Hi guys! Still continuing the updates/writing new chapters. I've decided to go through and rewrite everything first, before attempting to forge ahead. I have more chapters completed, I just want to make sure everything is in alignment and good to go for new chapters.

~Weathergirl1248

DISCLAIMER: Nope, don't own them. They belong to Saban. I'm just having a bit of fun. I just own my own characters.

xxxComesBeforeThunderxxx

Several days after their inaugural fight as the Ninja Rangers, they were trudging through the desert, in full Ninja uniform, hoods and all. They were all bound together at their wrists, Tori was one one end, and was tied to Shane, and Shane to Maddy, who was tied to Dustin. They had discovered that the cords binding them together were too tightly knotted to be unwound, and had resigned themselves to their fate.

"How can a simulation be so hot?" Maddy groaned, attempting to wipe sweat off her face under her mask, and accidentally jerking up Dustin's hand instead. "Sorry." Dustin nodded in acceptance, too tired to really care. They were all sweaty and tired.

"C'mon you guys!" Shane exclaimed as they walked through the desert. He yanked his teammates forward, and they protested.

"Ow, Shane!" Tori complained, rubbing her bound wrist with her free one.

"This is gonna take all day!" Shane said, throwing his arms forward, and knocking Dustin off balance.. Maddy tripped, almost sending everyone into the dirt. She glared at the air ninja.

" Shane would you stop pulling?! My wrist is totally tweaked!" Maddy snapped in frustration, trying to rub her sore wrist, but pulling Dustin's with her. "If I can't manage the back handspring tonight, I'm blaming it on you."

"Sorry, Maddy. It would be so much faster if we could split up." Shane said empathetically.

"Not to mention less painful!" Tori muttered. Shane gave her The Eye.

"This scroll of 4 thing better be important. These cuffs are totally brutal." Dustin complained, attempting to rub his wrist, but ended up yanking Maddy's wrist towards him. Maddy sighed in frustration, but said nothing.

"Sensei wouldn't have sent us if it wasn't important." Shane pointed out.

"What does this scroll look like, anyways?" Dustin asked, as he scanned the desolate area for any scrolls. A hot wind kicked up a bit of sand, sending it swirling past their feet.

"I'm thinking that if we see a scroll anywhere around here, that'll be it." Tori said. Dustin looked around again.

"Ok, well, there's one." Dustin pointed with his free hand.

"Wow. That's probably it then." Maddy said, staring at the floating scroll.

"Then c'mon!" Shane exclaimed, yanking them forward. Maddy had given up on telling him to be gentler, and resigned herself to the hope that it was really the right scroll, and they'd be out of this sooner.

"Wait, it says something!" Tori said, and she tried to stop, but got pulled along.

"Stronger is 4 than 1." Shane read from the scroll.

"What? That's it? We're better off buying a fortune cookie!" Dustin complained.

"Mmm, a fortune cookie sounds really good right now. I could go for some Chinese." Maddy mused, the breeze rustling her hood.

"Whatever, let's just grab it and bail." Tori said, ignoring her friend's outburst.

"I'll get it!" Shane said, and he jumped for it. They all landed in a heap. There was a collective groan from everybody involved.

"Who's on my foot? Shane!" Dustin complained, trying to wriggle out from the ranger dogpile.

"If you guys would get up, that would be great!" Maddy said breathlessly from where she was stuck at the bottom of the pile. Tori, Shane, and Dustin quickly got off of Maddy and they pulled her up.

"Thank you." Maddy said, relieved she could breathe freely again.

"That was SO not effective." Tori pointed out.

"No kidding. Epic fail times four." Maddy dryly, smirking despite their unfortunate situation.

"I can do this myself!" Shane exclaimed in frustrated, and was about to make another wild lunge for the scroll, until a party of Kelzaks appeared.

"Uhh, Kelzaks, party of ten!" Dustin said nervously, as the four teens fell into defensive stances. The foot soldiers charged them, and the ninjas fought back, severely limited by the fact that they were bound together.

"Will you stop pulling my arm, Shane?!" Tori snapped as Shane accidentally yanked her arm.

"Wait don't pull!" Dustin exclaimed as Maddy accidentally pulled his arm trying to defend herself.

"Sorry!" Maddy said tersely to Dustin.

"Dustin!" Tori cried out in warning a three Kelzaks tried to box him in.

"Dustin look out!" Shane called as they flipped him over. They executed a series of tidy rolls, and they all managed to get safely back on their feet.

