Title: Tilling My Own Grave
A vampy revamp of Power Rangers Ninja Storm
By foggynite
Notes: Some ideas borrowed from LJ Smith's Night World book series, as well as her Dark Visions series and White Wolf's Hunter: The Reckoning game. While I'm not staying strictly in any vampire universe, I have taken elements from some and I want to make sure to give credit. Other elements I've just made up for the sake of driving the plot forward .

His early afternoon class was beginner's Tae Kwon Do, which he could teach with his eyes shut. Which he tried to teach with his eyes shut. It didn't work. But he made it through the forty-five minutes unscathed, and waited impatiently for Dustin to show up.

After a half-hour of catching up on some software upgrades, he decided to try Dustin's cell as his father frowned furrily at him. The phone didn't even ring, just went straight to voice-mail, so that meant Dustin had forgotten to turn it on. Again.

"Perhaps you should investigate his tardiness, if only to ascertain that he is unharmed."

Cam grimaced at the suggestion, but found himself walking the ten blocks to Storm Chargers anyway. And he had to admit, it was rather nice to be out in the sun for a little while, if you discounted the fact that, while all the made-vampires took shelter during the day, the lamia, or born vampires, could be the person walking right behind you. Add into that the werewolves and shapeshifters and dark witches, and he really had nothing to be paranoid about. Nothing at all.

He'd only been in the store once before, but it wasn't big and he easily found Dustin in the back shop. The brunette was conversing with two other men, the three of them gathered around a dissected bike like vultures over a carcass.

"So I was planning on using a higher—Oh hey, Cam!" Dustin noticed him lurking in the doorway. "Dude, what're you doing out of the house?"

"Ha ha. Did you forget our appointment?" He directed his best glare at Dustin, whose eyes widened comically.

"Oh man, I totally forgot! I am so sorry—"

"It's all right," he interrupted, if only to keep Dustin from going on. It most certainly was not all right. "I still have an hour before my evening class."

"Right." Dustin finally turned to his two companions. "Sorry, guys, I promised to hang with Cam—"

"Hey, it's cool," the shorter of the two said. He grinned over at Cam and waved. "I'm afraid we're the reason Dustin's running late. I'm Blake Bradley, and this is my bro, Hunter. We're new in town. Dustin was just telling us about the local scene."

The younger man had an open smile, but there was something in his eyes that made Cam uneasy. A slick slide of power behind his irises. Like a fellow warlock. He, at least, seemed friendly enough. Cam wasn't getting the same witch vibes off his brother, but then, the two of them didn't really look related. His brother who was a hulking, glaring giant that seemed to be sizing Cam up. Of course, Cam was tired and might be projecting his own hostility, but the other man's obvious study of him was disconcerting.

Cam nodded a greeting anyway, trying to seem pleasant and not wary. Dustin scrambled to clean up the mess around the bike, chatting as he tried to wipe grease from the counter.

"These guys rock, Cam. Their riding is just sick, man!"

He had never understood the merits of that particular slang, but he tried to look interested. He addressed Blake with his next question since the other brother was still staring at him with a neutral expression. "So you met Dustin at the track?"

"Yeah. He's got some mad skills himself." Blake smiled at Dustin, who just grinned and kept shoving things in his backpack. "We were hoping to find some other motorheads around here."

"Well, I'm sure you won't be disappointed," was all Cam could think to say. Riding a bike in circles while getting muddied beyond recognition didn't seem like appropriate recreation to him, but who was he to judge?

"Cam's more into computers than sports," Dustin supplied helpfully from under a counter. Cam wanted him to hurry up.

"I happen to enjoy many things, Dustin. Trying to break my neck at high speeds isn't one of them." To his relief, Dustin and Blake just laughed. Hunter seemed vaguely amused, if the haughty smirk on his face was anything.

When it looked like Dustin was ready to go, Blake asked, "So where are you headed?"

"Cam's gonna show me some new moves," Dustin said innocently while chopping exaggeratedly at the air. Cam wanted to kick him.

"You do martial arts?" Hunter asked rather disbelievingly of Cam, the first words he'd spoken since Cam arrived. His gaze traveled over Cam with more interest this time and the computer tech found his cheeks flushing at the scrutiny.

"Dude, he runs the dojo downtown." Dustin supplied when Cam was reluctant to answer.

"Yeah? Whatcha teach?" Blake asked with real interest.

"Mostly Tae Kwan Do," Cam finally said stiltedly.

Hunter let out a disdainful snort while Blake gave his brother a reprimanding look.

"You have a problem with Tae Kwan Do, I take it?" Cam asked, relaxing back on his heels now that he was actually able to read the taller man's emotion.

"No problem, if you like jazzercise for the martial arts inclined."

"Well, it's true that it was originally created for the Korean army to keep in shape, but it does teach discipline and promote health."

"You sound like a brochure." Hunter mocked. Dustin and Blake exchanged glances, but Cam ignored them.

"What would you prefer I teach, then?" Cam asked with false solicitude.

Hunter seemed to lean forward, bright blue eyes intense. "Why not something cool, like ninjitsu?"

