Emma watched as Noah ran Dustin's training drill again and again, each time pushing himself a little harder. His clothing was sliced in several places, and he had a number of superficial cuts, but he pushed onwards, hour after hour, run after run.

She hated to see him push himself like this. It was completely unlike Noah to get so wrapped up in an opponent like this. He was normally a voice of reason. He was usually right beside Troy in forming plans before they did anything. He was usually one of the ones advising caution and strategy but something about this latest monster, this Skatana had really gotten under his skin. Noah wouldn't listen to anyone, no matter how many times they told him they would face Skatana together. It was a matter of ego, that much was clear. He was determined that he had to destroy Skatana himself.

As she watched him work with his cutlass and the ninjato Dustin had lent him, she summoned up her own cutlass. She hated to think that she couldn't get through to him, but if Noah was going to go through with this, then she was going to help him in any way she could, even if all he would let her do is lend him a sword.

As the time wore on, she took a long sip of lemonade. Noah had worked for so long that she had ended up going to get them some food, a couple of subs and some sodas. She doubted that he would give up and go to eat while the food was still warm. As the light started to dwindle, she found her eyelids becoming heavy, and before long she lay down, just for a second to rest her eyes, and drifted off into a deep sleep.

Noah continued to work right through the night. When it became so dark it became difficult to see the blades even coming, burning torches ignited around him. He would probably have been impressed, curious as to how Dustin performed all of these ninja tricks, but all he could think about was Skatana and his seemingly invincible Infinity Blade Strike. Each time, he ran the drill, he felt himself coming a little closer, but there was just one thing left, the one attack that had actually managed to get him, the hammer that finished the fight.

As the sun started to come up, Dustin watched Noah as he threw himself with gusto into another run of flying blades, he smiled. His timing and his technique were impeccable. He had changed up the configuration a little with each run just so that Noah wouldn't come to expect blades from the same place every time. As the run neared its end, Dustin picked up a knife himself, and taking careful aim, threw it straight for Noah's heart.

Noah saw the blade coming, and brought up his sword, levelling the blade straight along, recalling the last strike. As the blade came, he channelled his power through the cutlass, and as the knife struck home, it split down the middle, the two pieces spinning harmlessly away. Dustin nodded his head, impressed with his student.

As Noah took note of the sun rising, remembering that he was due to meet Skatana for his rematch, he went over to where Emma was resting. He saw the food beside, her, picking up the bag as he prepared to leave. He saw her cutlass resting against a nearby tree, and realising that she had likely called it, intending to give it to him to use in his duel, he summoned up his blaster, laying it down beside her quietly so that he didn't wake her. He picked up her sword and walked away, preparing to face his duel.

Dustin waited a while to ensure Noah was gone. He needed to give him a good head start. Noah needed to face Skatana alone, that much was clear. As he went to Emma's side, he knelt next to her.

"You're a real gentleman kid." Dustin said with a smile as he pulled out some smelling salts. "But with the draft I put in her lemonade, she wouldn't have woken up if a marching band marched right by her."

He uncorked the vial, and placed it under Emma's nostrils. He saw a slight grimace in her face and knew it was working. He pulled out his cell phone and called Tori.

"Tori, it's me." He told her. "Yeah, it's time. I think we've given the Rangers the run-around long enough."

He looked to Emma, seeing her starting to stir.

"Yeah, I need to get going, I'll catch you there." He told Tori. "Class is in session."

With that, he ninja-streaked out before Emma came to. She rubbed her eyes, looking around and finding no trace of Noah, until her eyes rested on his blaster sitting right next to where her sword had been sitting. Realising that he had to have gone to face Skatana, she snatched it up and started heading for the beach as fast as she could.

In another part of town, Tori and Shane were watching the Rangers looking around a parking lot. They had been giving the Rangers the run-around all night. When they had gone back to Dustin's office, on their orders, his receptionist and girlfriend Tammy had told them that he was visiting a client in a motel on the other side of town. From there, they had been following them, laying a trail of false information and fake clues, keeping them one step behind a phantom Dustin. As Tori hung up, Shane just looked to her.

