Ninja Ops 3:00 P. M.

Hunter, Blake, Dustin, Shane and Tori were walking into Ninja Ops completely bummed. It was bad enough they had gotten called out of school but to end up with no task because of an obnoxious kid with friend problems was just a whole other scenario. They were talking to each other but no one came up with a good explanation.

"Dude there has like got to be a rule against that." Dustin complained.

"I agree with ya bro. but there is no way he could've handled that thing, whatever it was, on his own." Shane continued to believe, "there's got to be more to the story."

"Yeah, "Tori stated agreeing with Shane," there's got to be an explanation for all this."

"Oh yeah than what? Cuz all I know is that kid's out of line." Hunter concluded.

"So far I have come up with zilch knowledge," Cam said to them without looking away from the computer. They all went to him to see what he was doing.

"And while dad was taking a walk to clear his head I took the opportunity to try to hack the system in Ireland.Whomever got it back on line more than just knew how to bring it back." He clicked at something on the screen.

"So you're saying." Blake let the sentence drift as he crossed his arms a smirk on his face.

"The reprogramming is more than just an impediment with a fireshield and even more conglomerate triggers. It's prominent that it was made with the full intent of never being able to corrupt the hardrive unit without crashing the whole system.

He turned around and their faces were blank. He sighed.

"Dude I don't get it?" Dustin said turning to Shane.

"Don't look at me I am just as lost as you."

"Umm Cam can you try to speak in English?" Hunter pointed out sarcastically.

"I thought I was but I guess it was to complex for you." He replied meting Hunter's sarcasm one for one.

"Basically all the cheat codes in the world couldn't open this up. The person knew what they were doing when they brought the computer back to life."

"Oh I get it!" Dustin cried out happily as he snapped his finger. Smiling Tori thought for a moment. Finally she looked at him with her head to the side and a question mark on her face.

"You tried to hack their system."

Cam replied to that accusation by putting his hands up in defense.

"It's not like I was doing a bad thing!" He protested, "I wanted answers and if their computer wasn't so.difficult I would have one less question."

"So which one do you think was the absence of brilliance that fooled with your plans." This time the voice belonged to Blake who held a grin on his face; enjoying the moment of teasing Cam.

"Short answer; none of them. Long answer Kaia." Was the reply. Turning back to the screen he tried to hack the database again.

"Unless you can come up with a better answer but to the way I see it all logistics point to her."

The others sat down thinking about this new information; as little as it was. Each in their own mind tried to tell based on their short fling with them who could possibly be that good. It was true all the signs pointed to the spirited girl but that didn't mean that there wasn't a twist somewhere.

"He's right it makes sense." Shane commented to the air.

"She must have been the one we were first talking to." Dustin seconded.

"What gave you that impression?" Cam quizzed.

"Dude she's the only one who."he started.

"Dustin, Cam was joking." Blake cut into Dustin's lengthy reply. Another wave of eerie silence came through the air.

"So what are we going to do about Gabe?" Hunter's annoyance could have been matched by any of them.

"Can't we just tell him to go away or something? I mean he did our job." Dustin replied.

"That's not what I am worried about." Tori started leaving the remark to dry out on the clothesline.

"More like the fact that he did it all alone." Blake ended finishing Tori's sentence.

"It bothers me too." Shane countered. Looking at his teammates and giving them a shrug of his shoulders. They all sat in silence for about ten minutes. Their faces were long with many mixed feelings and emotional above all, because they felt unable to control the situation. Each worried about the others.

"So let's do something about it." Tori gave her friends that 'duh' expression, "Unless you want to continue to sit on the sidelines while Gabe handles our sitch." She continued. Giving the "gottcha" expression.

"It's not going to be that easy." Shane argued from where he was sitting with his head in his hands. He looked up to meet the expressions of his companions before continuing.

"We don't know them- so how can we fight them." Everyone just looked at each other and tried to look away unable to answer his question. A voice of someone they cherished suddenly came forth from out of the blue and they turned their heads to its general direction.

"You're right Shane. Know you do not these people who are enemies yet friends. Trust your inner self and you will find a way." Sensei said passionately.

"Sensei do you think it's possible to reach out to one and maybe get some feedback on the others from that person?" Blake questioned getting an acorn of an idea.

"Dude just don't pick Kaia, she's wacko." Dustin replied to the idea of picking a target.hmm.friend.

"Dustin do not let her radical ideas influence you. She is more than what she seems." Sensei remarked to Dustin's crack about Kaia.

Sitting in the computer chair Cam was silently watching, now, everything that was being said and processing the data into something useful.

"Guys, what about Naomi? She's smart analytical-"

"She didn't try to kill us!" Hunter cut in.

"So let's go find her and talk." Dustin concluded.

There was something nagging at the back of Tori's mind and she didn't know what it was. Something just seemed misplaced. Replaying the whole day in her head it clicked. Quickly she walked over to her backpack and pulled out the letter reading it silently to herself.

Dear Tori, You probably don't remember me but I remember you. all of you. The last time we battled it was side by side trying to ease away my moving fears. Fear of loosing everything I loved to time and change. I see that in a way time and change have caused you to forget and I understand that. But please someday when this is all over and your memory has returned come and see me. I will be waiting for you.For all of you.

N. W.

AT THE SAME TIME

Dustin was sitting with his friends and they believed he was listening. He was on the outside but on the inside his mind was working faster and harder than it ever had before. Damn. There's just something about her.Naomi something that reminds me of. Dustin's eyes went wide with shock and he quickly replaced the shocked face so as not to alert the others. However unbeknownst to Dustin Tori had caught the reaction and registered it as confirmation that their friend was back. Dustin's thoughts shifted, then, to a more negative place.