"Hey, that was cool!" Maddy commented breathlessly as she kicked another approaching Kelzak. Unfortunately she went forwards, when everyone else was trying to move back, and they fell into the sand once more. Maddy coughed as she received a mouthful of sand, even through her hood.

"Gross." She managed to comment. As the Kelzaks made their advance once again, they all lifted their hands up. The Kelzaks swords sliced neatly through the cuffs binding them together. They all sprang apart, relishing their freedom. Maddy rubbed her wrists.

"Stay here, I'll get the scroll!" Shane ordered as he ran towards the scroll. The loss of one of their teammates proved to be the fatal flaw. Tori, Dustin, and Maddy were quickly being overwhelmed.

"Dude!" Dustin yelled, as the Kelzaks boxed him in, knocking him to the ground.

"Shane, wait! Stop!" Tori called after her friend, as she hit the ground next to Dustin.

"Shane don't leave us!" Maddy cried as she unsuccessfully tried to keep from getting captured by Kelzaks. She was knocked to her knees, and frantically tried to crawl backwards. The air ninja turned back just in time to see the Kelzaks slice down in unison. Maddy flinched, despite knowing it was a simulation.

"Aww, man!" Shane said, knowing they had failed, and that his friends were technically dead. The simulation immediately halted, fading away after three of the four rangers were 'killed' in action. Maddy jerked her hood off angrily, showering the room with sand as she glared at Shane.

"I almost had it!" Shane said in frustration, and he slammed his fist into his hand.

"Simulation over. Well, that was below average. It's on the on the mainframe if you want to relive any of it." Cam said, as he turned back to his computer.

"Why relive it on the mainframe, when we'll be reliving it tomorrow?" Maddy muttered under her breath.

"Rangers, you are lucky this was only a simulation." Sensei said sternly as the four teens rubbed their aching wrists.

"Sensei, why can't we get this right? Why do we keep failing?" Tori asked.

"That is for you to find out. We will try again tomorrow." Sensei replied calmly.

"C'mon Tor, Mads." Dustin said, and the three teens turned to leave.

"Wait, where are you guys going?" Shane asked, shocked at their apparent exit.

"Home." Dustin replied blankly.

"Gymnastics." Maddy said. "Y'know, if I get enough feeling back in my wrist to do anything." She added grumpily, massaging her wrist again.

"Wait, you can't!" Shane exclaimed, as he tried to stop his exhausted friends from leaving. They stared at him like he had lost his mind, and the way he was acting, Maddy wasn't entirely convinced he had it.

"Sensei said we could try again tomorrow." Tori said, running a hand through her messy blonde hair.

"I have to go. I've got gymnastics, as I said earlier." Maddy explained.

"Dude, if I don't get some sleep, tomorrow will be a replay of today." Dustin pointed out as he stifled a yawn. They turned to leave again.

"You guys can't go until you get it right!" Shane snapped.

"Until WE get it right?! You did not just say that!" Maddy snapped right back at him, anger sparking in her normally calm blue eyes.

"That's not what I meant." Shane hastily added, spreading his hands out in the universal peace gesture. His hasty amendment did nothing to calm his friend's rising tempers.

"Oh we know what you meant." Tori said angrily. Maddy

Shane grabbed both her and Dustin's wrist, and they shook him off.

"This is NOT Ninja School anymore! This is the real deal!" Shane said harshly.

"I think we're pretty aware of that, thanks. And you have no right to act like we aren't taking this seriously." Maddy said scathingly, her hands on her hips.

"Dude, If you think you can do a better job by yourself, then go for it man!" The usually relaxed Dustin finally snapped.

"Maybe I will!" Shane snapped, tired of trying to reason with his angry friends.

"Fine!" Tori said, and she turned to leave.

"Whatever." Maddy said, and she stormed up the stairs.

"Later, dude." Dustin said over his shoulder, as he too left. The air ninja was left standing by himself as the door slammed heavily above.

xxxComesBeforeThunderxxx

The van was quiet as they drove back to Blue Bay, each of them lost in their own thoughts. The only sound came from the radio that was playing softly.

"That could have gone better." Maddy finally said, breaking the stifling silence of the van.

"No kidding." Tori agreed, turning off the radio. Dustin was still quiet. "What do you think, Dustin?"

"I think that we were right to be kind of mad with Shane about what happened, but we probably shouldn't have yelled at him." The earth ranger said thoughtfully. "Because it wasn't just his fault. We all screwed up."