"Yeah, it's time." Tori told him. "The fun's over."

"So, this is how Dustin teaches now?" Shane asked.

"Need I remind you that out of our first three students, only Tammy actually graduated from the Wind Academy?" Tori asked him. "And if I remember rightly, your student Eric flunked out after...two months?"

"Three actually." Shane grumbled. "It took me a while to find my stride as a sensei alright?"

"Believe me, I don't get Dustin's methods either, but they seem to work for him." Tori answered as the Rangers came out of a drop-in centre, looking a little tired, and more than a little frustrated. "Anyway, since my counterpart's heading for the beach, I guess it's time we led the Rangers there."

"How do we do that?" Shane asked. Just then, they saw the Corsair Rangers answering their morphers. They started to get agitated, before running off towards the beach. Tori just smiled.

"That's Waldo." She responded. "I can never figure out how he does it, but he really thinks of everything."

"Alright, then let's go." Shane answered. "We're meeting Dustin at the point right?"

"We'll get a good view of the show from there." Tori replied as they got up, ninja-streaking away, aiming to arrive ahead of the Corsairs.

Meanwhile, on the point, Dustin was the first to arrive, and took up position to watch. He was there in good time, arriving just as Noah got to the beach, carrying the two swords he had brought with him. Skatana just scoffed as he saw him.

"I didn't think you would show up." He stated.

"You're about to regret that I did!" Noah answered, facing him down. Skatana just observed him, adopting a stance as he reached for the hilt of his sword.

"I've been looking forward to this." He told Noah. "Do you really think you have what it takes?"

"Let's find out!" Noah replied, throwing his swords into the air, before grabbing his morpher. He morphed, turning into his Ranger mode, before catching the swords as they fell, adopting a guard. Noah and Skatana rushed into each other, their blades carving an intricate dance through the air.

As he watched from his vantage point up on the cliff, Dustin had a look around. Noah was doing well, indeed, he looked like he had a real shot of winning. All his obsessive training seemed to have paid off.

"Impressive! You've improved!" Skatana complimented him as he staggered away, a strike to his chest still smoking. "But there's one thing you can't defend against!"

Noah stood ready, preparing for the strike as he watched Skatana powering up his Infinity Blade Attack. His grip tightened on the handles of his swords as Skatana sent the first of the blades his way.

Just as he started to smash the blades out of the air though, Noah felt himself being grabbed from behind and held in place. Looking around, he saw a couple of Bruisers had sneaked up on him.

"What the...?"

"You came alone, and I came prepared!" Skatana laughed as he sent the remaining blades straight at Noah. They all struck him, knocking him to the ground. Noah looked up from the ground to see Skatana and the three Bruisers confronting him.

"How DARE you?" Noah yelled at him. "What honour is there in cheating?"

"The only true honour is in victory." Skatana answered.

"You...you talked so much...you kept saying you were the best! That you sought out warriors to prove you're the best!" Noah recalled.

"Yes, I do." Skatana answered. "But that doesn't mean I'm not pragmatic. I'm not going to risk losing a fight that could lead to my destruction out of some petty misplaced pride."

Noah felt his blood run cold as he said this. He'd run off on his own, pushed all his friends away, run off, leaving Emma sleeping so that he could face Skatana alone. He was so determined to salve his own pride, to prove that he was better than Skatana; he had ended up walking straight into an obvious ambush, one that he should never have been fooled by.

"There are two ways to become the best! To be the best, you defeat the best. If you cannot...then if you eliminate the competition!" He sneered as he approached Noah. "And now, time to finish you!"

Noah got picked up and held fast by the Bruisers as Skatana prepared to deliver the finishing blow. He struggled, but couldn't break their mechanical grip.

