Disclaimer: 'Power Rangers' (all incarnations) belong to BVE, who are related to Disney. No infringement is intended.

Author's Note: Medium changes to the first two parts - primarily, the elimination of the implied past Wes/Eric relationship. There are minor changes to other things (like more tweaking to the scene at the shooting range), but that is the major one. I would say go back and read those sections again, but since I just told you what I changed, it's not a requirement. Thanks to Kit and cmar for providing insight into that. There's an entire mad, crazy story about the evolution of this piece - which I will tell to anyone who wants to hear it. That's it for now...


BOND ENFORCEMENT

By Etcetera Kit

Part Three: On the Clock
Chapter Ten: Road Trips

"My father's given you guys permission to enroll at the Wind Ninja Academy on a part time basis and he says you can start this weekend!"

Cam came into the kitchen, looking satisfied with himself. It was Thursday night and they were frantically trying to bring in all their current FTAs-at-large so that they could have a free weekend. Of course, since Vito Baldacci was out—again—it was not looking promising. Kendrix gave him an idle glance from where she had been spearing macaroni on a fork, more playing with it than contemplating eating it. Dinner duty was assigned on weekdays. Thursday was Mike's night to cook. She liked Mike—he was a close friend—but he was a terrible cook. Her thoughts had actually been to the stash of jalapeno chips and chocolate in her room and how soon she could sneak up there and eat something after the 'meal.'

"Since when?" Kira asked, actually eating the macaroni. Kendrix was beginning to believe that her taste buds had been burned off in some kind of tragic coffee accident.

"Since now," Cam replied smoothly, sitting down. He took one look at the macaroni on the island, wrinkled his nose ever so slightly and looked around the island. Eric was making no secrets about the fact that he wasn't eating the macaroni, as he took a large bite out of a sandwich. He looked nonplussed at the news.

"I thought it would be a good idea," Mike added. "We could use the stealth."

"We don't need stealth," Kira muttered.

"So the last time you went on a take-down and the guy got away because you ran into the trashcans in the back wasn't because of stealth?"

Kira gave him a death glare. Mike just continued with a placid stare that seemed to be permanently fixed to his face. Kendrix was starting to believe that he had glued that expression on and went into his room to blow up. She pushed some of the macaroni around on her plate. Eric offered her a bite of his sandwich. She shook her head. No need for all of them to be completely rude about Mike's lack of cooking skills.

"We leave tomorrow afternoon," Mike said after a tense silence. Kendrix wasn't sure if the tension was from the news about ninja training or the macaroni. "We'll come back on Sunday night. None of the FTAs right now are imminent."

"That's wonderful," Eric said sarcastically before he pinned Cam with a glare equal to the one Kira had been giving Mike. "You can stay here and clean our room." He took another huge chomping bite out of his sandwich.

"He's coming with us," Mike replied. "Just be packed and ready to go."

"Pack what?" the former Quantum Ranger shot back. "Formal evening wear? Should I bring my shower cap?"

"You don't have a shower cap," Cam responded.

"No, but you do."

"No, I don't!"

"Can you two have this argument somewhere where I can't hear you?" Kira asked loudly.

Kendrix didn't say anything and continued to push the macaroni around. Eric stood up and went to the fridge, pulling out more sandwich fixings. God, how could that man still be hungry after the huge sandwich he just had? It must be a guy thing. Even Cam ate more than a human being had a right to eat. There was a reason she hid her jalapeno chips in her room.

"Pack pajamas and work out clothes, shower stuff, something to read at night," Mike told them in the lull.

"You'll have uniforms," Cam offered. "So you'd wear that during the day."

"Do we have to dress for dinner?" Eric asked from where he was standing at the counter, putting the finishing touches on the sandwich.

"Casual dress uniforms," Cam replied. "You have training uniforms, which are day wear, formal robes and the in-between things, the casual dress robes." He paused. "My father and the other teachers will explain all of that when we get there."

"How exciting," Eric said, more sarcasm dripping from his voice. He picked up the plate with the sandwich and came back to the island. He pulled her plate with the macaroni away from her and put the sandwich in front of her. He then turned to Mike. "Can we put you in a cooking course, about yesterday?"

Mike shrugged.