"You're right." Maddy admitted, fiddling with silver necklace. It caught the light, reflecting sparkles back across her purple tank top.

"Yes! I'm right, that never happens!" Dustin said excitedly, trying to lighten the somber mood. Lucky for him, it worked, because both Maddy and Tori laughed, before the van fell quiet again. This time, however, it was a comfortable silence.

"Uhh, Tori?" Maddy asked, breaking the silence again. "How is Shane going to get home? We kinda left without him." She said sheepishly.

"Oh, he can just streak home." Tori said matter-of-factly. Maddy's eyes widened.

"Sorry, what?!" Maddy gaped at the water ninja.

"Nononono, not THAT kinda streak. Ninja Streak." Dustin said hurriedly corrected his horrified friend. Maddy breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's good. I mean, we were kinda ticked, yeah, but that seemed like cruel and unusual punishment. Wait. What's Ninja Streak?" The purple ranger asked curiously.

'Well, it's, well, I'm not really sure how to explain it. It makes you run super fast, in like, a streak." Tori explained.

"So, you can basically become the Flash?"

"Dude, I never thought about it like that!" Dustin exclaimed excitedly, and Maddy grinned.

"Can you teach me? Please?" The lightning ninja begged, using her puppy dog eyes.

"Sure, if Sensei says it's ok."

"You're the best, Tori! I'd hug you, but I don't want us to crash, soo..." Tori laughed.

"Yeah, yeah."

"Hey, can you do me another favor, and drop me off at gymnastics? The unexpected verbal battle wasn't in my schedule for today, and I may be running a teensy bit behind."

"Dude." Dustin said sympathetically from the back, leaning over the seat to look at his friend. "You're even worse than me."

"Blame it on the Oliver genetics." She shrugged. "I mean, my dad is always late, and my mom was always early. You'd think that would mean that I would be on time." Maddy commented dryly. Tori was a little surprised at her comment. Maddy had refused to talk about her mom after she had died, and point-blank told them not to talk about it the summer afterwards.

"Yeah, I can drop you. Do you have your bag?" Maddy patted the drawstring that sat on the seat next to her.

"Hey, I forgot to tell you. I finished tuning up your bike this morning. It's good to go, if you want to go riding sometime." Dustin told her, and Maddy's eyes brightened with excitement.

"Sounds awesome. Count me in!" The teens turned their subject of discussion away from Shane, rides, and punctuality as Maddy and Dustin got into a discussion regarding the pros and cons of riding 250's. Tori simply kept her eyes on the road as she listened to her friends, a smile playing around the edges of her mouth. They could be a cute couple, the blonde mused. A very cute couple. Of course, if she ever said anything about it, Maddy would probably murder her. The water ninja contented herself to think it, and vowed to share her thoughts with Shane sometime. That is, if they were going to be back on speaking terms anytime soon. The van pulled into the parking lot a scant two minutes before Maddy's class was set to start, and she scrambled out of the van.

"Thanks Tori! See you guys later!" She called over her shoulder as she ran towards the building.

"Good luck!" They called back as Maddy slipped inside the large cinderblock building.

xxxComesBeforeThunderxxx

Later that night, Maddy was back at home, unpacking her gymnastics bag. She tossed her sweaty leotard over her shoulder in the general direction of the hamper as she mused about her day. It had been good up until their training exercise, and the subsequent fight with Shane. It had improved in the car ride with Tori and Dustin, though. Then, it went crashing back to a bad day when she had tried to do the back handspring, and her wrist gave out on her, resulting in a spectacular belly flop. It had hurt when she tried stretching out her wrists, so she hadn't really done it, which absolutely screwed her for when she tried to do it. Coach Carter hadn't been happy, but when she saw Maddy's left wrist, the one that had been tied to Shane's, she sent her straight to the trainer. It was now wrapped up in an ace bandage. On the bright side, Nani had gotten Chinese for dinner. It got a little rough when she asked Maddy what happened to her wrist, and she just told her that she fell on it during a training thing at the Academy. No biggie. Overall, she had decided to file it into the medium day folder. She'd had worse days, one standing out in particular. Maddy flopped onto her rug with a sigh, her loose hair splaying out around her. She wanted to be ok with Shane again, but she couldn't help being annoyed about her wrist. The lightning ninja had to fight to prove herself as a newcomer at on the gymnastics team in Blue Bay, and sitting out because of an injury was a crappy way to do it. Maddy sighed, and palm closed around her necklace.

