Alchemists of Ninjetti…

The word Ninjetti isn't used in the same context as the earlier Power Rangers. I couldn't think of the word I actually wanted to use but Ninjetti works; if you think of the falcon and crane as air; the bear, the ape, and the wolf as earth; and the frog as water. But then again, I might end up dragging those principles into this story, thus making this story more difficult for me to comprehend and write.

And now to explain about the Alchemist part of the title, in which fits perfectly into the series in general. Since Earth, Water, and Air are the basic elements in the Ninja Storm world and the basic elements in medieval alchemy; they are the Alchemists. The Crimson and Navy branches of the Thunder Academy are just smaller parts of the Air element (thus supporting Shane when he and Hunter fought about leadership), and if a Thunder ninja and an Air ninja fought against each other at their maximum power that seemed to be level with another… Air would still win, since he could prevent the Thunder from using his maximum power.

But, even though the Ninjetti powers were gained from another planet, they still expressed traits from the Japanese ninjas, and so in actuality, the six that formed the Ninjetti could have been from Earth, but journeyed to another planet to keep their powers from being corrupted.

If you want to talk about my logic more thoroughly, you could easily e-mail me at the address supplied on my bio.

Now, onto the second chapter!

--

Darkness. It consumed his vision, making his mind weak and vulnerable. It played around his lidded eyes, and taunted him when he opened them. He made his aura become visible, and it played as a flashlight. The expanses of his conscious – he was sure that he was locked within himself for the time being – had been more than this when he forced himself here in meditation. His solitude was a forest reminiscent of the one surrounding the Academy… something he had discovered while young, but seemed to forget it's whereabouts as he became older.

He pulled himself off of the ground, and checked around. Everything was bright as if it was daytime as his forest lay out in front of him. His forest… his mind… something was inside of them both that didn't belong. He could sense the teasing moments of another presence… the Samurai ran within the dense flora, not noticing that the plants wilted and died as soon as he passed them.

--

Hunter went straight towards the skate park where the Eagle could be found if he wasn't working or training. As soon as he stepped off of his bike, A Kelzack had waved to him, enticing him to follow before the leader of the Winds could even confirm his aura. Hunter abandoned his mission and fled off into the woods, making sure that the Eagle never knew of his presence.

The chase had lead him into the woods, and he had noticed that some of the trees were plastered with talismans… 'It must be a trap, but if Lothor knew about the search, he must be willing to bargain if he had sent a Kelzack to find me.' He couldn't help but to be immensely rash as he followed the black figure into a clearing that screamed out 'ambush!'.

As soon as he made it into the middle, Lothor had appeared, with the strongest of his large army.

--

"Even if we could manage to retrieve the scroll from Lothor… we don't have any shamans in the school… and none that are affiliated with us." Tori closed all of the windows she had opened in her search, and left the computer in its normal standby mode. "The only thing that I can think of is to talk with other schools… but that's not an option."

Sensei nodded, and the kunoichi sat to the table, making sure not to disturb the Samurai. "What kind of 'certain people' can do this… besides shamans?" Tori shook her head while fidgeting with her uniform. "People who have a vast knowledge and practice of Dark Powers… leading back to Lothor again.

…Or the Scroll of Time could be used, and someone could be trained… but that's just too risky." The Dolphin looked up, and two of her comrades walked into the operation and bowed out of habit and respect as they came closer to the ninja master. Blake had smiled and waved as he sat next to her, and Dustin had sat next to Sensei with a questioning look.

"Hunter told us that something was going on… and so we came as soon as possible."

Dustin nodded, agreeing with the words of the younger Thunder. Sensei sighed and explained, having Tori help him with some of the lengthy conversation.

--

The Samurai had made it to the center of the woods. He looked around, and the path of destruction he left behind petrified him. He started to turn back to look at the plants he had killed unintentionally, but a white clad figure appeared. On closer inspection, the figure was a woman… Miko. He gasped and walked closer as he saw her abdomen bleed profusely onto her beautiful gown.

"Mom… I-I… what's wrong?" – he had managed to stutter as she bore into his soul with sad eyes – "What happened to you?" She took his outreached hands with her own and pulled him close. He had tried to rip strips off of his own clothing to try to bandage her wound, but her strong yet feminine hands stopped him.

"Cam… you have to listen to me… I came here for a reason. I have to warn you about your destiny." The younger Samurai looked into his mother's eyes as he pulled back just enough to look her in the face. "Don't let my fate be yours… I birthed Darkness, and so it was finished with me. The Evil inside of me that was never released poisoned my body. It made me deteriorate… It made me die." Cam separated from his mother and fingered the hole in her dress.

She wrapped her fingers around his wrist, "Are you sure?" He nodded; this was the only way he could come to terms of how the valiant Samurai died. Miko moved his hand into her body, and Cam gasped at what he felt.