It's not like they would believe me if I told them. I don't even know if there's truth to it. Hmm. Maybe I should just sleep on it. ________________________________________________________________
11:30 pm.

Tori looked out her window and sighed. She couldn't believe that her friend was back and she hadn't tried, other than the note, to contact her. Even more it astounded her to think that anyone of the many people who had said hi to her in school or at the beach or anywhere could be their missing friend. Turning from the window she climbed into bed and started to fall asleep.

__________________________________________________________________
Shane, Tori, Dustin and Naomi are having the same dream Scenes were floating in their heads mixed up between what had happened a time ago. Sitting at their table talking to their friends they could sense their presence but the faces were undefined. As if someone was wearing a mask on each of them in order to hide there true identities.

Hey book worm, lay off the fantasies will you.

Cool it Shane.

The three frowned in their sleep unable to wake and unable to fight the feeling of dread. The scenes shifted and swirled bringing them to a place they didn't, at first, recognise.

Please Henrie don't make this any harder than it is.

I'll be gone in a few hours.

Then there's something we'll have to do won't we

Power up

Don't let anybody change who you are

Now who am I supposed to bug?

If you don't write I'll find you and.

Don't forget me, please!

Dude, now who am I supposed to talk about all my favorite Comics and such with?

You'll be getting a lot of mail!

Trust me no matter what you will not be forgotten I will make sure of that!

Life's a story; in a few chapters we will meet again!

I hope we do!

The sadness overwhelmed them and they wept in their sleep their emotions running at full speed.

I'm sorry!

A voice cried out.

"Sorry for what." Was the response the three each gave in the dream.

On the count of three.

One. Two. Three!

Friends Forever!

Goodbye rangers.until we meet again

I don't know if it was truly meant to

Dude, you shouldn't leave we could probably use your help

The scenes started to change again and it was as if it had been on auto pilot.

Dude, did you get a note in your locker.

You gotta read it to believe it

No way

What's next?

We do what we came here to do!

Guys, get over it! It's not like the first time this has happened to rangers-so stop freaking out

How do you know so much about the rangers anyway?

I got us this far-trust me

That voice haunted them as they tried to shoo it away.

These are for some friends of mine

What are you going to do now?

We'll give them to your friends

Give them and yourself a chance

All at once the four teens woke up with a jump-start. Running out of their rooms with nothing but their muscle memory to guide them they ran to what they assumed would give them answers. ________________________________________________________________ Tori went in her door with a blue mark on it. She looked at it, for a moment, and it shocked her to be so close to her childhood memories. Slowly but determinedly she punched in the numbers and opened the door.

Shane was looking at the clubhouse with a major question mark on his face. I haven't been here in ages. As he punched in the numbers and with a quick gesture recognizing the air symbol he bolted in. Not sure what he was looking for or why he came.

Laughing to himself Dustin just walked up to the clubhouse, adrenaline pumping, this doesn't seem right without the others but what would they think if I asked them to visit the place of our childhood; where we were superfriends before superheroes. Well since no one else ever believed except.I am going to do it for our long lost Ranger. I am never going to forget.

Shaking his head he knew it sounded crazy to think the way he did but that's the effect that their Command Center had on him. His past had on him. To think at one point I was wishing I were a ranger.he looked down at his wrist.and now it's no longer a dream but a reality.a rather creepy reality.

Finally he stopped reminiscing and put the numbers in and the door clicked open. Pushing it open he cautiously made his way in and realized it was otherworldly.

The place was a lot bigger than any of them had remembered. As they went down the short tunnel they passed two doors on the right and left. One of them said "Costume Room" and the other held the tunnel to the "Gym" that they had created.

"Man we were wack" breathed Shane as he continued down his side of the place walking to the door straight ahead of me.

Then the three reached the door and opened it up and walked into the room. Upon hearing the others they turned around and said to each other:

"What are you doing here?" Dustin asked Tori and Shane. He looked at them with a major question mark on his face.

"I could ask you the same thing!' Shane shot back still darting his head around to look at the old place.

"I had a dream about Naomi and I don't know it just seemed so right I had to come see it for myself." Dustin continued to explain In detail.

"I had the same dream and drawn prob," he looked at Tori who was walking around to get a better look at everything, " and I bet she had the same one we did."

"It's her. Everything makes sense." Tori started not looking up but trying to put the right password in for the computer she found.

"Woah, woah ,who "is her" what are you talking about?" Shane asked completely confused. Dustin walked over to Tori. He realized exactly what she was talking about and nodded his head to her in agreement.

"Think about the dream. The dream represents what we did when we were kids.now try to concentrate on the unknown face."

Shane did that but still had a cloud on his face. He couldn't picture the person. Then it started to become clearer.a kid with blond hair and a teasing smile.a pink skirt and a white tank.He sighed as he forced his brain to remember.The face it looked so familiar.hittting him like a ton of bricks he knew in a flash who it was.

"Naomi Grant." The three cried in unison. They looked at each other wondering if they had forgotten her or just perhaps misplaced their only memories of her.

"I found a picture of the six of us together when we were younger." Tori stated and the other two crowded around her to get a better look.

BOOOOM.

A crash exploded in the air and the three jumped up prepared to fight. A figure was coming through the rose-white smoke. The light too bright they couldn't see. They were forced to shield their eyes trying to get a hold on the figure before them. Darting around they only saw the outline of the person.

"Maybe it's a ghost." Dustin exclaimed.

"We don't fight ghosts." Shane commented.

"Wait a minute.Could it be?" A smile warm and thrilled flew on her face and she didn't feel nervous or afraid anymore.