"It'll get better. It always does." She repeated aloud, willing her optimism to come back.

xxxComesBeforeThunderxxx

Maddy was waiting on the front porch when Tori and Dustin arrived to pick her up the next day. Her wrist was definitely less swollen this morning, but it was still fairly sore. Tori arrived just after 3 the next day, and Maddy yelled a goodbye to Nani over her shoulder as she climbed into the van, gingerly avoiding doing anything with her left hand. Dustin spied the wrap on her wrist almost immediately.

"Dude, what happened?" The earth ninja asked concernedly. Maddy frowned.

"All the pulling yesterday tweaked my wrist, and it hurt to stretch it out, so I didn't really try to. Then I absolutely flopped yesterday, and my coach made me show it to the trainer. I'm not supposed to put a lot of weight on it until tomorrow." Maddy explained, slightly annoyed. "Kind of my fault, but the constant jerking by our fearless leader didn't help. Speaking of, where is he?" Tori shrugged.

"He didn't ask for a ride or anything this morning, so I didn't go looking for him." She explained.

xxxComesBeforeThunderxxx

Tori, Dustin, and Maddy all entered Ninja Ops together, notably missing the air ninja.

"Where's Shane?" Cam asked curiously, looking up from his computer. The 4 ninjas usually all arrived at one time. They shared an annoyed look.

"I don't know, single handedly saving the world?" Dustin offered, annoyed.

"Must be nice to be a one man army." Tori added,

"With Shane on the job alone, I'm sure Lothor has been sent packing already." Maddy said sarcastically as she flopped down by the wall. She began braiding her loose hair,

"All pieces will fit together. Shane will understand if you help him." Sensei told the three frustrated teens. Tori blew out a frustrated huff.

"That's the problem, he won't let us help!" Tori exclaimed. Sensei turned his wise guinea pig eyes on her.

"He will, in time." The ninja master assured them. After a pause, Tori spoke up once more.

"Sensei, will we ever need to Ninja Streak as rangers?" Tori asked. If Sensei had been human, he probably would have looked at her funny, but never less, he answered her question.

"It is a possibility, why?" Sensei asked the young Water Ninja.

"Well, we, me and Dustin, were thinking that if we ever need to Ninja Streak, Maddy doesn't know how." Tori said, and she paused. Maddy eyes got a little bigger, and so did her smile, as she realized what her friend was trying to ask.

"Yeah, so can we have permission to teach her?" Dustin cut in. They all waited with bated breath as Sensei Watanabe seemed to consider their request.

"I agree that this is a necessary skill, and one day, your very lives could depend on it. I will allow you to train Madison in this skill." Sensei said calmly.

"Thanks Sensei, c'mon, Maddy!" Dustin said as he took off for the stairs leading out to the academy grounds. Maddy leapt up from her sitting position against the wall, and raced after him, with Tori hot on her heels. Cam got up from his chair. There was no way he was gonna miss something this hilarious. He grabbed his camera.

"I'm gonna go make sure nobody gets hurt." Cam said with a smirk, and followed the three teens.

xxxComesBeforeThunderxxx

As Cam quietly came up the stairs, Dustin was about to start his "demonstration" of ninja streaking.

"So, first, you have to bend your knees, and make sure there's nothing in front of you." Dustin said, trying to be serious. Maddy giggled as she watched her friend. "Running into trees is the worst." He added thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I kind of assumed that."

"Then, you kinda, well, jump into it." Dustin demonstrated, and he flew into a streak, which was awesome, until he streaked to far towards the edge of Academy grounds, and promptly nailed a tree. Tori and Maddy ran across the grounds to help him up.

"Oh my gosh, are you ok?" Maddy asked anxiously. The yellow ranger nodded.

'Yeah, I'm fine." Dustin said, rubbing his sore forehead. Maddy struggled to choke back a laugh, and did Tori. The girls finally lost their composure in a fit of laughter. Dustin tried to look angry, but he couldn't and he ended up laughing too. As soon as they all had caught their breath, Dustin decided to let Tori take it from there.

"Ok, so, now that Dustin has demonstrated to do's and don'ts, you try." Tori said.

"Are you sure?" Maddy asked nervously.

"Positive." Tori said with a smile.

"Ok, but if I die, I blame you two, although if I'm dead, I can't talk, but if I was ghost-" Maddy rambled, fingers touching the silver necklace around her neck.

