Disclaimer: Characters belong to BVE and Village Roadshow Productions, Ltd.
Spoilers: Prelude to a Storm
Author's note: This is my attempt at doing what Rach did for Time Force, except for Ninja Storm. I really like the character of Tori. Heck, I enjoy the entire series. I'll put all the episodes out eventually, one every week or two, but I'm in no hurry.
The Practical One: Surfing Babe
By Stultulo
Copyright 2003
Tori rode out the wave, sliding eventually to the shore. She knew that she should go after this last wave. It was time for her lessons at the Wind Ninja Academy, and she didn't want to be late.
She jogged over to her bag. Inside, her watch was beeping, telling her that she was going to be late if she didn't hurry up. She slid into her clothes and quickly ran her battery-powered dryer through her hair. Wouldn't do to come to training with her hair wet.
After she was done, she drove off the beach to the skate park, where she'd pick up her friends Shane and Dustin. They'd met their freshman year of high school, but she'd barely known them until Sensei had recruited the three of them.
They'd never known Sensei's real name; he seemed like he was timeless. For all they knew, he was from the past. Of course, Cam, his obnoxious son, probably meant that Sensei wasn't more than two or three times older than them. Either that, or he'd gotten into the dad business late.
Tori looked about, seeing if she could find any sign of the other two. As usual, neither of them was waiting for her, which meant that both of them had gotten tied up in skating and racing. She sighed. She could see the look in Sensei's eyes every time, and she didn't want to let the life of a ninja go.
She shook her head and sighed again. They were going to be late. Again. Sensei wasn't going to be pleased. Again.
"Boo! Miss me?" Shane was at the rolled-down window on the passenger side.
She started momentarily. "In your dreams," she shot back. Shane got in on the passenger side, tossing his skateboard in the back, narrowly missing her surfboard. "Where's Dustin?"
But as she spoke, Dustin appeared in her rear-view mirror, startling the pigeons as he ran along the sidewalk and grass. "Last as usual." Late as usual. Dustin wouldn't be on time to his own funeral.
"Oh, man," Shane moaned as the side door to her van opened and Dustin flopped inside. Just as she thought he was going to sit in the back seat, he did a clumsy somersault and landed in the front between her and Shane.
Resisting comment, she drove off. Sensei was going to be so mad....
Somehow, they managed to get on the road. It was quite a drive to the portal, and a stiff climb after that. They were late as it was.
"How can you guys be late every single time?" Tori demanded. "I couldn't be late if I actually planned it!"
"That's because you're the reliable one," Dustin told her. Of the trio, he was affiliated with Earth: reliable, dependable. Shane was affiliated with the Air: calm and energized all at once. And she was a Water affiliation: turbulent but gentle.
"What does that mean? The Reliable One?" she asked, trying to keep her mind on the road. The way the boys said it, it almost sounded like an insult.
"Look," Shane said, and she knew it would be one of his attempts at explanations, "In every group, there are different types of people. Different personalities."
"Totally true. Like, for example, the Power Rangers," Dustin contributed enthusiastically.
Okay, time to nip this one in the bud. "Power Rangers?" she asked in jest. "You've got to be joking." Dustin's enthusiasm with comics was not something she neither shared nor cared to share.
"No, I'm not," Dustin said. "There's always the mellow, reflective dude," he said, clearly meaning himself. That was true; Dustin was mellow to the point of flakiness, though she wouldn't call him reflective. Live in the moment, maybe.
"And there's the risk-taker, the adrenaline guy," Shane said. He moved the rear-view mirror so that he could examine himself in it. Shane always thought more of his looks than she did, and she had to laugh at that. "That would, of course, be me."
There was some mutual ribbing on the guys' end. "And you, Tori, you're the logical one," Dustin said, taking up the narrative.
She laughed inside to think of herself on some superhero team. Dustin's words rang true in her heart, but she had to be embarrassed at her companions' words and acts. "You guys have to lay off the comic books." She shook her head. "Power Rangers. Whatever."
The ride and hike to the Academy portal, male ribbing and complaining aside, was actually rather uneventful. As they got to the falls that would allow the three of them access to the portal, Dustin muttered, "It's quiet out here."
"Too quiet," Shane replied, but he didn't stop. Tori could see the tenseness and worry in Shane's expression. It *was* too quiet.
Shane stopped abruptly. "Did you see that?"
But neither she nor Dustin had a chance to reply as shapes knocked into them, knocking all three to the ground.
The shapes formed into a dozen or so warriors from the Academy. As she and the others got up, the message was clear: defend yourselves.
Shane gave her a nod, and she knew what to do next. Synchronized with the others, she did an effortless quick-change into her Academy uniform. Then the warriors attacked.
Ignoring, for the moment, what the other two were doing, Tori struck at a few of the ninjas, and then ran onto water. The water would aid her in her fight. Two of the ninja warriors, whose uniforms broadcast that they were the same affiliation, ran out after her.
She skated to a halt, and looked up in time to see the two leaping towards her. Momentarily frozen, she could do nothing but try to keep her balance on the water, which was disturbed by the action.
As the two landed nearby, the pond chose that moment to have waves, and she lost her balance. Ingloriously, she felt herself sink into the water, and she knew that if she had been in a real fight, she'd have been in trouble. The two ninjas walked smoothly over to her and helped her regain her balance before escorting her, dripping, to the shore. *So much for drying my hair before Sensei sees,* she thought.
