Chapter 3: Thunder Strangers Part 1
Sitting in Ninja Ops, Ari attempted to do her school work, but her mind kept returning to the battle that had occurred only the previous day. To her strange new trick that she had developed.
"Unbelievable..." Shane's groan nearby made her look up.
"Dude, that is so sick, it's just wrong," Dustin summed up as the pair stared at the screen on Cam's laptop. She raised an eyebrow, but went back to trying to study instead.
"Check out the lines on that baby," Shane leaned closer to the screen. "The way they move...dude I can't believe it!" he moaned, dropping his head to the table.
"You better not be doing anything illegal!" Cam warned angrily as he stormed in, looking annoyed. Dustin and Shane quickly turned the laptop away from him, babbling as they attempted to come up with some kind of excuse. "Let me see," Cam snatched the computer away from the pair and turned it around to look at, before frowning. "The Tsunami Cycles?" he looked up at them, and the two burst out laughing. "Shouldn't you be doing school work like Ari is? Or annoying your parents or something?" Cam rolled his eyes, cutting off their laughter.
"It was already switched onto this channel, so we thought-"
"Computers don't have channels, Dustin," he frowned at the Earth Ninja. "And I would appreciate it if you didn't cruise in here without asking me first!" Cam started typing as Shane rolled his eyes.
"What's the big deal? We didn't hurt it," Shane grumbled in irritation.
"It's just taken me two weeks to make the changes to the onboard telemetry systems," Cam sighed. "I just don't want anything to-" Cam stopped abruptly as the computer began to beep. His disgruntled expression disappeared and was replaced by horror. "Please say this is a dream..." he breathed as the screen blacked out. "I don't believe this!" he yelled as the main computer screen went black as well, with a red cross appearing.
"What happened?" Ari abandoned her work and walked over.
"You're sweating like, really really bad, man," Dustin commented. "You ok?" he asked as Cam typed furiously.
"It's frozen!" Cam yelled, and jumped to his feet. "The system's locked up!" he ran over to the main computer, and the three followed him. "It's totally dead!" he complained.
"You backed it up though, so it should be ok, right?" Ari remembered seeing him working on it while she had been working.
"Of course I did, I must have..." Cam breathed, before his eyes lit up. "Dustin, you have the backup," Cam spun around in his chair as they all looked to Cam. "I gave it to you on that disk," he reminded him, and Dustin stared at him blankly for a moment before he remembered.
"Oh yeah, yeah right, it's in my back-" Dustin froze as he went to grab his backpack off his back, only to find it wasn't there. "It's in my backpack..." he breathed.
1-2-3-4-5
As they waited for Dustin, Shane and Ari decided to skate for a while while Tori watched them. Ari moved past Shane, shooting up the ramp and flipping through the air before coming back down.
"You're not bad," Shane commented as she rolled back down. "I mean, not as good as me, but still pretty good," he smirked, and Ari laughed.
"That's the closest to a compliment that you've given me, and I will take it," she smiled, and rolled on past. Shane's smirk dropped and Tori shot him a frown. None of them were sure about her capability to be a Ranger, but both Dustin and Tori had been working on getting Shane to be a little nicer to Ari. Shane rubbed the back of his head, before looking around as Dustin ran up to them.
"Any luck?" Shane asked.
"No man," Dustin shook his head, frustrated and worried. The one time he had been entrusted to do something by Cam, and he had messed up severely.
"Well, think," Tori spoke as she walked over. "Where else have you been?" she asked.
"Have you tried the track?" Ari asked as she skated past. Dustin ran his hands through his hair, before his eyes widened.
"The track!" he realised, and as he went to run off, their morphers beeped.
"Go for Shane," the air ninja looked around before opening the communication lines with Cam.
"I'm picking up a strange heat signature reading at the Quarry," Cam spoke, a trace of worry in his voice.
"Kelzacks?" Shane frowned, looking to the others.
"No, I don't know what it is," Cam replied. "Better Ranger up, just to be safe," he told them.
"Not going to be a problem," Shane told him confidently, and looked to the others as they looked about, making sure nobody was around. "Ready?"
"Ready!"
"NINJA STORM!"
"CELESTIAL STORM!"
"RANGER FORM, HA!"
"Wind Ranger Power!"
"Power of the Sun!" they morphed and Ninja-streaked towards the Quarry.
"What's going on?" Shane wondered as they looked around for any sign of a problem.