"You are good Blue Ranger; perhaps you could have even defeated me, that was too great a chance to take." Skatana told him. "Now for your final lesson. Never underestimate your opponent, and never believe he will fight fair."

Just then, several energy blasts struck him in the chest, sending him tumbling away. Noah looked around to see Emma running into view, holding her twin blasters, coming straight for him.

"If you can bring friends, then so can he!" Emma screamed. Gia, Jake and Troy all arrived a little way behind her as the area suddenly flooded with X-borgs. They started so smash their way through them, forming a perimeter around Noah as they hacked down the Bruisers holding him. Troy helped him up.

"You...you came." Noah wheezed as he tried to get his breath back. "You came to help..."

"We're a team Noah, that's what we do!" Jake reminded him.

"I guess Skatana knows more about team work than I do." Noah grumbled. "That's embarrassing!"

"Alright Noah, we'll keep the cheer squad off you." Troy told him. "You finish this one."

"Troy?" He asked.

"You started this, you can finish it." Troy answered. "But we finish it together!"

"We'll take care of the tin cans; you take care of big mouth!" Gia added.

"You can do it Noah, we all know you can!" Jake added. "Go for it dude!"

"Now it's back to you and me!" Skatana said as he got back to his feet.

"And this time it's a fair fight!" Noah called out as he rushed at him. The rest of the Rangers fought valiantly to keep the fight between Noah and Skatana a one-on-one affair. Up on the cliff, Dustin, Shane and Tori were watching.

"So, what do you think?" Tori asked.

"I think he learned his lesson." Dustin answered with a smile. "A one-on-one fight is one thing, but it only works if you have friends to make sure it stays that way."

He took the Ranger keys out of his pocket as he went to the edge of the cliff.

"Hey, Rangers!" He called out, causing Troy and the others to look up at him. He showed them the keys. "I believe you were looking for these!"

He threw the keys down, at which the Rangers caught them. Troy put the Blue Ninja Storm Key away as he prepared the Red Ninja Key in his morpher.

"Alright guys, let's show them we deserve these!" Troy yelled as he turned the key. "Ninja Storm!"

Up on the cliff, Tori Shane and Dustin continued to watch the fight unfold. Shane looked down at the battle as the team utilised their old powers, bringing the Ninja Ranger team to Blue Bay for the first time since their retirement. Shane just smiled.

"Hey, Dustin, check it out. Your counterpart's a girl." Shane teased him. Dustin just shrugged.

"Hey, I'm secure." Dustin told him. "Besides, she's kicking butt!"

"Is...is the Navy Ranger a girl?" Tori asked, seeing Emma battling with Blake's old powers. "So, my husband's counterpart is a girl, and since my key's the only one not being used...I'm a guy? That...that just seems weird."

"Well, it doesn't look like this is going to last too much longer." Dustin answered as they activated a Shadow Battle. Coming back to reality, the last of the robots sparked and fell to the ground in a heap of scrap metal.

Meanwhile, in his own battle, Noah was facing down Skatana's Infinity Blade Attack. The other Rangers watched him bat away the blades, before Skatana tried for the same lunge attack. Noah, remembering the training, saw it coming and brought up his own blade, splitting Skatana's sword in two, driving forward and hitting him straight in the face. Skatana backed off, screaming in pain and without his sword.

"Thank you." Noah stated as he watched Skatana fall to his knees, clearly injured.

"You're thanking me?" Skatana asked him.

"You showed me what I could have become if I let my pride get the better of me." Noah told him. "If I hadn't met you, I might one day have become you. For that, I'm going to offer you a chance to leave with your life."

Skatana roared in frustration hearing this. He knew that Prince Vekar didn't tolerate failure. If he returned to the ship, he would likely be executed in shame, or worse, banished and forced into exile to live with his disgrace.

"I am the greatest swordsman...!"

