Ninja Storm: Rise of the Eclipse- Chapter 12: Samurai's Journey: Part I
Disclaimer: Saban owns all Power Ranger lines. I only own Crystal and Lucy and anything else unrecognizable.
All the Rangers stood around in a circle; Tori and Crystal stood next to each other. Lucy stood next to the Blue Ranger with Dustin on the other side of her. Hunter stood opposite to the Silver Ranger, next to Crystal with Shane on his other side. Blake finished the circle, standing between Shane and Dustin. It was two weeks since Bopp-a-roo came punching his way into town. Lucy's ribs healed fast, clearing her to be a Ranger again. Shane and Hunter were finally understanding each other, making it easier for the team.
" No way, dude," Hunter spoke up. Everyone had just finished listening to Sensei on the lesson of the day. Crystal crossed her arms and looked at him, quirking an eyebrow. Hunter glanced back at her. " There's no way he does it." He reasoned, motioning to the brick.
" I don't know, dude," Dustin spoke up. " He is pretty strong for a little guy."
Shane shushed his team. "Quiet." He snapped. " A little respect for the Master." He said. Crystal looked straight at Lucy; a deadpanned look written across her features. Lucy nodded, agreeing with her sister while rolling her eyes at her leader.
" Watch closely, Rangers," Sensei ordered. He jumped up and smashed the brick in half. He flipped back to his little stand of bricks on the other side.
" See, now that… was radical." Blake had a grin plastered to his face.
Tori turned to Hunter. " You were saying?" She asked.
Hunter's mouth was open. Crystal reached over, pressing Hunter's jaw up, closing his mouth. " I stand corrected, but how?" Hunter questioned.
" The power comes not come from the body, but from the mind," Lucy spoke, placing her hands on her hips.
" Indeed, Lucy." Sensei nodded.
" Alright, I'm up," Hunter said, clapping his hands together
" Are you sure you want to try?" Crystal asked, her hands finding her hips.
Blake agreed with her. " You sure you want to go that route?" He asked.
" Look, if he can do it then I will give it my best shot," Hunter replied, chuckling.
Shane put down a new brick and patted the surface, then stood up. All the Rangers moved to watch the challenge happen. Hunter got on his knees and put his hand in the middle, raised his hand. He dropped it only for the brick not to break, but almost break his hand. The Winds laughed, only for Crystal and Lucy to roll their eyes. Blake pushed Shane. " Looks like rodent: one, Thunder Ninja: zero." The Red Ranger said, laughing.
" You think you can do it?" Hunter questioned, holding his hand. Shane nodded, accepting the challenge. The Crimson Ranger got up and walked over to the sisters. Shane took his spot and brought his hand over to the middle of the brick. Just like Hunter, he had failed at breaking the brick. Tori tried next, the same result. Then Blake tried with his head.
" Let me try." Crystal said. She took a seat behind the brick. Closing her eyes, Crystal brought her wrist down on the brick, breaking it. When she stood, she met the faces of the Rangers, all had confusion written all over them. The blonde turned to her brunette sibling. " Your turn, little sis," Lucy chuckled, exchanging the cracked stone with another one. Standing behind it, Lucy brought her hand down, cracking it in half as Crystal and Sensei did.
Sensei brought attention to him. " You have come far in your training, but you have a long way to go." He said, looking at the group of ninjas around him.
" Yeah but you like a full-on Ninja Master." was Dustin straight-up fact.
"What I want to know is how the sisters could break the bricks but none of us were?" Shane asked, looking at the Guardians, who were smiling sheepishly.
" Um, well we've… uh… It was a task that all Eclipse ninjas had to pass to continue their studies." Crystal said, rubbing the back of her head.
Then, all the Rangers heard was another brick break. The Rangers turned, they saw Cam standing there, looking at them. "What?" he asked.
" Alright, how did you do that?" Shane asked. " Ho- ho, ho, you used some laser beam thing." He pointed to Cam.
" Or you changed the bricks," Dustin said. "I saw that on a stunt show once." Just then Cam picked up one half of the brick and chucked it at Dustin, who caught it, but then dropped it. "Okay, maybe not,"
" It's got to be a trick," Hunter said, thinking it over. Crystal and Lucy both exchanged glances.
" You still don't get it, do you?" Cam said. " Just because someone isn't a Ranger, doesn't mean it makes them completely useless."
" Yeah but I mean, come on." Shane started.
" I need some air," Cam said, and with that, he left. As he left, Tori sighed. The three girls exchanged looks, trailing Cam out of the room.
" What did we say?" Blake inquired.
" I fear there is more to this than mere words, Blake," Sensei said, making the boys turn around.