"Man," Kira muttered as she arranged her remaining macaroni into a smiley face. "We have to miss Eric's night to cook." That was the strange variants in the boys. Mike could cook nothing at all, unless it needed to be defrosted. Cam could handle things like pasta or simple chicken dishes. Eric left all of them in the dust, whipping up a whole variety of gourmet dishes like there was nothing to it. Fridays were the only night any of them looked forward to eating at the townhouse.

"If you can read, you can cook," Eric muttered. He gave Mike an interested look. "Can you read?" Mike threw a wadded up napkin at him.

Kendrix picked up the sandwich and started eating it. In all actuality, Eric was the one being extremely rude here and not her.


The grounds of the Wind Ninja Academy were pretty nice, Eric reflected as they trooped across the wide open practice field to the large building that made up the school. Ninjas were all over the place in color-coded leather uniforms. Cam had made some noise about them getting test uniforms while his father made the final decision on which element they would belong to—Earth, Air or Water. He had wanted to ask about Fire, but decided against it. He had been all for Cam staying in Silver Hills and cleaning their room.

The interior of the building was amazing. The entryway opened up in a wide arch with the balconies from the upper floors looking down on them. It almost looked like one of those fancy Holiday Inns that was completely indoors, except that the room was finished in wood tones with red and black trim. Simple, yet effective… There was a fountain in the center of the front hall.

"Welcome Thunder Rangers," a man said. This had to be Kanoi Wantanabe, Cam's father. The man's son didn't resemble him too much. He was also dressed in iridescent robes that weren't of any of the colors that Eric had seen running around outside. "Cameron will show you to your quarters. Your test uniforms are there. Put them on and report to the main practice field."

"Great," Eric muttered. He adjusted the strap of his duffel bag over his shoulder.

Cam gave them an apologetic look as his father disappeared. "Sorry," he said as he led them up the stairs to the second level. "He gets a little lofty like that."

"Must come with the territory," Kira commented. "He seemed cool when you guys helped us about with that whole Lothor thing."

"He was in mentor mode, not ninja master mode."

Cam led them to a cluster of doors on the second level. There were small room numbers above the doorknobs, small enough that a casual passerby wouldn't notice them. He told them all their room numbers. "Men and women's bathrooms are down the hall," he added. "The students don't have lessons on the weekends, so it will just be you guys in there."

"Wonderful," he said under his breath.

If Cam heard him, he chose to ignore it. "Put on the test uniform and meet down in the lobby. I'll show you guys the main practice field."

"Can we get a tour later?" Kendrix asked.

The samurai nodded and they dispersed to their rooms. For some reason, Eric was glad that he got a room to himself this weekend. Normally, he just put up with roommates—like Cam—but it was getting old. Some respite from Cam the Chronic Mess this weekend. He set his bag down on the floor next to the bed and went over to the window. He had a view that looked out over the forests surrounding the secret ninja school. He glanced down to the thunder morpher on his wrist. Cam had said something about true thunder ninjas being rare… and the five of them were wind ninjas.

Elements… well, they would just see which element each one of them was this afternoon. He looked at the test uniform lying on his bed and groaned.


"Bow to each other. Bow to me. Defensive positions…"

Kira idly listened to the instruction that Sensei Wantanabe, the Elder, was issuing to Eric and Mike. He had her and Kendrix spar and then moved on to the males for now. The test uniforms were hideous, but, hopefully, they would have real uniforms before too much longer. The three elemental teachers—the former Wind Rangers—were also watching the sparring matches. She supposed that the three of them would be the experts on their elements and would be able to identify ninjas in that sense. Like calls to like…

The match between Eric and Mike was going to be a draw. That was obvious. Eric stayed close to the ground while Mike took to the air, using high kicks and jumps. Eric couldn't get his feet out from under him and Mike couldn't topple Eric's balance. They were evenly matched.

"Earth and Air," Cam muttered. He had changed from civilian clothes into the uniform she tended to see him wear the most. It was a simple black pseudo-kimono with green thread running across the chest.

"What?" she asked, turning towards him.

"They're Earth and Air," Cam repeated. "You can tell by their fighting styles."

"Okay," Kira said. However, Cam had a point. It was almost obvious by their preferred fighting styles which was which.

"The match is a draw."

All of the matches had been draws. Sensei Wantanabe moved off of the practice arena to consult with the other teachers. Eric had a neutral expression on his face, while Mike just looked curious to the proceedings.