"Quit stalling, MADISON." Tori said, putting emphasis on Maddy's full name. Maddy gave her the stink eye, but complied.

"Ok, just look for any trees, bend your knees, and jump." Maddy muttered to herself. Maddy bent her knees, and then jumped, but she fell flat on her face. Tori laughed, but helped her friend up.

"You just gotta believe you can do it!" Dustin called from where he was standing behind Maddy. Maddy tried again, and failed several more times. Maddy gave Tori ad Dustin a pleading look.

"Can we stop now?" Maddy requested. Dirt was splattered across her formerly clean shorts and t-shirt.

"Do it again!" Tori insisted.

"Yeah. 7th time's the charm!" Dustin added encouragingly.

"Fine. One more time." Maddy muttered. She focused everything on Ninja Streak. She bent her knees, and jumped, and she did it! Maddy became a purple blur as she streaked around the training area, cheering in triumph.

"That's right! Look at the Ninja Streak capable Lightning Ranger!" Maddy bragged as she ran around the grounds with ease, weaving in and out of the trees. She suddenly realized something that wiped the smirk off of her face.

"Youguysdidn'ttellmehowtostop!" Maddy yelled, as she flew past Tori and Dustin.

"Just slow down!" Tori called after her speeding friend. Maddy stopped moving her feet immediately, rather than gradually slowing to a stop. The force of her stop sent her sprawling into the bush in front of her. Dustin and Tori ran forwards to make sure their friend was alright, when she popped up out of the bush. Leaves were stuck in her hair, and there was dirt on her face, but she was beaming.

"That was one of the coolest things I've ever done!" She yelled gleefully. Then Maddy noticed something move slightly out of the corner of her eye. That something was none other thsn Cam, holding the video camera.

"Cam, have you been video-taping this?!" She squawked. Tori and Dustin started laughing.

"Uh-oh." Cam muttered. The last part the video picked up was an irked lightning ninja charging at the camera operator, before the frame went dark.

xxxComesBeforeThunderxxx

Cam had hurried back inside, presumably to hide his camera from the irked purple ranger. Tori, Dustin, and Maddy had chosen to hang out outside for a little bit longer, teaching Maddy the finer points of ninja streaking. They walked back inside laughing.

"Dude, you have officially learned how to ninja streak from the pros." Dustin proclaimed, clapping her on the shoulder.

"I'll use the skill wisely-Cam, is something wrong?" Maddy asked, spying the tech genius typing much faster than usual at the mainframe. He didn't reply, absorbed in his task.

"What's up, Cam?" Tori asked again as she, Maddy, and Dustin went over to the computer, looking at the screen over Cam's shoulder.

"It's Shane, and some weird magnet head thing. I tapped into the police surveillance system when the disturbance started." Cam replied, as he continued typing away.

"You hacked the police satellite?" Maddy asked, amazed. No one answered her question.

"We better go help him." Dustin said, and they headed towards the stairs.

"Wait!" Sensei stopped them. "I will tell you when it is time." Sensei said. Maddy, Dustin, and Tori shared a shocked glance, but obeyed.They watched anxiously as their friend was getting battered by the monster. Maddy winced each time he hit the ground. She may have been frustrated with Shane, but she didn't want him to get hurt. Her hand was clenched tightly as he was pinned to the car, more and more metal debris getting piled on top of him. Tori and Dustin were equally concerned.

The second that Shane said "Tori, Dustin, Maddy, I need your help!" the teens turned to Sensei with wide eyes.

"Now?" Dustin asked anxiously.

"Now." Sensei agreed. They stepped back from the computer.

"Let's do it!" Maddy said, already bringing her morpher up. The other two followed her.

"Ninja Storm, Ranger form, HA!" The 3 teens said in unison.

"Power of Water!" Tori cried.

"Power of Earth!" Dustin yelled.

"Power of Lightning!" Maddy called.

With a nod to Cam and Sensei, they streaked out of Ninja Ops. The sudden gust of wind made some of the papers sitting next to Cam flutter. He laid a steadying hand across them, watching the others run off with a distinct look of longing in his eyes. He turned back to his computer, accepting the fact that the computer was the closest he'd be getting to the battlefield anytime soon.

xxxComesBeforeThunderxxx

They all streaking into the warehouse just in time. In unision, the Yellow, Purple, and Blue rangers leapt up and knocked the Mad Magnet aside with a firm kick to the chest. Concentration broken, the items pinning Shane to the car fell to the ground and released him.