"Not a whole lot," Tori shook her head.
"Nothing here," Dustin added, and Shane lifted his morpher to his mouth to open communications.
"Uh, Cam," the Red Ranger started. "This place is like Downtown Deadville," he reported as they all continued to look around, a little confused.
"I'm taking a heat reading from the Air Force satellite," Cam replied, sounding just as confused. "It's usually right on!" he commented.
"Goodbye Rangers!" a voice called out, and they spun around before a blast of energy slammed into them and threw them to the ground.
"Note to self...never, ever, doubt Cam," Shane groaned, pushing himself back up. The smoke of the explosion cleared to reveal their attackers, two other Rangers in Crimson and Navy suits, with their backs to them. "Who are you?!" Shane demanded.
"What's with the attitude?" Tori growled.
"Hello? Anyone home?" Shane called to them as the pair didn't respond.
"Obviously you didn't get the memo," the Crimson Ranger spoke as he turned to face them.
"Old Rangers out, new Rangers in," the Navy Ranger added as he turned as well.
"What? You expect us to fight you?" Dustin asked, confused. Instead of answering, however, the pair shot at them, ninja-streaking past several times and striking them with their weapons, flooring them.
"Doesn't seem like they want to talk," Shane groaned as he sat up.
"I vote for kicking their wannabe butts!" Tori nodded.
"I hear ya!" Dustin nodded as he jumped up as well.
"Those symbols...I've seen them before..." Ari mused as she looked at the pair.
"Didn't anyone ever teach you to play nice?! Shane demanded. He then leapt into the air, running at them throw the air as he drew his sword.
"We don't do nice," the two replied, and the Navy Ranger leapt up, kicking him out of the air. He slammed Shane into the side of the cliff, landing neatly as Shane hit the ground hard. The others ran at the Crimson Ranger, attacking him, but he was much stronger, blocking their attacks before knocking Dustin off his feet.
"Dustin!" Tori cried as she was thrown back. The Crimson Ranger went to attack the fallen Ranger with a strange staff, and was surprised when Ari blocked it, standing over the Yellow Ranger. Using her Solar Blades to block, Ari refused to let his attack pass.
"Ari?" Dustin stared up at her in shock.
"You're not bad," the Crimson Ranger commented as he pushed against her, forcing her to lean backwards. "But you're nowhere near my level!" he yelled, and kicked her in the stomach hard. Ari slammed into a rock, crying out as she hit the ground, and demorphed, lying still.
"Ari!" Dustin yelled as he got up, before the Navy Ranger hit them with his staff.
"They have sticks!" Shane yelled, which didn't make them sound very threatening.
"Really big sticks," Tori nodded.
"Anybody got a suggestion?" Dustin groaned as the two walked towards them.
"You want a suggestion? Give up," the Crimson Ranger told them with a smirk.
"It'll be much less painful for you," the Navy one added.
"Oh I get it, this is a training thing, isn't it?" Shane asked as he got to his feet.
"Cam, you got us," Tori smiled nervously.
"I think this for real," Dustin shook his head.
"Alright, ready?" the Crimson one asked the shorter Ranger.
"Yeah," the Navy Ranger replied, and the two lifted a hand each. Coloured energy began to shine, before they suddenly darted off.
"Where'd they go?" Shane demanded as he looked around.
"Really far away...if we're lucky..." Dustin gulped as they stood together.
"We're not that lucky..." Ari groaned as she got up, an arm around her stomach as she walked over. "Looks like we have some Thunder Ninjas to fight," she mumbled, before falling forwards. Dustin caught her quickly, and looked to the others.
"Thunder Ninjas?" he repeated, but they looked as blank as he did.
1-2-3-4-5
After being checked out to ensure that she was ok, Ari sat in Ninja Ops as the other three bombarded their teacher with questions about the two new Rangers. Eventually he grew tired of not being able to understand a word he was saying, and whistled loudly, effectively shutting them up.
"One at a time," he spoke in an irritated voice.
"Sensei, who were those guys?" Shane spoke first before the other two could.
"They fight in the style of the Thunder Ninja Academy," Sensei explained. "That is all I know for certain," he told them, and the three looked over at Ari, who was rubbing her bruised stomach.
"I recognised the symbols," she shrugged. "I read a book about Thunder Ninjas," she explained as this seemed to invite more questions than answers.
"I thought Lothor captured all the other ninja schools," Dustin frowned, and all of them glanced at Ari again, the sole survivor of when her own school had been taken.