As some of the other ninjas laughed, she could see Dustin attempt a disappearing maneuver... only to get himself stuck partway into the ground. Laughing derisively, another six or so ninjas helped him out. Above him, Shane was attempting to tackle another ninja mid-air. Unfortunately, Shane was as lucky as both she and Dustin, and landed roughly on the ground. Dustin's escorts pushed him to where she stood, and soon Shane's opponents had the third of their trio lined up in an embarrassing heap of wet hair and dislodged uniforms.
The three of them stood before their classmates for a minute or two before the cry of a hawk distracted them. The hawk flew in a lazy circle before landing on the ground, and then shimmered into the form of a stern, bald Asian man in robes – Sensei. He looked disapprovingly at them. "That's enough for today." Instantly, the other students flew away in black blurs, heading back towards the Academy.
"Tori." Sensei looked at her sternly, and she bowed her head in shame. But he was turning towards Shane. "Shane." Then he turned again. "Dustin." He faced all three of them again. "I am very disappointed. I will expect a visit from you to discuss your lack of commitment to your Ninja training."
As he ended his statement, Sensei walked behind them. They turned in time to see him walk onto the water, only stopping as the portal flared open and drew him inside.
There was silence for a second. "That wasn't so bad, huh?" Dustin asked. Only Dustin could make such statements at a time where the only thing that was coming up next was more bad news. As she and Shane walked onto the water, he exclaimed from behind, "What? It wasn't!"
But she and Shane had the sense to ignore him. The portal deposited them within walking distance of the Academy, and she could see its banners flying: red for air, yellow for earth, blue for water. It seemed like something out of a fairy tale... but then being a ninja seemed like something out of a fairy tale.
Shane was fiddling with his outfit nervously as Dustin continued chattering. "Don't worry; you can blame it all on me."
Tori rolled her eyes inwardly. "Don't worry. We will." Though Sensei probably wouldn't listen anyway. As far as the old man was concerned, the three of them were inexcusably late, and it didn't really matter why.
As the three of them walked up the path, she could see Sensei waiting for them, and beyond him, many others practicing their fighting techniques. It was almost as if Sensei blocked their way from being Ninjas, though Tori wondered if they didn't deserve it. Or at least some of them didn't deserve it. She was the one on time, after all. She hadn't mastered everything yet, but she at least could get there on time.
Of course, the question on whether or not she wanted to be a ninja remained. The skills that she'd learned, she believed, would do her well even if Sensei ejected them. Given today, ejection seemed very likely.
The three of them stopped and bowed before their Sensei. He beckoned for them to follow him. They walked along the edge of the practice fields, through a grassy area. "You have been students at the Wind Ninja Academy for nearly a year, and you have yet to see the importance of punctuality. I would suggest you find a way to change that before you return tomorrow. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to expel you."
Tori cringed inwardly. They deserved that, they really deserved that. She'd been at the guys time and time again... well, at least maybe the other two would take it to heart. She could hear Shane protesting. "But you can't!"
As she knew, Shane's protest cut no ice. "You all have great potential, and it would be a shame to waste it." Sensei looked down at his staff. "You must have other studies."
Tori automatically bowed, knowing that the other two would be doing the same. As they walked off to go back to the van, they passed Cam, Sensei's son. Cam wasn't too bad looking, but he was a geek with an attitude problem. He didn't practice the ninja arts at all, but he acted superior to them. He was dressed in his usual color, green, but that's all Tori noticed before they were heading out. She could hear a vague, snide comment, and the Sensei using his son's first full name. Sensei was in teaching mode, and at least Cam was going to get it instead of them.
As the weather turned suddenly cloudy, Tori wondered if things could get any worse. The three of them were as good as kicked out of academy, which would probably thrill Dustin and Shane, but she'd miss the place. She'd miss Sensei. She'd even miss Cam.
She took a quick look back, but Sensei and Cam were out of view. "What's up?" Shane asked.
"Nothing," she managed, but frowned. Something was wrong, she just couldn't put her finger on it.
"Don't worry," Shane said. "We'll get here on time tomorrow." His eyes shone like a light. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he wanted to stay.
Dustin was moving with a determination that surprised her. "Yeah, Dude, you heard what Cam said! We can't give up without showing him a thing or two."
But Tori was silent, still disturbed by something she didn't understand.
The next day, to Tori's immense surprise, the three of them were on time. Eerily on time. They'd waited at the shop where Dustin worked, and then when the alarm rang, they ran out. They piled into the van, and there was none of the playfulness that had been present before. It was like they were both on their way to the executioners. "Are we on time?" Dustin asked.
Frowning, Tori looked at her watch as the weather reporter spoke about the weird weather system that had manifested since yesterday. "We're early." For some reason, that filled her with dread. She knew that early was good, especially since that meant that the three of them wouldn't be kicked out, but still, she didn't want to get to class all of a sudden. She looked at the side of the road. "Hey, it looks like they need help." She remembered her watch. If they hurried, then....
And besides, she couldn't leave them. Not with the storm threatening. She'd rather be kicked out for lateness then not run true to Sensei's ideals. Who knew, it might even save their rear ends one more time. She stopped the van.
"No way," she could hear Shane objecting. "Tori, we can't!"
"We can't just leave them here," Tori said. "What if something happens to them?" She was heading towards the car. She could see Dustin and Shane getting out too, Dustin with a box of tools.