"Well, for one, it's illegal to teach it in the United States, at least in its proper form." He met Hunter's challenging gaze steadily, trying not to lean himself. "And to teach anything less would be dishonorable."

Hunter rolled his eyes. "You always play by the book?"

"If I want to keep my livelihood."

Smirking, Hunter just shrugged and looked away. "Seems a shame..."

Cam turned resolutely to Dustin before anyone could remark on his flushed cheeks. "Shall we?"

"Sure, man." Dustin did some complicated hand clasp thing to Hunter and Blake, and then they were out on the sidewalk, heading back towards the dojo.

The silence between them lasted until they were a few blocks from the dojo. Cam had been surreptitiously scanning the city around them, unable to shake the feeling that they were being watched, so Dustin's rambling caught him off guard.

"So, man... If you want I can...Well, I mean... I don't know if he's like that, but I can... Y'know..."

Cam frowned at him distractedly, attention caught by an illegally parked limo up the street. "What are you babbling about now...?"

Blushing, Dustin just shrugged and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I mean, we'd pretty much guessed, y'know? So we're all like, cool with it, and all. I can find out more about him and his bro if you want..."

Cam blinked and tried to focus on Dustin's last statement. A difficult task even when he wasn't being sidetracked. "Who? Hunter and Blake?" He ventured a guess. When Dustin nodded, he shrugged and spoke quietly. "It definitely wouldn't hurt to look into them. I hadn't heard anything about new warlocks coming into town, so I'd like to know what the Council's up to."

Dustin looked like he wanted to say more, but Cam quickly pulled him into the mouth of a nearby alley. At the other man's questioning look, Cam gestured across the street, where two women were getting out of the stretch limousine. One had curly brown hair artfully piled on top of her head, delicately holding a small handbag as she pushed her sunglasses further up her face. She was followed by a taller, bored-looking woman with pink hair and long nails. They were flanked on either side by expressionless body guards, and people stopped on the sidewalk to stare. Regally, the two entered a small boutique with their entourage.

"Who was that?" Dustin loudly whispered, still plastered against the brick wall of the building.

"My cousins," Cam murmured and tugged on Dustin's arm until the other man followed him down the back of the alley to the next street over. His apprehension must have been apparent, because Dustin refrained from asking further questions and kept up with his quick pace.

The day just kept getting better and better.

The dojo was empty and silent when Cam unlocked the doors. Passing through the threshold, he felt the pull of the wards, which was a small relief.

"At least security's still up," Dustin offered with a wan smile.

"Yeah." Cam hurried to the back of the building, unlocking the door to the basement instead of heading up to his apartment. After his father had been cursed, Cam had installed a series of passages in the air ducts so that his father could move freely about the building. But his father's new accommodations were downstairs, and that was where he could usually be found.

"Dad?" He tried not to let his nervousness show in his voice, but he had a feeling he failed when his father quickly appeared.

"Yes, Cameron?"

The relief that hit him was a tangible thing, and he had to clench his fists to keep his hands from shaking. "We just saw Marah and Kapri on Harbor Street. Have the wards picked anything up?"

"No, son. But this is most disturbing. Dustin, please gather the other rangers."

The guinea pig jumped over to the computer console and Cam swung into the chair, already typing in commands and calling up the remote access link to the Council's network. Fifty passwords later, he was scanning files and checking the latest postings on the message boards.

Dustin stood at a loss behind them, and finally demanded, "Are these guys, like, evil or something? I thought you said they were your cousins."

"They are," was all Cam said and planned to say until the last two rangers arrived.

"Whatever," Dustin mumbled and hovered behind his chair.

Shane bounded down the stairs a few minutes later. "What's up? I was in the middle of practice, man."

"Cam's cousins are evil." Dustin supplied helpfully. Shane just nodded sagely and tried to look like he knew what was going on.

"Where's Tori?" Cam asked over his shoulder.

"Primping for some guy she saw at the beach. Dude thought he was a Don Juan and she went all girly over him."

Cam just raised an eyebrow at Shane's hostile tone and sighed with exasperation. Of all the times for Tori to develop a social life. They didn't have time for this.

"We need her here. Now."

Shane paused, and Cam braced himself for another pissing contest. Thankfully, the other man just shrugged after a moment and pulled out his cell-phone.

"I'll see what I can do."

"Thank you." He tried not to be too sarcastic. Shane just waved him off.

None of the boards had any recent sightings of his cousins. The latest posting was two months old and from across the country. He wiped his sweaty palms on his jeans, glad he had taken the hours that morning to upgrade the security system. Of course, the wards had been doubly reinforced since the last time...

With a shake of his head, Cam turned to the monitors for the back alley. The computer had facial recognition software and digital enhancement capabilities, but Cam still felt like it wasn't enough. He always felt like all of his precautions weren't enough these days.

"Hey," Tori said as she came up beside him to peer at the screens. Her voice was soft. "How's it going?"

Cam had to forcibly refrain from rubbing his tired eyes. "Getting worse by the moment."

He turned to find Shane and Dustin looking at him expectantly. Frowning, he called up the most recent profile shots of Marah and Kapri in the database.

