SailorStar9: Well, now that Chapter 7 is out, this is Chapter 8. Read and review.
Disclaimers: I own nothing, except the plot and the pairings.
Chapter 8: The Samurai's Journey, Part One
"No way, dude." Hunter shook his head, the team gathered around a large brick Sensei was standing on. "There's no way he does it."
"I don't know, dude." Dustin corrected. "I mean, he's pretty strong for a little guy."
Shane shushed the others. "Hey, quiet. A little respect for the master."
"Watch closely." Sensei advised as he leapt into the air and broke the brick in half.
"That was radical!" Blake grinned.
"You were saying?" Tori asked Hunter with a slight smirk.
"I stand corrected, but how?" Hunter wondered.
"The power comes not from the body, but from the mind." Ami explained.
"How do you know that?" Blake looked at their Princess.
"Wisdom comes with age." Ami stated, her eyes reflecting knowledge well beyond her years.
"Alright, I'm up." Hunter decided.
"You sure you wanna go there, dude?" Dustin asked
"Look, if he can do it, I'm, uh...gonna give it my best shot." Hunter nodded.
"Something tells me this is going to be funny." Ami giggled, 'Bubble Lift'ing a new block in front of Hunter.
Hunter kneeled down in front of the block before slamming the side of his hand against it, only to end up gasping in pain as Shane and Dustin laughed while Blake nudged Shane, trying to support his brother. "Rodent 1, Thunder Ranger None." Shane snickered.
"You think you can do it?" Hunter asked Shane, as he rubbed his hand.
Shane thought for a minute before kneeling behind the block and slamming the side of his hand down, as he ended up yelling in pain. Tori went next as she brought down her hand onto and suppressed a scream. Blake went afterwards and slammed his head down before he came up ended up falling backwards onto the ground
"I've heard the phrase 'use your head', but I didn't think you would take it literally." Ami sighed as she used a 'Healing Mist' spell on the injured group.
"You know what, I think I'm gonna skip my turn." Dustin nodded.
Sensei sighed a bit as he looked at the Rangers. "You have all come far in your training, but you still have a long way to go." He informed them.
"Yeah, but you're like a super full-on Ninja Master." Dustin pointed out.
"Hiya!"
Everyone turned around and saw Cam slam the side of his hand down onto the brick which split in half. "What?" Cam asked when he saw everyone look.
"It's always the quiet ones, huh?" Ami chuckled.
"He must've used some kind of laser beam thing, right?" Shane suggested.
"Or maybe he switched the bricks." Dustin added.
Ami just rolled her eyes and 'Bubble Lift'ed one half of the brick and let it hovered over Dustin, before letting it drop into the Earth Wind Ranger's hands. Dustin caught it, but fell over in the process. "That seem fake to you?"
"Okay, maybe not." Dustin said as he stood up.
"But it's gotta be a trick." Hunter assumed.
"You guys don't get it, do you? Just because someone isn't a Ranger, it doesn't make them completely useless. I need some air." Cam stated before walking out.
"You'd think you would've learned that from me not being a Ranger either." Ami reminded. "I'm gonna go check on him."
"What did we say?" Blake wondered.
"I fear there is more to mere words than this, Blake." Sensei told the Rangers.
Ami eventually found Cam outside by the lake, skipping rocks before she walked over to his side. "You alright?" she asked.
"Yeah, just tired of the lack of respect." Cam frowned a bit.
"Who says you don't get any respect?" Ami questioned. "Cam, everything the others are able to do is because of what you're able to do."
"It's not enough." Cam sighed. "I want to be part of it."
"You want to be a Ranger?" Ami blinked, pretty much guessing what he meant and Cam nodded slightly. "You know, you don't have to be a Ranger to get some action in your life. I'm not a Ranger."
"True, but you are a Senshi." Cam pointed out.
"Okay, that's true." Ami mused. "I think you would make a great Ranger though. Why don't you try and talk to Sensei?"
"He's forbidden me." Cam sighed. "He promised my mom that he would keep me safe and far away from danger." He added, noticing Ami's curious look.
"Cam, your dad just wants what's best for you." Ami remarked. "Which parent doesn't?"
"I know that."
"You have to tell him how you feel. Make sure he knows how important this is to you." Ami advised. "After all, he's the most reasonable..." she trailed for a moment. "Guinea pig I've ever met. Go talk to him."
"Okay, but if he doesn't listen, I'm not cleaning his cage for a month." Cam promised, making Ami giggle a little while as he skipped his last rock.
As the two of them were turned to leave, the water exploded behind them as Marah, Kapri, a new alien, and some Kelzaks appeared behind them. "We hate to break up this greeting card moment." Kapri started.
"But we're here to destroy you." Marah said with a smile before turning to her sister. "Evil enough for you?"