"You ok?" Tori asked.

"Fine now. You guys came!" Shane said excitedly. They all opened their visors so they could see one another clearly.

"Of course we did!" Maddy said, shocked that Shane thought they would have abandoned him.

"I can't believe I was such a jerk!" Shane said apologetically.

"I can." Dustin said.

"Dustin!" Tori and Maddy both said, surprised. Maddy whacked him on the shoulder with her good hand. Dustin laughed and clapped his friend on the shoulder.

"I'm just bustin' on you, bro!" Dustin said with a laugh.

"We know you're great at this stuff, but we got your back, don't forget that!" Maddy reminded him kindly.

"Thanks, guys. By the way, Maddy, when'd you learn to Ninja Streak?" Shane said. A piece of metal was flung at them, interrupting their conversation.

"YEAHAHA! I'm not finished destroying you yet!" Mad Magnet shrieked, standing up from the pile of metal scraps. The teens looked at one another and nodded.

"Tell you later. For now, it's back to the daily grind." Maddy joked, and she snapped her visor shut as she slid into a defensive stance. An actual ninja one, this time, seeing as she actually was getting some training now.

"Dream on!" Tori said to Mad Magnet.

"New plan! Ninja Air assault!" Shane called as he ran through the air at Mad Magnet. Once he got close enough, he burst out with a flurry of kicks, sending the magnet monster sprawling backwards. They all leapt at him in unison while he was distracted, slicing downwards sharply with their swords. Unfortunately, the monster managed to fire off an energy blast, knocking the rangers back onto the ground.

"I'm so over this guy!" Shane said, annoyed. They were just starting to rise when Mad Magnet made his move.

"Why not give up already?" Mad Magnet taunted as he shot them with his energy. Maddy's suit sparked painfully, and knocked her to her knees.

'That's gonna hurt in the morning!" Maddy groaned as stood back up, rolling her shoulders and cracking her neck.

"In the morning? It kinda hurts now." Dustin commented.

"I'm all charged up!" Mad Magnet bragged.

"Look, his energy center!" Tori said, pointing at the energy radiating ball.

"I see it!" Dustin exclaimed.

"Let's take it out! Lightning Rod!" Maddy said, summoning her special weapon.

"Lion hammer!" Dustin cried.

"Sonic fin!" Tori called out. Their weapons materialized in their hands.

"Hawk blaster! Put em' together, and whaddya get!" Shane asked.

"Storm striker!" They shouted in unison. Power rang with their words.

"Kids, don't try this at home!" Maddy said with a grin beneath her helmet, and they fired the weapon, which destroyed the Mad Magnet.

"Yeah!" Tori said happily.

"Alright!" Dustin cheered, and the rangers all high-fived each other.

"Score- Wind Rangers 2, Lothor 0!" Maddy announced gleefully. Their happiness was unfortunately short lived, as suddenly the Mad Magnet grew huge.

"Bigger is better! Whaddya wanna do, puny rangers?" The Mad Magnet laughed. Maddy gaped up at the giant monster.

"No way." The purple ranger squawked. "How is that even..." She trailed off. Well, I guess I'm currently a vigilante in purple spandex, and going to secret ninja school. Anything is possible, at this point. She thought ruefully. The others, however, were mostly unfazed by this new development.

"Wow, you put on a few." Shane commented.

"You should cut out carbs." Dustin suggested jokingly. Mad Magnet didn't take too kindly to their comments, and attempted to step on them. Thankfully, their Ninja reflexes saved them from becoming Power Pancakes. Maddy heard Cam talking on her morpher, and focused on him.

"Rangers, listen closely. Hidden in a sub terrain hangar are 4 robotic assault vehicles. Now that Lothor's raised the stakes, we have no choice but to call on them. Guys, I'm sending you some big time backup."

"Sounds good to me! Anything's better than becoming Power Pancakes!" Dustin said, as they dodged Mad Magnet's foot again.

"The Hawk Zord. The Dolphin Zord. The Lion Zord. And the Panther Zord. They materialize through holographic portals, and are controlled by using your Inner Ninja powers of Air, Water, Earth, and Lightning. Zords are equipped with state-of-the-art technology that can be accessed using your Power Coins. I'll be sending you new Power Discs as you master each skill level." Cam instructed them. The giant robotic animals appeared, trekking easily across the city towards the Rangers.

"Fighting fire with fire, or in this case, giant magnets vs. giant robot animals." Maddy observed wryly.