"All I know is if we're late, something's going to definitely happen to us," Shane called. "And it's not going to involve fun and fabulous prizes."
But Tori and Dustin ignored him. Eventually, he joined them and between the three of them, they were able to get the car fixed. After the old couple thanked them, they went back to the car. Tori felt better about fixing the car, but the dread still filled her as soon as she stepped into the van. She could hear Shane and Dustin arguing. "He's a ninja master, Dustin. They don't oversleep."
"Really?"
Tori ignored them and drove off.
There were no ninja attackers to greet the three of them as they arrived at the waterfall and its hidden portal. No sensei. The area was no different than almost any other time that the three of them had come to class, and yet it still bothered her. "Maybe Sensei did oversleep," Dustin joked weakly.
She and Shane had the sense to ignore him as they walked towards the hidden portal. She didn't want to walk through, yet she had to. Sensei couldn't dismiss them or give them another chance if they didn't.
As the three of them emerged from the school side of the portal, a wind almost blew them back into it. "What's going on?" Dustin yelled, as much for volume than anything else.
"Someone's attacking the school!" Shane surged forward, all evident concerns about being expelled forgotten. She and Dustin struggled behind him, all fighting against the wind and trying to see what was going on.
"Look out!" she yelled, as a fragment came flying towards Shane. However, the piece was blown out of the way as a last-minute reprieve. As they struggled forward, a sudden strong gust blew all of them onto their backs. They could only watch as what was left of the school was swallowed up by some sort of hurricane, which vanished. She shared a disbelieving look with Dustin.
Finally, the winds and the hurricane subsided, and the three of them were left to see a pit in the ground where the school had been. Well, a hole in the ground and heaps of rubble, with the occasional ragged banner sticking out at an odd angle. "It's gone!" Shane exclaimed, as if to state the shocked obvious.
"Okay," Dustin said, "I'm thinking earthquake."
Shane saved her from replying. "Since when have you heard of an earthquake sucking people and buildings into the sky?" He trotted down into the hole left by the 'hurricane', and she found herself following him. She could see Dustin following as well.
"What caused this?" she asked out loud, though she was and wasn't sure of the answer. A big, unnatural hurricane, to be sure. Or was it natural? And why did it only hit Sensei's academy?
"Are we the only students left?" Dustin asked, ignoring her musings.
They looked around the ruined landscape. There was no sign of Sensei, of the students, of anybody. They were alone.
A pile of rubble shuttered. "Over there!" Shane shouted. A hand flailed out, causing enough shift so that the three of them could see the owner. "It's Cam!"
The three of them ran over to assist Sensei's son out of the wreckage. "Cam, are you okay?" Shane asked, his concern overriding the trio's distaste for Cam.
"I'm fine," Cam said, making an abortive attempt to dust himself and his glasses off. Suddenly, there was an explosion nearby. And another. Someone was shooting at them, Tori realized, as Cam took off. He was in better shape than he looked.
As the explosions continued around them, the three ninjas followed Cam's lead. Cam stopped suddenly and was actively pulling a chain. The chain lifted a section of... Tori squinted and realized it was some sort of bomb shelter. "Come on!" Cam shouted, and the three of them scooted in, Tori pulling the door shut behind her.
They followed Cam down an impressive flight of stairs deep into the earth. "Cam, what is this place?" Shane asked.
"Just follow me," Cam said, as calm as he ever got. He replaced his glasses, though Tori didn't remember him holding onto them when someone started shooting at them. He put his hand on some sort of panel, and a narrow room lit up in front of them.
"No way!" Shane exclaimed, and she could hear the stunned disbelief in his voice. Who had known that this place was there?
"It's amazing," was all she managed.
"Dude," Dustin said, not to be left out.
"Don't ask any questions," Cam said, "Because I can't answer them." His voice was back to its old arrogant tones.
"What, this is like some big secret?" she heard Shane ask.
"Yes, Shane," Cam said, still sarcastic, "it's some big secret."
"And there are some times when secrets must be revealed, Cam," Sensei's voice came reproachfully and grandly. Tori swung around, but she didn't see Sensei at all. She did see the small cart, though. As she looked closer, she could see a small rat-shape inside, dressed in a miniature version of Sensei's robes.
"Hey, that rat sounds just like Sensei!" Shane stated.
"Yeah," Dustin agreed, kneeling down to look at the small figure. "Doesn't look like him much, though. Except for the robes."
Cam looked like he was about to roll his eyes. Or do violence to Shane and Dustin. "My father is not a rat. He's a guinea pig."
Dustin turned towards Shane. "Dude," he said. "Did he just explain and I... I, like, missed it?" he said, making a sailing motion past his head with appropriate sound effects.
"He's *stuck*," Cam explained, with more than a touch of impatience and condescension.
"Stuck?" Shane asked. Cam gave him a look of annoyance.
"Yes, Shane," Sensei said. "Stuck. Observe." He flipped up from his little cart onto a console, activating a retracting screen, and then flipped again so that he wasn't blocking their view of it. "This is Lothor. Once a great ninja, he was banished from the Earth when his lust for power turned him to the dark side." The console displayed a picture of a man in a mask, fighting Sensei's human form. "When our energy fields collided, I was transformed into what you see before you."
Sensei continued. "Now he has returned and brought an army with him. They will do anything to take their planet for their own. Unless they are stopped...."
"Who would be dumb enough to try to stop *them*?" Dustin butted in.