"Give it up!" Noah told him. "You're unarmed now! Destroying you wouldn't be fair! I know you don't care about things like that, but I don't want to be like you and destroy someone who isn't able to fight back! I don't care where you go or what you do with your life, as long as you take this lesson and remember what happened here any time you think about hurting anyone else!"

As he was about to walk away, Skatana got back to his feet. Seeing Noah with his back turned, he felt his rage coursing through him. No matter what happened, he would have to live with the shame of knowing a human had beaten him. He would have to go into hiding, to live the rest of his days fleeing Prince Vekar's spite and letting his failure eat him up. He strained his muscles, and activated the hidden attack in his armour.

"Infinite Octo Blade Attack!" He screamed, launching a seemingly endless storm of blades mounted onto steel tentacles at Noah. Far from just launching them straight, each tentacle moved as an independent limb, swinging the swords in practiced arcs that made them much more difficult to counter. Noah turned in time to start parrying them.

Up on the Armada Command Ship, Prince Vekar watched on in interest.

"I had no idea he was capable of such an attack!" Argus said, looking impressed. He had trained Skatana himself.

"He wasn't." Lavira told him. "Until I upgraded his armour, now he's invincible!"

"This should end the Blue Ranger once and for all!" Argus replied.

Back on the ground, Noah rolled to get clear of the initial onslaught as the other Rangers prepared to intervene.

"Stay back!" Noah called to them. "I need to concentrate on any movement! If you join the battle, I won't know which moves are yours and which are his!"

Skatana drove a couple of blades into the earth, which Noah could feel shifting beneath him. He saw debris fly past him and knew they'd come up behind him, surrounding him in a web of tentacle blades. He parried all he could but couldn't stop all of them. The blades sliced into him, forcing him to the ground.

"I win!" Skatana declared. Noah pulled himself back to his feet one last time. As Emma was about to join the battle, Troy held her back.

"Noah's got this one." He assured her. "Let him finish what he started."

He called over to Noah, who looked up.

"If he thinks more blades is the way to go, how about matching fire with fire?" Troy asked. He, Gia and Jake threw their swords to him, which all connected to the two in Noah's hands, giving him a three-bladed and five-bladed sword. Noah felt a small power boost as the others also lent him some of their power for the final push.

"This is it, your last chance!" Noah warned Skatana as he loaded the blue Mighty Morphin', Turbo, Ninja Storm, Mystic Force and Megaforce keys into the sabres. "Leave now, or die here and now!"

Skatana gave his answer by unleashing his Infinite Octo Blade Attack one more time. Noah's eyes narrowed as he prepared to receive the attack.

"Bad choice!" He called out as he started lashing out, smashing all the blades that came at him into scrap metal. He stared down Skatana as he now realised he was completely at Noah's mercy.

He could only watch as projections of the five previous Blue Rangers rushed towards him, each attacking him in turn, before Noah, his blades glowing with power spun through him, slicing through his armour with ease. Skatana stood for a second, feeling the last of his strength leave him as Noah completed his attack. He slumped forward one last time, before exploding in a huge fireball.

"You were good Skatana." Noah replied as he turned to look at the spot where he had fallen. "But no one is perfect."

"Nice job Noah." Dustin called out from the cliff, before he, Tori and Shane ninja-streaked down to greet them. "You finally learned your lesson."

"Wait...what lesson?" Troy asked. Just then, they saw an energy beam hit the ground where Skatana had fallen.

"Wouldn't you know it, even after eleven years they still make them bigger." Tori stated as they watched Skatana start to re-form and grow.

"In our day it was a scroll." Dustin added. "No matter how much the technology improves, they still go back to the same basic plans."

"I think we can keep the moral of the day lesson until after you deal with that." Shane answered, tapping Troy on the shoulder, before handing him a piece of paper. "Meet us at these co-ordinates when you're done."

With that, they ninja-streaked away.

"Alright, let's not keep them waiting." Troy answered, pulling out his morpher and calling up the Megazord.