"This is ridiculous," Eric muttered. "We could be out throwing Baldacci's ass back in prison where it belongs."

"Eric, you always find him quickly," Kira reminded him.

He gave her a look that said, 'that's not the point, it's the principle of the thing.' She just shook her head. He might have the hots for Kendrix, but there was little to no chance that he would act on that. Myers would be overprotective from a distance. Kira inwardly smirked. Maybe it was time to recruit Cam and do a little matchmaking. For all the stoicism that Cam put in his persona, he would probably watch soap operas if he had time during the day. The man was addicted to reality television. She grinned.

"Stop grinning," Cam told her. "You look like you're about to start cackling."

"It might be good exercise."

"And I thought you were the one with a brain."

Kira didn't reply, just swayed and nudged Cam in the side. He returned the gesture.

"We have come to a conclusion."

She looked up and stopped contemplating whether or not to nudge Cam again. It was amusing that he actually responded to jabs like that—she wouldn't have expected him to. The teachers had come out of their conference. Oh boy—now she got to find out which dingbat she got to study under while she was here. She liked Shane, Dustin and Tori, they were nice people, but not the brightest crayons in the box. Of course, they probably knew what they were doing…

"Michael Corbett, you will study the ways of the Air ninja." No surprise there. "Eric Myers, Earth." Again, no surprise. "Kira Ford," the ninja master continued. "You will join the Water ninjas." Okay, so working with Tori was halfway bearable. "And Kendrix Morgan." By this time, Kendrix was looking confused. "You will study with me as the first Fire ninja in one thousand years."

"I'm… Fire?" Kendrix sputtered.

None of the teachers replied. Kendrix gave Cam a floundering glance. Kira hadn't previously known that any of the teachers here could train someone who had fire as their element. It was decidedly odd.

Cam shrugged at Kendrix. "The uniforms are at the school." Kira had a feeling that he had known exactly what elements all of them would be—he just had to go through the official hoops with his father. "You can change into them and start some basic training before dinner."

"What's for dinner?" Kira asked as they began to walk back to the school building.

"Chilled monkeys' brains," Eric snapped.

The samurai shrugged. "I don't know." He then gave her a sidelong glance. "Are you always hungry?"

"Okay, you guys are hungrier than me, you just don't admit to it."

They fell silent as Cam led them into the school building and towards an equipment type room on the first floor. He went through parts of the uniforms, finding things that fit each of them. Kira took the parts to hers as they were handed to her—the thing was black leather and trimmed in light blue. The pants to hers had no color, unlike the guys. Mike had a red uniform, while Eric's was yellow. His expression was blank, but he probably wasn't too happy about the color affiliation. Cam then pulled a package out of a crate near the floor and handed it to Kendrix. Her uniform was purple—just like Kira's, but purple instead of blue.

"Get changed," Cam said softly. "The teachers will be out in the practice field when you guys are ready."


All right, so this was one of the ideas he had had when he wasn't thinking straight. Mike let out a long breath, trying to concentrate on what he was doing. He should have questioned Cam more carefully before plunging headfirst into this endeavor. Of course, Cam had made it sound like, since all of them were rangers with previous combat training, ninja training would be a breeze. It was easy for someone who had already graduated from this ninja school to say that.

The sun was just starting to sink over the horizon, painting the sky in shades of pink and orange. Mike wasn't sure where the others had disappeared to, but the teachers had dispersed. This was making him wonder how long, in real ninja training, it was before the teachers started them on controlling their elements.

Visualize the air… or more, make his own image of air. There was a problem with that—Mike pictured the breeze or a stronger wind. He could not just picture air. Shane kept telling him that he had to visualize the air, not the effects of the air. What was he supposed to think about then? Oxygen atoms floating around?

He opened his eyes. Shane was standing a few feet away, his arms crossed over his chest. "I keep picturing the wind," he said.

Shane shook his head. "I didn't get it for a while either. It's easier with the other elements because they're so concrete."

"Well, what do you see when you think about the air?"

That made the ninja sensei pause. "It's not so much a picture as it is a feeling. It's like being very aware of the air on your skin and being able to reach just past a veil in order to control it."