"An excellent question, Dustin. The morphers, Cam." He turned from his three remaining students to his son.
"Father, you can't be serious," Cam protested, and Tori suddenly knew the answer to the 'excellent' question. She, Dustin, and Shane were going to be the 'volunteers'.
"We have no choice."
"But these guys... I mean, *them*?" Cam was still protesting, and Tori became very, very sure that they were the ones fighting Lothor's army. All by themselves. "They're... but they're...."
And suddenly she felt angry. Sure, she wasn't that great, but who was Cam to judge who could fight for their world. "We're what?" she asked.
"I don't like the way that sounded," Shane said casually, crossing his arms. "Did you?" he said, thumping Dustin gently.
"Actually, Dude," Dustin said, scratching at his temple, "I'm kinda lost here."
"Now, Cam," Sensei said, and there was starting to be steel in his tone. Cam slouched a little and then walked to an alcove, removing something from it. When he returned, they could see it was an eight-sided box in some kind of lacquered wood.
Cam approached the three of them. "These are your Power Ranger Wind morphers," he intoned formally as he opened the box to reveal three boxy little things nestled in plastic.
*Those* boxy little things were going to help? "Yeah, right," she scoffed out loud, but Dustin leaned in, a silly smile on his face.
"What did I tell you, Dude? The Power Rangers are real!" He picked up one of the objects, strapping it around his wrist. Curious, Tori picked up the one with a blue marking, the same as her uniform, while Shane picked up the red one. She strapped the object on, wondering why she'd somehow ended up with some kind of toylike thing strapped around her wrist.
"Whatever," she said.
As they were inspecting the new additions to their outfits, Sensei came forward. "Dustin, child of the earth, true to your heart, you will embody the powers of the Yellow Wind Ranger. Tori, fluid and graceful like the water, you will become the Blue Wind Ranger. Shane, always reaching for the stars, you will command the powers of the Red Wind Ranger." Tori smiled. It was as if she'd won a prize, at least at the moment. "Together, you shall be known as the Wind Power Rangers, protectors of the Earth."
The solemn moment was broken by Shane. "So, what does this thing do?" he asked, confusion clear in his voice.
"Does it have any games?" Dustin asked right after Shane's question.
"No, it doesn't have any games," Tori said in exasperation. Sensei had just given them the power to save the Earth, and Dustin was looking for games?
The beep of the console arm interrupted any arguments. Sensei looked at them. "Quickly! Lothor's army is attacking. You must intercept them. Call on your powers by saying 'Ninja Storm, Ranger Form'."
The instructions felt *right* to Tori, as if something was whispering things to her, putting them in her head. As Shane led the flight out, she felt better than she had all day.
As the three of them came down from another hidden entry point, they could see the army looking for them. "Looking for us?" Shane called. He brought his morpher to his chin. "Ninja Storm...." He hesitated, obviously forgetting what he was supposed to say next.
"Ranger Form!" she hissed, about the same time Dustin did.
"It's Ranger Form," Cam's irritated voice came over the comm built into the morphers.
"Let an expert do it," Dustin said, working the kinks out before executing a serious of gestures. "Ninja Storm! Ranger Form! Hyah!"
A shimmer of light later, and Dustin was replaced by a figure in yellow spandex and a helmet. "Oh yeah, baby, yeah!" Dustin exclaimed as he examined his new look. He turned towards the two of them. "Guess nobody's laughing at the comic book geek now, are they?"
Tori couldn't help herself. She smiled. She could see Shane was smiling too. They nodded at each other, and then imitated Dustin's gestures and wording.
Faster than thought, she was enclosed in a bodysuit of blue spandex which formed under and in place of her ninja uniform. A helmet formed around her head, but she could still see as if there was no helmet there.
"Kelzaks! Attack!" The monster said, and the gibbering forms jumped up, popping forward until they were within range. It became a chaotic melee, with her being chased by the minions onto the water and blasting them into oblivion, an airborne chase, where Shane took the big ugly for a ride in his glider, and finally using their weapons to blow the big ugly into infinity. She was amazed at how much she seemed to know about using powers she didn't even know about until ten minutes before, but there was no time to reflect as the big ugly's remains blew into the wind. Her helmet slid open at a mental command, and she looked at the picture with her own eyes.
"That really just happened, right?" Shane asked, in the tone of one who wonders if he just dreamed something and had just woken up.
"I think so," Tori said, feeling just as uncertain.
But Dustin seemed certain. "Now that.... was awesome," he proclaimed, and Tori realized that it had been real. They, and Wind Rangers, had just won their first battle. Turning to her new teammates, she celebrated.
After the battle, after they had come back and Sensei had reminded them that the war was not over, only the first battle won, Tori found herself sitting outside their base, on a pile of rubble. Barely twenty-four hours ago, this had been an academy of learning, with plenty of students. Now, they, she, Dustin, and Shane, were the only ones left. The only ones left to defend the Earth.
What Shane had said some twenty-four hours before stuck in her mind. Dustin was the mellow one, the one who'd forget things at a moment's notice, the one who didn't take life so seriously. Shane lived for excitement, for adventure. He was strong and impulsive. And she was the practical one, the logical one, the one that cared too much to let go.
And they would save the Earth. She hoped. Cam's sarcastic remarks still echoed in her head. Could they do it? Could they let go of their flaws? Tori could only hope so. They had a long fight ahead of them.