"Could he have turned them against us?" Tori asked curiously. "To fight fire with fire?" Sensei shook his head.
"Their fire is from deep within. Even Lothor cannot be driving them to attack with such passion," the teacher told them, lacking any idea why they would attack the four as well.
"You know what? I don't really care what their problem is," Dustin shook his head. "All I know is, those dudes almost smoked us," he pointed out.
"You more than us," Tori looked at Dustin, who nodded and looked over at Ari, who had gotten up and was asking Cam about what few books had survived the attack.
"Yeah, but they didn't," Shane reminded them. "And I want to know why," he frowned.
"Well I guess that's down to two options," Ari spoke as she leaned against the chair while Cam got up. "Either they don't want to destroy us until we're powerful enough to give them a good fight, or," she turned to face them. "Us destroyed isn't what they're after," the three stared at her, before Shane scoffed.
"What could they possibly be after that requires us getting out butts kicked, but not destroyed?" he asked, and Ari shrugged.
"I dunno. But it's an explanation, and more logical than the first, right?" she tilted her head, and Shane frowned.
"Cut her some slack, she has a point," he was surprised when Dustin spoke up. He grinned to Ari, who smiled back, relieved that somebody stuck up for her.
1-2-3-4-5
As the Rangers pondered the problem that was the Thunder Ninjas, the computer began to beep again, alerting them to another foreign being.
"The quarry again?" Cam rolled his eyes as he looked up at the screen. "What? Is it like a Monster-Con over there?" he wondered aloud.
"Zurgane," Shane groaned as the screen closed in on the alien general. "Still ugly as ever," he muttered.
"How can you tell? He doesn't have a face," Ari commented as she stood beside him, an arm still around her stomach.
"Doesn't he usually come equipped with an evil alien sidekick?" Tori frowned as she watched him wandering around.
"It could be a trap," Sensei told them as they nodded. "Use caution when engaging him," he warned them.
"We always do," Shane nodded.
"Yeah, right," Cam rolled his eyes as they went to walk off.
"Ari, I want you to stay here," the Gold Ranger looked around quickly, her eyes wide in shock. "You are still injured from your battle with the Thunder Rangers, it is too dangerous," Sensei told her as she went to protest. Ari scowled, but sat down heavily on the table.
"Fine," she muttered. "That's the last time I save your butt," Ari looked at Dustin, who shot her a grateful smile.
"Ready?" Shane called as he rolled his eyes.
"Ready!"
"NINJA STORM, RANGER FORM, HA!" they shot off to the quarry, where they met the general, who seemed a bit more angry than usual. The three fought off Zurgane to the best of their ability, but they were quickly overwhelmed by the faceless General. However, as he floored them and went to attack them again, a beam of light caught him, and Zurgane disappeared.
"That was weird...what happened?" Ari asked as she stood behind Cam, watching over his shoulder.
"I don't know..." he frowned, not understanding it. Both of them looked up as the computer picked up two more heat signatures, but before Cam could warn the Wind Ninjas, the ground exploded beside them in an attack from the mysterious Thunder Rangers. Ari leaned forwards, a frown on her face, and a necklace fell out from under her shirt. Cam noticed it and glanced around, and found it was a golden griffin. When Ari noticed, she tucked it back into her shirt, and focused on the battle on screen.
"Recognise these?" the Crimson Ranger asked as the three got ready to fight them. The two Thunder Ninjas raised a hand and summoned energy, which they threw to the ground in front of them, calling on powerful looking bikes of their own.
"They..." Cam stared at the two bikes on the computer screen. "Those are my Tsunami Cycles!" he exclaimed in anger, unable to believe it.
"How did they get those..." Ari whispered, a hand over her mouth. With their powerful bikes, the two ninjas raced towards them, overpowering the three with no problem at all. "Right, I'm going out there," Ari decided as the Rangers hit the ground again.
"Ari, you're injured, you can't-"
"I might be injured, but they're going to be destroyed if I don't help them!" Ari cut Cam off before he could stop her. She Ninja-streaked out of Ninja Ops, down to the quarry as the two Thunder Ninjas stopped their bikes, surveying the damage they had done.
"This is so easy, it's almost boring," the Crimson Ranger complained as they dismounted and walked towards the three Wind Ninjas.
"I thought they'd at least put up a fight," the Navy Ranger sighed, shaking his head.