"Right. These are my cousins. Kapri's the one with experimental hair and Marah is... Marah." He couldn't think of a good way to describe the girl. "They're both dark witches with a tendency towards summoning creatures and siccing their goons on people."

"Heh. They have goons," Dustin said with a dopey grin that quickly disappeared when Shane and Cam glared at him. "I'm just saying..."

"Together," Cam continued through gritted teeth, "they can be a handful. Kapri likes to start trouble wherever she goes, and Marah will tag along. She likes to play the innocent, while Kapri is just vicious. If confronted directly with force, they'll usually back down."

"So where's the problem?" Shane demanded, smacking his fist into the palm of his other hand. "We just politely ask them to get the hell out of our city and dog 'em until they do."

"It's not as simple as that, though I wish it were." Cam accessed another photo, this one older than the other two. "Marah and Kapri don't usually travel alone, and if they do, it's under his orders."

"Isn't that..."Tori spoke up from next to him.

"Yes. Lothor. My uncle." His jaw was beginning to ache.

"He's the one." Dustin stopped abruptly. The three rangers glanced at Sensei's furry form resting easily to Cam's left. Cam swung back around in his chair to face the monitors.

"Indeed, Dustin," Sensei spoke when Cam remained silent. "My brother is the one who cursed me."

"And we think he's in town?" Shane asked Cam's back.

"It is likely that, should he not currently be here, he will be soon." His father's movements were punctuated by the clack of his tiny nails on the computer console. Cam focused on scrolling through the message boards. "His appearance may be connected to the increased vampire activity we have witnessed lately. You will all do best to be on your guards. If he suspects you have any involvement with the rangers, he may retaliate against you to get to me."

"But this may be a chance to break the curse," Shane protested. "If we can force him to revoke it, you'll be back to normal. We can't just ignore this opportunity."

"No, Shane," his father's tone was firm. "It is too risky. If confronted by Lothor, I want you to retreat to the safety of the wards as quickly as possible."

"What if we can capture him, though?" Dustin asked earnestly.

The words were blurring in front of Cam.

"If given the choice, I would ask that you destroy him." Sensei's demeanor was grave and perfectly serious. Silence descended for a moment.

"If we do that, Sensei, you'll never be free," Tori finally said, voice small.

"I would rather live out the rest of my life as a guinea pig than lose another soul to that madman. The brother I love died the moment he became a vampire."

Face carefully neutral, Cam turned around again. "We don't know anything for sure yet, so be on guard. Keep your eyes open and note anything unusual."

"Weirder than normal, you mean?"

"Yes, Dustin."

"I think," Sensei interjected. "It might be best if we increased your training as well."

Shane shrugged. "We practically live here already, if we're not at school or work."

"So all you need to do is actually spar instead of pester me," Cam dead- panned. Tori gave his arm a playful shove.

"Someone has to make sure you're still breathing."

"Well why don't you go practice your gymnastics as well as your katas while I breathe on my keyboard, hm?" He smirked at them when they sighed in unison.

"Excellent idea, son. Come, Dustin. I will observe your form with the bo after your warm-ups."

Sensei herded Shane and Dustin to the other side of the basement, where parallel bars, rings, and a sparring mat were set up. Tori lingered at Cam's elbow, looking at the pictures on the screen.

"Are you okay with all this?" She finally asked bluntly. Cam shrugged.

"I don't have much choice, do I? You heard him." He kept his voice low. "He wants us to just leave it be. We're supposed to be protectors. It's our sacred duty, but he would rather we run." He paused. "Well, that you run. I'm not exactly facing down demons and vampires now, am I?"

He didn't really bother to hide his bitterness with Tori any more. She had offered a friendly ear for his frustrations more times than he could count, and he appreciated it. But complaining wasn't going to change anything. He gave in to the temptation to rub his weary eyes and stood up with a sigh. Tori just looked at him with concern.

"My class starts in ten minutes," he said, drudging up a smile. "I'll be back down in an hour. Then you can tell me about this guy you met at the beach."

She rolled her eyes. "Shane has such a big mouth. It's no big deal. Blake's new around town, so we're just going out for coffee."

He frowned, but recovered quickly. Arching an eyebrow, he smirked. "Coffee. Really."

"Yes, really." She mock-glared at him, but Shane called for her to come over. "The fact that he's totally hot doesn't hurt anything, either."

With that, she stuck out her tongue at him as he rolled his eyes back at her and ran over to join the other two rangers as they did push ups, Sensei hopping around on their backs. Cam watched her go, happy that at least one of them was having a good day.

The mention of a new guy in town named Blake made him uneasy, though. As he walked up the stairs, he resolved to investigate the Bradley brothers as soon as possible. Their appearance could just be coincidence, but with his cousins in town, Cam wasn't taking any chances. He hadn't been vigilant enough the last time and his father had paid the price, fighting Lothor while Cam was unconscious under the remains of the old computer mainframe. He had never felt so helpless as he had when he woke up to find a rodent staring back at him, speaking with his father's voice. He'd already lost his mother; he wasn't going to lose his dad, too.

Sighing, he pushed through the door from the basement and retreated to his office to change for class.

To Be Continued...