To be continued in "Grouped Together"
Spoilers: Prelude to a Storm
Author's note: This is my attempt at doing what Rach did for Time Force, except for Ninja Storm. I really like the character of Tori. Heck, I enjoy the entire series. I'll put all the episodes out eventually, one every week or two, but I'm in no hurry.
The Practical One: Surfing Babe
By Stultulo
Copyright 2003
Tori rode out the wave, sliding eventually to the shore. She knew that she should go after this last wave. It was time for her lessons at the Wind Ninja Academy, and she didn't want to be late.
She jogged over to her bag. Inside, her watch was beeping, telling her that she was going to be late if she didn't hurry up. She slid into her clothes and quickly ran her battery-powered dryer through her hair. Wouldn't do to come to training with her hair wet.
After she was done, she drove off the beach to the skate park, where she'd pick up her friends Shane and Dustin. They'd met their freshman year of high school, but she'd barely known them until Sensei had recruited the three of them.
They'd never known Sensei's real name; he seemed like he was timeless. For all they knew, he was from the past. Of course, Cam, his obnoxious son, probably meant that Sensei wasn't more than two or three times older than them. Either that, or he'd gotten into the dad business late.
Tori looked about, seeing if she could find any sign of the other two. As usual, neither of them was waiting for her, which meant that both of them had gotten tied up in skating and racing. She sighed. She could see the look in Sensei's eyes every time, and she didn't want to let the life of a ninja go.
She shook her head and sighed again. They were going to be late. Again. Sensei wasn't going to be pleased. Again.
"Boo! Miss me?" Shane was at the rolled-down window on the passenger side.
She started momentarily. "In your dreams," she shot back. Shane got in on the passenger side, tossing his skateboard in the back, narrowly missing her surfboard. "Where's Dustin?"
But as she spoke, Dustin appeared in her rear-view mirror, startling the pigeons as he ran along the sidewalk and grass. "Last as usual." Late as usual. Dustin wouldn't be on time to his own funeral.
"Oh, man," Shane moaned as the side door to her van opened and Dustin flopped inside. Just as she thought he was going to sit in the back seat, he did a clumsy somersault and landed in the front between her and Shane.
Resisting comment, she drove off. Sensei was going to be so mad....
Somehow, they managed to get on the road. It was quite a drive to the portal, and a stiff climb after that. They were late as it was.
"How can you guys be late every single time?" Tori demanded. "I couldn't be late if I actually planned it!"
"That's because you're the reliable one," Dustin told her. Of the trio, he was affiliated with Earth: reliable, dependable. Shane was affiliated with the Air: calm and energized all at once. And she was a Water affiliation: turbulent but gentle.
"What does that mean? The Reliable One?" she asked, trying to keep her mind on the road. The way the boys said it, it almost sounded like an insult.
"Look," Shane said, and she knew it would be one of his attempts at explanations, "In every group, there are different types of people. Different personalities."
"Totally true. Like, for example, the Power Rangers," Dustin contributed enthusiastically.
Okay, time to nip this one in the bud. "Power Rangers?" she asked in jest. "You've got to be joking." Dustin's enthusiasm with comics was not something she neither shared nor cared to share.
"No, I'm not," Dustin said. "There's always the mellow, reflective dude," he said, clearly meaning himself. That was true; Dustin was mellow to the point of flakiness, though she wouldn't call him reflective. Live in the moment, maybe.
"And there's the risk-taker, the adrenaline guy," Shane said. He moved the rear-view mirror so that he could examine himself in it. Shane always thought more of his looks than she did, and she had to laugh at that. "That would, of course, be me."
There was some mutual ribbing on the guys' end. "And you, Tori, you're the logical one," Dustin said, taking up the narrative.
She laughed inside to think of herself on some superhero team. Dustin's words rang true in her heart, but she had to be embarrassed at her companions' words and acts. "You guys have to lay off the comic books." She shook her head. "Power Rangers. Whatever."
The ride and hike to the Academy portal, male ribbing and complaining aside, was actually rather uneventful. As they got to the falls that would allow the three of them access to the portal, Dustin muttered, "It's quiet out here."
"Too quiet," Shane replied, but he didn't stop. Tori could see the tenseness and worry in Shane's expression. It *was* too quiet.
Shane stopped abruptly. "Did you see that?"
But neither she nor Dustin had a chance to reply as shapes knocked into them, knocking all three to the ground.
The shapes formed into a dozen or so warriors from the Academy. As she and the others got up, the message was clear: defend yourselves.
Shane gave her a nod, and she knew what to do next. Synchronized with the others, she did an effortless quick-change into her Academy uniform. Then the warriors attacked.
Ignoring, for the moment, what the other two were doing, Tori struck at a few of the ninjas, and then ran onto water. The water would aid her in her fight. Two of the ninja warriors, whose uniforms broadcast that they were the same affiliation, ran out after her.
She skated to a halt, and looked up in time to see the two leaping towards her. Momentarily frozen, she could do nothing but try to keep her balance on the water, which was disturbed by the action.
As the two landed nearby, the pond chose that moment to have waves, and she lost her balance. Ingloriously, she felt herself sink into the water, and she knew that if she had been in a real fight, she'd have been in trouble. The two ninjas walked smoothly over to her and helped her regain her balance before escorting her, dripping, to the shore. *So much for drying my hair before Sensei sees,* she thought.