"The Hawk Zord's all mine!" Shane whooped as he claimed the Hawk.

"Yes Shane. You will be piloting the Hawk Zord. Tori, use your power of water to pilot your Dolphin Zord." Cam continued.

"Well, that makes sense." The blue ranger observed.

"Dustin, you'll be controlling the mighty Lion Zord-"Cam said, but was cut of by Dustin.

"That's massive, dude!" Dustin exclaimed as he stared up into the sky at his Zord.

"And finally, Maddy, you will control the powerful Panther Zord." Cam finished, leaving the rangers to stare in awe at the massive machines.

"It's amazing! Maddy exclaimed in awe.

"Huh?" Mad Magnet squeaked as the Zords began to appear.

"Whoa, those are flashy new rides." Dustin observed excitedly. Maddy was thrilled.

"I knew he was working on something!" Shane claimed as they all stared at the powerful fighting machines.

"Can we get back to work?" Tori asked, yanking the other Rangers out of their daze.

"Let's do it!" Shane ordered, and they all jumped into their respective Zords. With a super Ninja jump, Maddy leapt up and was transported inside of her Zord. She gasped in awe.

"This is the coolest thing ever!" Maddy exclaimed, as she studied the inside of her Zord. A windshield took up the front wall, and she could see out over Blue Bay. There was a dashboard right in front of the window that she was seated behind. It was complete with tons of little buttons and knobs for doing who knows what. Turning around in her seat, she could see the lightning ninja symbol directly behind her, as purple accents to the walls. There was a speaker for the comm system behind her too.

"Alright, let's do this!" Tori said.

"You think metal can stop me?" Mad Magnet scoffed.

"Let's fight fire with fire! Flame attack!" Shane called as his Hawk blasted flames at Mad Magnet.

"Huh? Ahhh!" Mad Magnet looked around in confusion, and was caught off guard by the sudden jet of flames. He positively squealed in pain.

"Check out these turbos, man, I'm fired up!" Shane bragged to his friends.

"Surf's up, dude!" Tori called as she sent a massive wave of water flooding towards Mad Magnet. The Mad Magnet screamed as the water toppled him.

"And he is washed up! She shoots, she scores!" Tori cheered.

"That's 2 for 2! Although a penalty may be awarded to the blue ranger for over celebration. " Maddy called out. She studied her own control panel, trying to decide which button to push when it was her turn.

"Yeah, dolphin victory dance! No, he's got me!" Tori was still celebrating, until the Mad Magnet caught her.

"No, I'm hit!" Shane cried, as the Mad Magnet grabbed him.

"Hey, watch the fin! Dustin!" Tori yelled.

"Well, guess it's up to us!" Maddy called. Dustin looked at his control panel, and waved his finger around.

"I pick…you! It's the lion tornado blast!" Dustin said as he created a tornado directed at Mad Magnet. Maddy watched as the mane on Dustin's lion spun faster and fasters.

"That's what I call blowing chunks!" Dustin laughed as chunks of stuff were blown straight at Mad Magnet, who yelled. Tori and Shane were freed from the monsters clutches.

"Thanks Dustin!" Tori said gratefully to the Yellow Ranger.

" My turn! Electric storm!" Maddy called, as the Panther Zord raised it's paw and shot energy beams out of it, which electrocuted the Mad Magnet. As soon as the last bot hit him, Mad Magnet fell forward and exploded.

"Yeah, we did it!" Maddy threw her hands in the air in celebration.

"Metal head's in the scrap pile!" Dustin cheered. Once again, the celebrating didn't last for too long, because Mad Magnet managed to regenerate once more.

"I'm back!" The magnet-head taunted the teens.

"Aw man! How does he keep coming back?" Dustin exclaimed, annoyed. They all prepared to square off again.

"I don't know, maybe it's his 'magnetic' personality." Tori said in annoyance. Maddy did a little golf clap in her Zord.

"Nicely played, Tori, nicely played." Maddy joked. "May we all live up to your level of fighting puns." After the brief moment of levity, they turned back to

"So, does anyone have any great ideas? Because I'm fresh out." Maddy admitted, tightening her hands around the controls of her Zord.

"What can we do now?" Shane asked over the comms. The screens in the middle of the controls suddenly flicked to life, and Sensei's furry face was looking at them.

"Shane, you do know. Feel what is inside you; your Ninja Powers will help to guide you." Sensei encouraged them. A button along the top left of her console started blinking.

