They thought they had won, five years ago, Lothor and his goons were banished into the abyss of evil for good along with their powers. So the rangers moved on with their lives. Blake became the greatest rider in recent motocross history, Hunter , Shane, Tori and Dustin had embraced their roles as instructors and even Cam had to admit, they were good. But they are soon going to find out that for there to be good, there also must be evil, and when one evil is vanquished, another will take it's place to restore the balance. Rated strong T just to be safe but might change to M later, yes, I know, PR is a kids franchise, but I wanted to 'grow it up' a little for this.

"What a day." Shane said as he and Dustin plopped down in the couch in Ninja OPS.

"Well I happen to think that MY students are doing quite well." Tori said as she sat down next to them

"Yeah what is with that, anyway?" Dustin said, perplexed.

Tori gave him an ambiguous shrug, but her face harbored a wry smile.

"Teaching is kind of like surfing. You have to surf the waves you're given. And sometimes it might start out looking like a wash but if you stick it out it can turn out to be a really great day." She mused.

"That's actually ... a good way to look at it. " Shane replied thoughtfully

"Just remember we were just like them once." Tori added as she looked at her watch.

"I got to jet, don't take it too hard, you guys are great teachers, you just have to find your niche, you know?" She said

"Yeah ... sure." Dustin replied flatly as she left.

"Hey ... what does niche mean?" He asked Shane once he was sure Tori had left.

"It means that you have to find your groove." Shane clarified.

"ohhhh, okay! Find my Groove ..." Dustin trailed off as a thoughtful look crossed his features.

Tori strolled onto the beach, her board under her arm. She watched as another surfer rode the waves, she smiled as she watched them. She could feel her heart quicken as the wave they were riding broke over into a beautiful pipeline .

"Come on, you got this!" She said to herself, shielding her eyes against the bright sun. Her smile suddenly turned into a grimace as the other surfer wiped out hard

"Hey! Are you okay?" She said as she met him at the shore.

"Damn it! I almost had it that time!" Cam said as he kicked angrily at the retreating waves.

"Yes, you did." Tori replied with a warm smile.

About six months ago, Cam approached Tori about teaching him to surf. She remembered how hard it was for him at first, how he almost gave up.

"I don't think I will ever get that part." He said as he deflated .

"Sure you will, just like you did everything else, and just think about all the good it's doing you! You did say you've seen an improvement in your martial arts since you started surfing, right? Isn't that why you wanted to learn to surf in the first place ?"

"Yeah ... sure ... of course." Cam said quickly, looking bashful. Tori gave him a quizzical look, but didn't press him any further.

"I know, why don't we paddle out together and you can follow me into the pipeline, just relax and go with the flow, don't fight it." She said

"Okay ..." Cam said as they began to paddle out

"Ohhh here's a good one, remember ... just relax." She said as they both stood up on their boards.

Cam could feel the water guiding him and he realized that it had been control he was reluctant to relinquish. He could see the wave breaking over, forming a tube, instead of panicking, he just let the wave do the guiding and before he knew what was happening, he was in.

It wasn't at all like he thought it would be, it was so quiet so ... serene, almost like time stood still.

Then before he knew it, he was riding the wave into shore.

"Cam, you totally did it!" Tori exclaimed as she threw her arms around his neck.

"Yeah ... I guess I did." He said bashfully.

Unbenounced to them, a figure watched them from atop one of the cliffs overlooking the beach.

"Master I have confirmed the whereabouts of the rangers, what do you wish me to do?" She said.

"Right now, nothing. Once our plan is in place, then we will move." a deep menacing voice replied.

"Understood, my master." she said as with a flip of her long black cloak, she was gone.

"That was totally awesome, Cam, I'm so proud of you, in fact, I don't even think you need to take lessons from me anymore." Tori said as they arrived back at ninja OPS.

"Yeah ... great ..." Cam replied, hoping the smile he offered her didn't give away his disappointment of no longer getting to spend two hours three times a week with her.

"You should be proud, Cam, it's been a while since I had a student who progressed as fast as you." She replied as she playfully punched him in the shoulder.