As some of the other ninjas laughed, she could see Dustin attempt a disappearing maneuver... only to get himself stuck partway into the ground. Laughing derisively, another six or so ninjas helped him out. Above him, Shane was attempting to tackle another ninja mid-air. Unfortunately, Shane was as lucky as both she and Dustin, and landed roughly on the ground. Dustin's escorts pushed him to where she stood, and soon Shane's opponents had the third of their trio lined up in an embarrassing heap of wet hair and dislodged uniforms.
The three of them stood before their classmates for a minute or two before the cry of a hawk distracted them. The hawk flew in a lazy circle before landing on the ground, and then shimmered into the form of a stern, bald Asian man in robes – Sensei. He looked disapprovingly at them. "That's enough for today." Instantly, the other students flew away in black blurs, heading back towards the Academy.
"Tori." Sensei looked at her sternly, and she bowed her head in shame. But he was turning towards Shane. "Shane." Then he turned again. "Dustin." He faced all three of them again. "I am very disappointed. I will expect a visit from you to discuss your lack of commitment to your Ninja training."
As he ended his statement, Sensei walked behind them. They turned in time to see him walk onto the water, only stopping as the portal flared open and drew him inside.
There was silence for a second. "That wasn't so bad, huh?" Dustin asked. Only Dustin could make such statements at a time where the only thing that was coming up next was more bad news. As she and Shane walked onto the water, he exclaimed from behind, "What? It wasn't!"
But she and Shane had the sense to ignore him. The portal deposited them within walking distance of the Academy, and she could see its banners flying: red for air, yellow for earth, blue for water. It seemed like something out of a fairy tale... but then being a ninja seemed like something out of a fairy tale.
Shane was fiddling with his outfit nervously as Dustin continued chattering. "Don't worry; you can blame it all on me."
Tori rolled her eyes inwardly. "Don't worry. We will." Though Sensei probably wouldn't listen anyway. As far as the old man was concerned, the three of them were inexcusably late, and it didn't really matter why.
As the three of them walked up the path, she could see Sensei waiting for them, and beyond him, many others practicing their fighting techniques. It was almost as if Sensei blocked their way from being Ninjas, though Tori wondered if they didn't deserve it. Or at least some of them didn't deserve it. She was the one on time, after all. She hadn't mastered everything yet, but she at least could get there on time.
Of course, the question on whether or not she wanted to be a ninja remained. The skills that she'd learned, she believed, would do her well even if Sensei ejected them. Given today, ejection seemed very likely.
The three of them stopped and bowed before their Sensei. He beckoned for them to follow him. They walked along the edge of the practice fields, through a grassy area. "You have been students at the Wind Ninja Academy for nearly a year, and you have yet to see the importance of punctuality. I would suggest you find a way to change that before you return tomorrow. Otherwise, I will have no choice but to expel you."
Tori cringed inwardly. They deserved that, they really deserved that. She'd been at the guys time and time again... well, at least maybe the other two would take it to heart. She could hear Shane protesting. "But you can't!"
As she knew, Shane's protest cut no ice. "You all have great potential, and it would be a shame to waste it." Sensei looked down at his staff. "You must have other studies."
Tori automatically bowed, knowing that the other two would be doing the same. As they walked off to go back to the van, they passed Cam, Sensei's son. Cam wasn't too bad looking, but he was a geek with an attitude problem. He didn't practice the ninja arts at all, but he acted superior to them. He was dressed in his usual color, green, but that's all Tori noticed before they were heading out. She could hear a vague, snide comment, and the Sensei using his son's first full name. Sensei was in teaching mode, and at least Cam was going to get it instead of them.
As the weather turned suddenly cloudy, Tori wondered if things could get any worse. The three of them were as good as kicked out of academy, which would probably thrill Dustin and Shane, but she'd miss the place. She'd miss Sensei. She'd even miss Cam.
She took a quick look back, but Sensei and Cam were out of view. "What's up?" Shane asked.
"Nothing," she managed, but frowned. Something was wrong, she just couldn't put her finger on it.
"Don't worry," Shane said. "We'll get here on time tomorrow." His eyes shone like a light. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe he wanted to stay.
Dustin was moving with a determination that surprised her. "Yeah, Dude, you heard what Cam said! We can't give up without showing him a thing or two."
But Tori was silent, still disturbed by something she didn't understand.
The next day, to Tori's immense surprise, the three of them were on time. Eerily on time. They'd waited at the shop where Dustin worked, and then when the alarm rang, they ran out. They piled into the van, and there was none of the playfulness that had been present before. It was like they were both on their way to the executioners. "Are we on time?" Dustin asked.
Frowning, Tori looked at her watch as the weather reporter spoke about the weird weather system that had manifested since yesterday. "We're early." For some reason, that filled her with dread. She knew that early was good, especially since that meant that the three of them wouldn't be kicked out, but still, she didn't want to get to class all of a sudden. She looked at the side of the road. "Hey, it looks like they need help." She remembered her watch. If they hurried, then....
And besides, she couldn't leave them. Not with the storm threatening. She'd rather be kicked out for lateness then not run true to Sensei's ideals. Who knew, it might even save their rear ends one more time. She stopped the van.
"No way," she could hear Shane objecting. "Tori, we can't!"
"We can't just leave them here," Tori said. "What if something happens to them?" She was heading towards the car. She could see Dustin and Shane getting out too, Dustin with a box of tools.
