so that gives you a chance to assess your new students".
The pair slowly made their way out of Ninja Ops until they were back in the open air. The morning session was about to begin and all of the students were lined up facing a raised platform. They were grouped according to their class, water ninja's to the left, air ninja's in the center and finally the earth ninja's were on the right. Rocky and Kanoi made their way up to the stage and the class gave them a respectful bow, "Good morning class", Kanoi began, "before we began today's lessons, I would like to introduce you to one of our new teachers. As you can see from his uniform, he is a master of the air style but he will be working with all of the classes at some point".
Before Kanoi could continue, he noticed three late arrivals trying to sneak into the back of the group. Rocky immediately noticed the three bore an uncanny resemblance to the drawings on the prophesy scroll he had been shown. There was a dark haired air ninja with olive coloured skin, an earth ninja with long messy brown hair and finally a female water ninja with long blonde hair. "Sensei DeSantos, perhaps you would like to work with our three late arrivals. Clearly they think they're too special to arrive on time".
From the side of the stage, Cam snorted, "Yeah those three are special alright".
From the back of the group, the earth ninja turned to the air ninja and whispered, "Dude is he talking to us?"
"Of course he is", the female snapped, "remind me again why I'm friends with you two?"
"Our charm and personality of course", the air ninja smiled. That broad grin soon waivered when he realised that everyone was looking at them, "Sorry", he added sheepishly.
"Anything else to add Shane", Kanoi sighed in exasperation, "what about you Dustin or Tori?" The trio shook their heads quickly, "perhaps we should discuss your dedication to your ninja training after this assembly".
It took all of Rocky's will power not to shake his head because if the prophesy was to be believed, these three ninja would be the next team of Power Rangers, "The saviours of the world everybody", he muttered to himself as Kanoi continued his lecture. Maybe it wasn't too to reconsider his old Sensei's offer of employment.
A/N – Welcome to story five of the Project Hexagon series and we've arrived at Ninja Storm and a little earlier than planned. This will be a little different to the other Hexagon stories, in that it almost goes back to full story rewrites. It'll be a little longer that the previous four stories. It'll help if you've read all the previous stories, especially "Strike Of The Ninja" but I will try and explain the canon changes as I go along.
On a side note, I'm considering making some adjustments to my first two stories "Bulls On Parade" and the aforementioned "Strike Of The Ninja". Basically those two stories had a subplot focused on a character called Omega. I quickly fell out of love with that idea, to the point that I really wish I hadn't wrote it. I still thinking about it at this stage but if you see those two old stories updated, that's the reason.