Kapri just groaned a bit. "Whatever. Attack!"
The alien, Madtropolis, fired a beam at Cam and Ami, so the two of them rolled out of the way as the others streaked over. "I've heard about the city coming to life, but this is just ridiculous." Dustin commented when he saw Madtropolis.
"Everyone a comedian! You gonna morph, or do I have to beg?" Madtropolis asked the rangers.
"Great, and he speaks in broken English too." Ami muttered.
"You got it." Shane nodded.
"Cam, run!" Hunter told Cam.
"No, Cam stays and fights with us. I'll help him if he needs it." Millennial Sailor Mercury corrected.
Madtropolis began fighting the rangers while the ice Senshi helped Cam and the two of them fought the Kelzaks. It wasn't long until the Kelzaks pinned the both of them to the ground, and the Rangers were defeated. Madtropolis opened a metal sphere as the Rangers' colors disappeared from their uniforms and drained their powers. All of them fell to the ground as they un-morphed.
"You guys are looking a little pale." Kapri teased.
"You guys should try using make-up. I have some different foundations that will totally match your skin tones." Marah told the power-drained rangers, earning an annoyed look from Kapri.
"Pleasure doing business with you, Power Losers!" Madtropolis laughed before disappearing along with Marah, Kapri, and the Kelzaks.
Cam and Millennial Sailor Mercury got up before running over to help the Rangers.
"You guys alright?" the Senshi asked.
"Not really." Dustin groaned.
"We better get you guys back to Ops." Cam remarked.
"It'll be too slow if we walked." Millennial Sailor Mercury stated. "I have a faster way."
Cam blinked as water enveloped the group, splashing onto the ground only when they teleported.
"She's gotten teach me how to do that." Tori gaped in awe when they found themselves back in Ninja Ops a second later.
"Man, that guy worked us." Shane panted a bit as Cam scanned him. "What happened out there?"
"Madtropolis drained your ranger energy source." Cam started. "If you go out and fight again, there's a good chance you won't come back."
"Dude, that's harsh." Dustin commented, sitting on the ground.
The other rangers were all sitting on the table and looked exhausted.
"This is grave news." Sensei sighed. "We must find a way to retrieve your powers."
"Don't look now, but there he is." Ami pointed when the screen showed Madtropolis.
"Alright, it's go time." Shane said weakly as he tried to stand up.
"No can do." Ami chided. "You can barely stand, Shane."
"Look, I'm not just gonna sit here while that freak is loose." Shane stated.
"Me neither." Tori agreed as the five Rangers stood up.
"I just know I'm going to regret this." Ami sighed as she summoned the Safaistra. "Remember, this is just a temporary increase in energy, so it won't last too long." She warned, as the Rangers' morphers glowed their signature colors.
It wasn't long until the Rangers lost their energy increase and un-morphed, only to deal with facing a giant Madtropolis. Cam and Ami were still at Ninja Ops, watching everything.
"They're out of energy!" Cam exclaimed as he typed looked at the screen. "Isn't there anything we can do?"
"In the past, there was a powerful energy mighty enough to help us," Sensei started. "But there is no sense in longing for what has been destroyed."
Cam took off his glasses and looked at the guinea pig. "There is no time for riddles, dad. You know something. What is it?"
"That is useless to discuss. We cannot safely predict how the portal will respond to..." Sensei trailed off as Cam figured it out and put his glasses back on.
"The Scroll of Time! Of course!" Cam realized as he ran over to the bookshelf, but Sensei flipped onto the shelf and stopped him.
"No!" Sensei protested. "We must not disturb that, which is the natural progression of time."
"If I don't do something, there might not be any time left." Cam pointed out. "You know I have to do this. I have to go back in time and get the one power source that will help us."
"To confront one's past is an awesome responsibility. It risks changing everything you know about the present." Sensei reminded his son.
"I have to take that chance." Cam insisted. "Thanks, dad." He smiled, as Sensei stepped aside.
Jumping down from the banister, Cam opened up the scroll. The writing on the scroll started to glow gold before the scroll grew larger and emitted a bright light as some wind blew.
"Are you certain this is the only way?" Sensei inquired.
"Our time here will be frozen until the writing on the scroll fades away." Ami stated, the Safaistra shining within her palms.
"I can't think of anything more desperate than this. Can you?" Cam asked his dad.
"No, I cannot." Sensei agreed
"And I can't think of any other power source that can save us." Cam added. "I'm going back to the past to get it."
"Cam, you must hurry, or you will be trapped in the past forever." Sensei stated.
"I know." Cam nodded. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."
"You have your mother's courageous heart and your father's stubborn head." Sensei told his son.
"I'll be back, dad. I promise." Cam promised and walked through the portal.
SailorStar9: Phew, this chapter is long overdue. Read and review.