Cold enveloped his hand, and he could feel the Darkness she was speaking of try to burn his hand, mistaking it for her organ tissue. His mother moved his hand out before the beast could work its destructive force on his flesh, and it was covered in blood.

Miko pulled to her son again, and rested her hands on his shoulders. "I don't want my baby boy to die so pitifully like I did."

She squeezed harder, and his tears fell on her elaborately stained dress. He mourned her as she was in his arms until she became nothing more than a warm breeze. He savored in it until he opened his eyes, and the lush forest had become nothing more than a barren wasteland.

--

"So what are we supposed to do about this scroll?"

"Well," – Sensei had started, feeling exasperated – "We could try to send someone pretending to be corrupt to gain access to his spaceship and steal the scroll, but that takes too much time on weakened trust."

"Is there some way we could capture someone like Zurgane and go to their base disguised as him?" – Dustin had said after thinking about the situation – "That means that Blake still has to go… since he does know his way around."

"I'll be more than willing to go. I just hope that Cam can be… 'fixed', for lack of a better word."

"Well, all that leaves now is the plan to capture one of the generals." Sensei stood to his feet, ready to meditate and try to come up with the strategy that they needed. "I believe that this meeting is over then." The students stood to their feet and bowed respectfully as the older man turned to walk away.

Blake sighed, "I wonder what happened to Hunter." Sensei had turned at the Thunder's words, surprise written on his face. "… Hunter never told Shane to report to Ninja Ops?" The shorter Thunder scratched his head. "He implied that he had to find Shane, but I'm not sure if he actually ran off to tell him."

Tori's hands flew to her mouth as she inhaled abruptly.

"What if he went to confront Lothor about the scroll?!"

--

Hunter knew that this meeting was very dangerous. He knew that the older ninja couldn't be trusted, but the future of the Samurai meant more than his life. He inched closer, wary of the presence of Zurgane and the other evil generals. A Kelzack grabbed him from behind, and he didn't fight it.

"What do you want Hunter?"

The blonde fought the minion's grip as the words of ignorance rang through his ears. He didn't move far, however, as it turned out to be a Fury holding him back. "You know why I'm here! I want that goddamn scroll you have that can make Cam go back to normal!" The red Kelzack behind him kicked at his knee, and he fell to the ground. The talismans that he saw on the trees must've been something to drain his Thunder Power.

However, being stripped of his powers and vulnerable like this was nothing compared to what the Samurai was going through, so he knew that he could manage on his own.

"So… you're saying that my precious nephew is finally going through his transformation? Then I know how much you must thirst for this…" The evil ninja reached from behind his back and pulled out a large scroll that was decorated with Cam's Samurai symbol on the ends.

"Please give me that scroll!" – Hunter cried out, trying to drag himself and his captor towards the older man. He had lost all rationality as the evil ninja started to open the scroll and feign reading it as he walked closer. "What if I don't want to give it to you? I could always use my nephew to help me to take over this planet." – he snapped the scroll shut inches from the Thunder's face, and stared into the Thunder's icy glare – "… There's nothing like having someone of his strength on the side of Darkness… even though he might end up breaking away from my control and take over Earth on his own."

"What do you mean 'take over Earth on his own'? He's nothing but one man! And if it even got that far, five ninjas are more than enough to take him down!"

Lothor straightened his posture and smiled. "Do you seriously think one such as Cam could be stopped by five petty ninjas when he has the blood of two powerful clans running through his veins? Do you think that one born with all of this inherited power, and vast expertise on the Alchemists of Ninjetti and most of their less powerful branches, could fall to five brats who only showed small traces of talent to become lowly foot ninjas?"

Hunter growled loudly, and another Kelzack Fury was assigned to restrain him. 'The talismans must be weakening,' – he thought to himself – 'and if that's the case, I could take the scroll by force and streak away…'

"Even though, sometimes it would be better if my nephew were a purebred ninja. His Samurai heritage might cause him to commit suicide… you know how honorable they are." Lothor smiled as the blonde's eyes widened. "As I figure, he'd probably vomit at the thought of killing all of those people after one of the premature spells wear off. He'd be so wracked with guilt and dishonor for his mother that he'd feel the power of his ancestors force him to take his life… Unless his spells come late in the cycle, and he has no time to feel compassion for anyone… Not even you or his father.

"Samurai are difficult to control when they're borderline… I learned my lesson with his mother when I wanted her Samurai powers. They have a tendency to lean towards honor and what's just, despite how corrupted they are. Miko knew that she was evil… she knew that she was designed to decompose and become something wicked, but her family tried to squash her destiny. They tried to cure her with this and caused the Darkness to eat her organs like acid…"

Lothor held up the scroll again, and Hunter's eyes were drawn to it.

"…Death is in Cam's destiny as well; whether it's the death of others, or the death of himself. And even if that wasn't the case…what could you possibly give me in return for this?"

Hunter knew what the older man was aiming at, but he knew he had to take the bait.

"… I'd come back into your service."