"Well, I don't have anything on those kids you are working with." He said as he rubbed the back of his neck bashfully.

"Well, they are kids, for whatever reason, kids learn things sooooo much faster than adults." Tori replied.

"And just wait, Tor, once everyone sees how you taught this dude, they will be flocking to you for lessons, you'll be rolling in dough!" Dustin said as he threw his arm around Cam, who shoved him off with a murderous look.

"Well ... I don't know about that ..." Tori said, her cheeks flushing a little as she looked at her watch.

"My mom's coming in to visit for a couple of weeks today and I have to go home and get cleaned up before I pick her up from the airport, I'll catch you guys later." she said.

"So ... are you going to ever tell her or what?" Shane said.

"I ... don't know what you're talking about." Cam said flatly as he turned away from him and plopped down in his chair in front of the ninja OPS central computer.

"Don't give me that crap, Cam; anyone with eyes in their head can see that you like her." Shane replied.

"I'm not going to have this discussion with you, Shane. My feelings are my business, not yours or anyone else's." Cam replied, swiveling around angrily in his chair to face him.

"You got one thing right, Cam, I'm not the one you should be talking about your feelings to." Shane said as he tuned to go.

"What you decide is your own business, but I will give you some advice, I've known Tori for most of my life, she's like a sister to me and even I can see how awesome she is. If you don't make a move, one day someone else will, and then it'll be too late for you and you'll be left wondering 'what if'." He said as he left Cam to his thoughts.

"Ahhh it feels so good to be out of that cramped plane." Justine Hanson, said as she plopped down on the couch in Tori's apartment.

"You know I would've paid for you to fly first class." Tori said as she offered her mother a glass of mint iced tea.

"I know honey, but I don't feel right asking my daughter to pay for my plane ticket when she's already giving me a place to stay and is willing to put up with my tourism.

"It's my pleasure, you're my mom! As a matter of fact I have tons of fun planned for tomorrow, so you'd better get plenty of sleep." Tori said with a huge smile.

"And what, prey tell does my lovely daughter have planned for us?" Justine quipped.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?" Tori replied with a smirk.

"That's what I used to say to you when you were young." Justine replied.

"Yeah ... And turn around is fair play." Tori replied.

"So how's it feel having your mom in town?" Shane asked.

"It's amazing, and thanks for standing in for me so I can have the week off to spend time with her." Tori said as she hugged her two adoptive brothers.

"Hey no sweat! we know how close you are with your mom." Dustin said

"I gotta go, I'm taking mom sightseeing around Blue Bay harbor, thanks again guys." she said as she pulled them both into a hug before hurrying out.

"Have fun." Shane said.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" Dustin yelled after her.

"Dustin, that's not very much." Shane said with a laugh.

"Shut up." Dustin said as he playfully shoved him.

"How did I know I would find you hiding out here. You know we're not supposed to use our ninja powers in public, right?" Hunter said as he sat next to Blake.

"Relax, it's dark, no one saw me I just ... I needed to get away." Blake said as he pulled his scarf tighter around his neck against the chill of the early fall evening. They were at yet another celebrity house party in Nashville Tennessee. At first, Blake couldn't get enough of all the parties and press, but it quickly got old.

"So ... our next stop is Los Angeles..." Blake trailed off.

"You're thinking about her again, aren't you." Hunter said

"I haven't stopped thinking about her, I can't believe I left things the way I did, I made a huge mistake." Blake said as he ran his hand over his face and through his short spiked hair.

"You're in love with her." Hunter said.

Blake's gaze snapped to Hunter's in surprise, then melted into a sad smile.

"It's that obvious, huh?" he replied.

"Well, yeah, I mean we have girls, gorgeous girls throwing themselves at us and you barely even looked at them, so I kind of had a hunch." He said with a smile.

"Most of the other motocross guys think you're married ." he added with a laugh.

'I wish.' Blake caught himself thinking.

"Well, we'd better get back before people start to miss us." Hunter said as he stood.

Blake regarded the starlit sky for a moment longer; he didnt know what to do. He wanted to see her so badly that it literally burned inside him. he just didnt know if he repair the bridges he had burned.

END OF CHAPTER 1