"All I know is if we're late, something's going to definitely happen to us," Shane called. "And it's not going to involve fun and fabulous prizes."
But Tori and Dustin ignored him. Eventually, he joined them and between the three of them, they were able to get the car fixed. After the old couple thanked them, they went back to the car. Tori felt better about fixing the car, but the dread still filled her as soon as she stepped into the van. She could hear Shane and Dustin arguing. "He's a ninja master, Dustin. They don't oversleep."
"Really?"
Tori ignored them and drove off.
There were no ninja attackers to greet the three of them as they arrived at the waterfall and its hidden portal. No sensei. The area was no different than almost any other time that the three of them had come to class, and yet it still bothered her. "Maybe Sensei did oversleep," Dustin joked weakly.
She and Shane had the sense to ignore him as they walked towards the hidden portal. She didn't want to walk through, yet she had to. Sensei couldn't dismiss them or give them another chance if they didn't.
As the three of them emerged from the school side of the portal, a wind almost blew them back into it. "What's going on?" Dustin yelled, as much for volume than anything else.
"Someone's attacking the school!" Shane surged forward, all evident concerns about being expelled forgotten. She and Dustin struggled behind him, all fighting against the wind and trying to see what was going on.
"Look out!" she yelled, as a fragment came flying towards Shane. However, the piece was blown out of the way as a last-minute reprieve. As they struggled forward, a sudden strong gust blew all of them onto their backs. They could only watch as what was left of the school was swallowed up by some sort of hurricane, which vanished. She shared a disbelieving look with Dustin.
Finally, the winds and the hurricane subsided, and the three of them were left to see a pit in the ground where the school had been. Well, a hole in the ground and heaps of rubble, with the occasional ragged banner sticking out at an odd angle. "It's gone!" Shane exclaimed, as if to state the shocked obvious.
"Okay," Dustin said, "I'm thinking earthquake."
Shane saved her from replying. "Since when have you heard of an earthquake sucking people and buildings into the sky?" He trotted down into the hole left by the 'hurricane', and she found herself following him. She could see Dustin following as well.
"What caused this?" she asked out loud, though she was and wasn't sure of the answer. A big, unnatural hurricane, to be sure. Or was it natural? And why did it only hit Sensei's academy?
"Are we the only students left?" Dustin asked, ignoring her musings.
They looked around the ruined landscape. There was no sign of Sensei, of the students, of anybody. They were alone.
A pile of rubble shuttered. "Over there!" Shane shouted. A hand flailed out, causing enough shift so that the three of them could see the owner. "It's Cam!"
The three of them ran over to assist Sensei's son out of the wreckage. "Cam, are you okay?" Shane asked, his concern overriding the trio's distaste for Cam.
"I'm fine," Cam said, making an abortive attempt to dust himself and his glasses off. Suddenly, there was an explosion nearby. And another. Someone was shooting at them, Tori realized, as Cam took off. He was in better shape than he looked.
As the explosions continued around them, the three ninjas followed Cam's lead. Cam stopped suddenly and was actively pulling a chain. The chain lifted a section of... Tori squinted and realized it was some sort of bomb shelter. "Come on!" Cam shouted, and the three of them scooted in, Tori pulling the door shut behind her.
They followed Cam down an impressive flight of stairs deep into the earth. "Cam, what is this place?" Shane asked.
"Just follow me," Cam said, as calm as he ever got. He replaced his glasses, though Tori didn't remember him holding onto them when someone started shooting at them. He put his hand on some sort of panel, and a narrow room lit up in front of them.
"No way!" Shane exclaimed, and she could hear the stunned disbelief in his voice. Who had known that this place was there?
"It's amazing," was all she managed.
"Dude," Dustin said, not to be left out.
"Don't ask any questions," Cam said, "Because I can't answer them." His voice was back to its old arrogant tones.
"What, this is like some big secret?" she heard Shane ask.
"Yes, Shane," Cam said, still sarcastic, "it's some big secret."
"And there are some times when secrets must be revealed, Cam," Sensei's voice came reproachfully and grandly. Tori swung around, but she didn't see Sensei at all. She did see the small cart, though. As she looked closer, she could see a small rat-shape inside, dressed in a miniature version of Sensei's robes.
"Hey, that rat sounds just like Sensei!" Shane stated.
"Yeah," Dustin agreed, kneeling down to look at the small figure. "Doesn't look like him much, though. Except for the robes."
Cam looked like he was about to roll his eyes. Or do violence to Shane and Dustin. "My father is not a rat. He's a guinea pig."
Dustin turned towards Shane. "Dude," he said. "Did he just explain and I... I, like, missed it?" he said, making a sailing motion past his head with appropriate sound effects.
"He's *stuck*," Cam explained, with more than a touch of impatience and condescension.
"Stuck?" Shane asked. Cam gave him a look of annoyance.
"Yes, Shane," Sensei said. "Stuck. Observe." He flipped up from his little cart onto a console, activating a retracting screen, and then flipped again so that he wasn't blocking their view of it. "This is Lothor. Once a great ninja, he was banished from the Earth when his lust for power turned him to the dark side." The console displayed a picture of a man in a mask, fighting Sensei's human form. "When our energy fields collided, I was transformed into what you see before you."
Sensei continued. "Now he has returned and brought an army with him. They will do anything to take their planet for their own. Unless they are stopped...."
"Who would be dumb enough to try to stop *them*?" Dustin butted in.