Why hadn't he said that earlier? Mike closed his eyes—this time forgetting about picturing the air and concentrating on sensation. The light feel of the air on his skin, blowing in a soft evening breeze, almost like a caress rather than something stronger… He was surrounded by air, he just couldn't see it. Almost unconsciously, he reached out a hand and felt the air concentrate itself in the palm of his hand.

"You're doing it!"

He released the air he had gathered and opened his eyes. Shane looked impressed. "You should have described it as sensation first."

The Air sensei looked sheepish. "I have trouble explaining that to my students."

A distant gong sounded. Mike looked up, towards the school building. "I guess that means dinner time?"

Shane nodded. "It means we have half an hour to change into casual uniforms and be in the dining room."

Mike nodded and the pair of them headed for the building in silence. The three elemental teachers here had little in common with the bounty hunters. All three of them were younger—an age where they could have baby-sat for them in high school. The lone exception to that was Kira, who was about the same age as them. Mike had no doubt that they knew what they were doing, but he was concerned about the others, mostly Eric, being able to stomach taking orders from someone so much younger.

Kendrix was standing around the front hall when they entered, still in her training uniform. "Hey Mike!" she said with a grin. She had been training with Sensei Wantanabe and had probably had a better time than the other three members.

"Hey," he replied, noticing that Shane disappeared down a corridor on the first level. They fell into step as they made their way to their rooms on the second level. "How was the training?" he asked.

"It was cool," Kendrix breathed. "I learned how to create fire with my mind. Kanoi said that fire is the only element you can do that with."

"What were you doing? Lighting candles?"

She nodded. "How was your training?"

"Shane knows what he's doing, he just has trouble explaining it."

Kendrix nodded sympathetically. There were pounding footsteps up the stairs. He turned to see Kira—soaking wet—and Eric coming up. Kira looked disgruntled, probably more from the fact that she was soaked. Eric looked livid. Oh dear…

"How'd it go?" he asked and then braced himself.

"I hate water," Kira growled and went into her room, slamming the door behind herself.

Eric gave him a level look. "I might have been a Marine, but I'm not stupid." He paused. "I think I'll take an Uzi to Dustin now." He, in turn, disappeared into his room.

Mike exchanged a glance with Kendrix. This might be far more explosive than he had originally intended—and his original view had been of insanity breaking loose.


The school was quiet. It was normally quiet on the weekends—even with the number of people that were here. During the week, the place was crawling with students and the like. It was always noisy, usually with Dustin at the center of the cacophony and the trouble. Now, everyone was in bed or, at least, in their rooms. Soft lantern light spilled from the lamps in the front hall, casting a golden glow over the fountain.

Cam sighed to himself. The spirit of the wind ninja sang in all of them, but training should have started much sooner. He felt slightly uncomfortable with them having ninja ranger powers, when almost none of them were ninjas. However, he had failed to calculate the effects of Dustin on Eric and Tori on Kira.

"Hey."

He turned from where he had been leaning on the balcony. Kendrix was coming out of her room, wearing pink pajama pants with sheep on them and an oversized t-shirt from the GSA. He gave her a fleeting smile. "Hey," he replied.

"Why are you still up?"

She stood next to him at the balcony. "Failure to think things through on two different parties tends to keep people awake."

Kendrix laughed softly. "Eric and Kira will get used to them." She paused. "They just have to accept their better qualities and come together on common ground."

"Ever the optimist."

"I've been accused of that once or twice."

He smiled. "I guess I thought that they had grown up."

"You haven't been gone that long, Cam."

"I thought things would have changed."

"They have, just not in the ways you wanted them to." She paused again. "Has the way they treat you changed?"

"I don't know."

"You will."

Kendrix moved away towards her room. Cam continued to stare down at the pool, thinking of how he had changed since he went away…

To Be Continued...


Author's Note: If you ignored the note at the beginning, go back and read it! Other than that, there's not too terribly much to say. I don't know if the changes will register immediately with the new chapter - I hope so. Thanks to everyone who reviewed chapter 9 - CamFan4Ever, cmar, dancer1, Feline-Feral, fenestrae, Funky In Fishnet, Hagar, Juzblue, Kit, MagCat, rougeangel199, takimiromy, Weesta and white time ranger. It's late and I would respond to each of your reviews, but... let's face it - I'm lazy (and exhausted.) So, thanks for reviewing and continue to give the great feedback! (PS - Hagar, the beginning of your review completely made my day. :) Thanks once again!