"Those guys never could compete with the Thunder Ninja Academy," the one in Crimson mocked. "They're so lame," he stopped a little way from them.
"No doubt," the Navy Ranger agreed as he walked towards the other Ranger. "I thought their Sensei taught them better than this," he smirked, before Ari landed in front of her team-mates, her arms held up.
"How about you try the Celestial Ninja Academy on for size?" she challenged.
"Ari, get out of here!" Tori called up to her, but Ari didn't respond.
"Just one little Sun Ninja, against the two of us?" the Navy one just laughed.
"I'm not little. And it's not numbers that win a battle," Ari called back with a look of determination. "CELESTIAL STORM, RANGER FORM, HA!" she morphed, and called on her Solar Blades.
"I've heard Sun Ninjas are on the stubborn side," the Crimson Ranger commented as he looked to his partner. "I wonder if they match up to the Thunder Academy though," he glanced back to Ari, who fell into a fighting position, her swords pointing backwards.
"Let's see, shall we?" Ari called, and the two laughed before ninja-streaking towards her. To the amazement of the other Rangers, she kept up with their speed, blocking with her swords before kicking the Navy Ranger back. With a growl, the Crimson one caught her stomach and she cried out, staggering back as her suit sparked.
"You're alright, but it looks like you're still hurting from that hit you took last time," the Navy Ranger laughed. Not about to give up, Ari regripped her swords and ran at them, narrowly avoiding a hit from him. She looked around as the Crimson Ranger swung his staff at her, and she couldn't help but cry out, before his staff disappeared in a gold flash. He stumbled a little as all three stared in surprise.
"What the hell?!" he demanded angrily. "What did you do?!" he yelled as Ari stared at him in shock.
"Was that...this power?" she wondered, before shaking her head to clear her focus. She caught him with a kick, but he recovered quickly and threw her into the cliffside. Unable to tolerate her aching stomach any longer, Ari sank to the ground, demorphing as she fell forwards, moaning a little.
"Ari!" Tori cried out, and Ari looked over at them weakly.
"I'm sorry..." she mumbled, tears burning at her eyes as she felt useless.
"Time to finish this," the Crimson Ranger decided, and they held out their morphers, which resembled insects. "Sky of wonder..."
"Power of Thunder!" the Navy Ranger finished. Lightning flashed and thunder boomed, and they were surrounded in smoke as the lightning hit the ground around them.
"That does not look good," Tori groaned as they got back to their feet.
"Crimson Insectizord!"
"Navy Beelezord!" two Zords burst into view.
"You've got to be kidding me," Tori spoke dryly, staring up from beside Ari, who she helped into a sitting position.
"They have Zords?!" Dustin groaned in disbelief.
"This is getting ridiculous!" Shane growled.
"Later days!" the Thunder Ninjas leapt up into their Zords. "By the time this is over, we'll be the last Ninja Rangers on the planet. So let's stay focused," the two Zords hurtled towards them.
"They want to play rough?" Shane growled. "We're all about rough! Cam, hit it!" he contacted the genius, who sent them their Zords.
"Go, I'll be ok," Ari told Tori, who nodded. She, Tori and Dustin leapt into their Zords, and the battle between the Zords started. Shane seemed to gain the upper hand at first, but the Insectizord suddenly burst out of a rock and blasted him, nearly knocking the Hawk Zord out of the sky. The Beetlezord caught Dustin, who cried out as he was trapped. "Cam..." Ari started, but he cut her off.
"No way, you're in no state to drive a Zord. You shouldn't even have gone out there!" Cam scolded, and Ari lowered her head. Dustin managed to blast the Navy Ranger's Zord off him, but the Beetlezord disappeared before grabbing Tori's Dolphin Zord. She was tossed over to the other two, and they quickly formed the Megazord. However, the Thunder Rangers formed their own Megazord, and the two began to fight again. Just like before, the Thunder Megazord overwhelmed the Wind Ninjas. They called on their Serpent Sword, but it didn't even seem to faze the Megazord when it struck it. They summoned a Power Sphere, and judging from the yells from her team-mates, Ari assumed that it was stolen from them. With a couple of quick slices, the Thunder Megazord defeated the Megazord, which collapsed and powered down.
"No..." Ari managed to get to her feet, and with an arm wrapped around her stomach, she ran towards the crash site. "Guys, guys!" she yelled as she ran towards the Megazord.
Hope you guys liked it!