"An excellent question, Dustin. The morphers, Cam." He turned from his three remaining students to his son.
"Father, you can't be serious," Cam protested, and Tori suddenly knew the answer to the 'excellent' question. She, Dustin, and Shane were going to be the 'volunteers'.
"We have no choice."
"But these guys... I mean, *them*?" Cam was still protesting, and Tori became very, very sure that they were the ones fighting Lothor's army. All by themselves. "They're... but they're...."
And suddenly she felt angry. Sure, she wasn't that great, but who was Cam to judge who could fight for their world. "We're what?" she asked.
"I don't like the way that sounded," Shane said casually, crossing his arms. "Did you?" he said, thumping Dustin gently.
"Actually, Dude," Dustin said, scratching at his temple, "I'm kinda lost here."
"Now, Cam," Sensei said, and there was starting to be steel in his tone. Cam slouched a little and then walked to an alcove, removing something from it. When he returned, they could see it was an eight-sided box in some kind of lacquered wood.
Cam approached the three of them. "These are your Power Ranger Wind morphers," he intoned formally as he opened the box to reveal three boxy little things nestled in plastic.
*Those* boxy little things were going to help? "Yeah, right," she scoffed out loud, but Dustin leaned in, a silly smile on his face.
"What did I tell you, Dude? The Power Rangers are real!" He picked up one of the objects, strapping it around his wrist. Curious, Tori picked up the one with a blue marking, the same as her uniform, while Shane picked up the red one. She strapped the object on, wondering why she'd somehow ended up with some kind of toylike thing strapped around her wrist.
"Whatever," she said.
As they were inspecting the new additions to their outfits, Sensei came forward. "Dustin, child of the earth, true to your heart, you will embody the powers of the Yellow Wind Ranger. Tori, fluid and graceful like the water, you will become the Blue Wind Ranger. Shane, always reaching for the stars, you will command the powers of the Red Wind Ranger." Tori smiled. It was as if she'd won a prize, at least at the moment. "Together, you shall be known as the Wind Power Rangers, protectors of the Earth."
The solemn moment was broken by Shane. "So, what does this thing do?" he asked, confusion clear in his voice.
"Does it have any games?" Dustin asked right after Shane's question.
"No, it doesn't have any games," Tori said in exasperation. Sensei had just given them the power to save the Earth, and Dustin was looking for games?
The beep of the console arm interrupted any arguments. Sensei looked at them. "Quickly! Lothor's army is attacking. You must intercept them. Call on your powers by saying 'Ninja Storm, Ranger Form'."
The instructions felt *right* to Tori, as if something was whispering things to her, putting them in her head. As Shane led the flight out, she felt better than she had all day.
As the three of them came down from another hidden entry point, they could see the army looking for them. "Looking for us?" Shane called. He brought his morpher to his chin. "Ninja Storm...." He hesitated, obviously forgetting what he was supposed to say next.
"Ranger Form!" she hissed, about the same time Dustin did.
"It's Ranger Form," Cam's irritated voice came over the comm built into the morphers.
"Let an expert do it," Dustin said, working the kinks out before executing a serious of gestures. "Ninja Storm! Ranger Form! Hyah!"
A shimmer of light later, and Dustin was replaced by a figure in yellow spandex and a helmet. "Oh yeah, baby, yeah!" Dustin exclaimed as he examined his new look. He turned towards the two of them. "Guess nobody's laughing at the comic book geek now, are they?"
Tori couldn't help herself. She smiled. She could see Shane was smiling too. They nodded at each other, and then imitated Dustin's gestures and wording.
Faster than thought, she was enclosed in a bodysuit of blue spandex which formed under and in place of her ninja uniform. A helmet formed around her head, but she could still see as if there was no helmet there.
"Kelzaks! Attack!" The monster said, and the gibbering forms jumped up, popping forward until they were within range. It became a chaotic melee, with her being chased by the minions onto the water and blasting them into oblivion, an airborne chase, where Shane took the big ugly for a ride in his glider, and finally using their weapons to blow the big ugly into infinity. She was amazed at how much she seemed to know about using powers she didn't even know about until ten minutes before, but there was no time to reflect as the big ugly's remains blew into the wind. Her helmet slid open at a mental command, and she looked at the picture with her own eyes.
"That really just happened, right?" Shane asked, in the tone of one who wonders if he just dreamed something and had just woken up.
"I think so," Tori said, feeling just as uncertain.
But Dustin seemed certain. "Now that.... was awesome," he proclaimed, and Tori realized that it had been real. They, and Wind Rangers, had just won their first battle. Turning to her new teammates, she celebrated.
After the battle, after they had come back and Sensei had reminded them that the war was not over, only the first battle won, Tori found herself sitting outside their base, on a pile of rubble. Barely twenty-four hours ago, this had been an academy of learning, with plenty of students. Now, they, she, Dustin, and Shane, were the only ones left. The only ones left to defend the Earth.
What Shane had said some twenty-four hours before stuck in her mind. Dustin was the mellow one, the one who'd forget things at a moment's notice, the one who didn't take life so seriously. Shane lived for excitement, for adventure. He was strong and impulsive. And she was the practical one, the logical one, the one that cared too much to let go.
And they would save the Earth. She hoped. Cam's sarcastic remarks still echoed in her head. Could they do it? Could they let go of their flaws? Tori could only hope so. They had a long fight ahead of them.
To be continued in "Grouped Together"