"The scroll! One has the power of four!" Shane exclaimed, catching on.

"Alright, let's do it!" Maddy said, as she instinctively pressed the blinking button. Suddenly, her Zord began to shift, and their once singular Zords were combined into a human-like robot, towering above the city at the same height as Mad Magnet.

"It's a Megazord!" Tori exclaimed.

"Mega cool." Dustin stated as he looked around.

"Mega Fools!" Mad Magnet taunted once more, reminding them of his presence.

"You did not just hate on this beautiful thing!" Maddy said, comically outraged. "Let's kick his butt to the curb!"

"Cam, what next?" Shane asked nervously. He didn't want to ruin the Megazord by hitting a wrong button, because not only would Cam kill him, and there was a good chance Maddy, Tori, and Dustin would too.

"This is all I've got. Make it last. Follow the cues on the prompt screen. The disk will activate your next power level. " Cam instructed. A slot on the wall right next to Maddy popped open, and by the noise over the comms, it sounded like the same thing happened to Shane, Tori and Dustin.

"Guys, do what I do! Inserting power disk in sphere drive." Shane instructed. Maddy carefully popped her Power Disc off her morpher, and slid it into the slot

"Locked and dropped!" Maddy replied happily as she locked and dropped as well. Tori and Dustin followed their lead, and sent their discs through as well.

"Activating disk in power sphere…now!" Tori said. A sphere suddenly popped out of the front of the Megazord, revealing a long sword with a serpent's head at the end.

"Power Sphere, activate Serpent Sword! Megazord, multiply." The four Ninjas called in unison.

"That's awesome!" Maddy exclaimed as the Megazord multiplied.

"4 against one? That's not fair!" Mad Magnet complained as he was now faced with 4 opponents instead of one.

"Aw, man up. Or at least boy up!" Maddy yelled at Mad Magnet, not sure if he could actually hear her or not.

"Ready?" Tori asked.

"Aim!" Maddy and Dustin exclaimed together.

"Fire!" Shane yelled. They activated the sword. Each Megazord slashed in a different direction, sending three beams of energy straight at the metal monster. Mad Magnet couldn't handle the influx of energy, and exploded in a bright fireball. The rangers were cheering.

"Score update! It's now officially Rangers 2, Lothor 0! Take that, evil space ninja!" Maddy yelled.

"We did it!" Tori said excitedly.

"We sure did!" Dustin said happily.

"Nice teamwork, guys." Shane complimented his team, and Maddy smiled. Everything was going to be ok.

xxxComesBeforeThunderxxx

When the 4 teens arrived back at Ninja Ops, Cam was at the mainframe, and Sensei was working on a jigsaw puzzle.

"All the people are back to normal." Cam announced, as the statues of people came apart. Dustin barely heard him, he was so excited.

"We get Zords. How stoked am I!" Dustin exclaimed excitedly, rubbing his hands together.

"Dustin you should know that they are not toys. As Ninjas, you must know to never escalate a battle." Sensei told the excited Earth Ninja.

"That's cool with me, man." Dustin said, calming down.

"Now that you have learned to work as one, the balance of power will always be on your side." Sensei told the four rangers, as he pushed the final piece in place of his puzzle. Maddy looked at the completed puzzle, and started laughing. The puzzle formed the Megazord. The others laughed too, slinging their arms around one another. As soon as the laughter had died down, Shane turned to Maddy.

"You never told me when you learned to Ninja Streak." Shane pointed out. Maddy shared a glance with Tori, Dustin, and Cam.

"Oh, this afternoon. We were waiting for Lothor to give us another freak to destroy." Maddy explained simply.

"Maybe instead of explaining it to Shane, why don't we show him?" Cam said holding up a silver disk

"I thought I deleted the recording!" The purple ninja exclaimed, and Cam smirked.

"I had it set to auto upload." This was met with groans from the earth and lightning ninjas, and laughter from the water ninja. Despite their protests, he slid it into the computer, and they all gathered around the mainframe, Maddy and Dustin complaining all the while. Cam hit play, and the video began. By the end, Shane, Maddy, Dustin, Tori, and surprisingly Cam as well were all howling with laughter. As the rangers enjoyed each other's company, they had no idea that Lothor had something nasty brewing. No idea at all.

xxxComesBeforeThunderxxx

There you have it. Chapter Two is officially updated! As always, hope you enjoy, and please leave a review.

~Weathergirl17248