As Crystal, Lucy, and Tori walked up to Cam, they saw that he was skipping stones. The Gold Ranger picked up a stone and skipped it into the lake. Tori stopped on one side of him with the sister stopped on the other. " You alright?" Tori asked.
" Yeah, just tired of the lack of respect," Cam replied, skipping another stone.
" Who says you don't get any respect?" Lucy asked. " Cam, everything that we are able to do is because of you," She explained.
" It's not enough," Cam told them. "I want to be part of the action."
" You want to be a Ranger," Crystal stated, looking out to the lake " Why don't you go talk to Sensei."
" I have," Cam uttered. " He's forbidden me."
" Forbidden you, why?" Tori asked. Cam turned away from the lake to look at the female Rangers.
" A promise you made when Cam was a tiny kid," Shane said. " That's why you won't let him become a Ranger?"
" Does one of you have something to say?" Sensei asked.
Dustin raised his hand. " I'm sorry Sensei, but that is kinda weak." He said.
" I appreciate you honest, Dustin," Sensei said.
" Sensei, you always taught us to make our own decisions," Shane said. " Right?"
" Yes, but as a parent, there are greater things to consider," Sensei told the Rangers. " It is far more complicated,"
" Seem simple enough to me. Trust your son." Blake spoke up. " Sir."
" Cam seems the most together of us, seems to me, out of all people he would make a great Ranger." Hunter agreed.
" Perhaps I have been a little over-protective," Sensei said. The Rangers bowed. " Now if you excuse me." And with that, the Rangers left. As they left, Sensei turned to see a picture of him, his wife, and baby Cam. Maybe he was too tough on Cam.
" Your father wants what's best for you," Tori told Cam, a hand finding his shoulder.
" I know." was all Cam said.
" Tell him how you feel," Crystal said. " Make sure he understands how important this is to you. He is the most reasonable… guinea pig I have met." Crystal tilted her head, making sure that her sentence made sense. That made Cam and Tori laugh. " Go talk to him,"
" Alright but if he doesn't listen, I'm not cleaning his cage for a month," Cam stated. That made the Water and Eclipse ninjas laugh. He tossed a last stone into the lake and turned around.
Marah and Kapri to burst out of the lake and landed in front of the four. " We hate to break up this greeting card moment," Kapri said in a serious face.
" Yeah, we are like here to destroy you," Marah said, smiling. " Evil enough for you?"
" Whatever, attack," Kapri ordered, only for the monster, Madtroplis, to shoot a beam from his hand. " Back off, geek." She laughed at Cam, who was standing a few feet from the girls.
The only sound anyone heard was the sound of a ninja streak. Hunter, Dustin, Shane, Blake come up behind the girls with serious expressions on. " I heard the city is coming alive, but this is ridiculous," Dustin said, pointing to Madtropolis.
" Everybody is a comedian," Madtropolis replied. " Are you going to morph or do I have to beg?"
" Alright, let's go," Shane replied.
Ninja Storm, Ranger Form
Thunder Storm, Ranger Form
Eclipse Storm, Ranger Form
Power of Earth… Air… Water
Power of Thunder
Guardian of the Sun
Guardian of the Moon
" Ready attack," Madtropolis said, running forward. He had a horde of Kelzaks with him.
" Cam, run," Hunter yelled, trying to protect the genius from getting hurt.
The genius was fighting a few Kelzaks. " No, I want to help," Cam said stubbornly. Crystal and Lucy knew that it was the Ranger thing that was the case.
" Huh?" Hunter said, glancing at Crystal. The Gold Ranger shook her head.
Madtropolis jumped up and slashed downward. Kelzaks started attacking Cam. Soon they over-powered him. He landed flat on his back, surrounded by Kelzaks. The rest of the henchmen forced the Rangers to their knees in front of Madtropolis. " Now for the drain event," Madtropolis said. He opened the round container under his arm. All the Rangers yelled out, watching their powers fill the container the monster held.
" What is he doing to us?" Blake asked.
" Try to resist," Shane said, groaning when he did.
" Not working," Hunter said. The Rangers dropped to the floor. Crystal and Lucy stayed on their knees, fighting the pull. Once their powers completely disappeared, the two fell to the ground. Crystal landed on her side while Lucy fell back. The two passed out.
" You guys are looking a little pale," Kapri uttered, looking at the powerless Power Rangers.
Marah smiled. " You guys should try a little makeup," she stated. " I've got these color charts that would totally make your skin tones,"
" Marah, zip it, huh?" Kapri yelled at her.
" Pleasure doing business with you, power losers," Madtroplis insulted. He, Marah, Kapri, and the Kelzaks shot up into the sky.
Cam got up and ran over to their friends and helped them up. " Are you guys okay?" He asked, helping Dustin up.
" Uh, I feel like I just rode a 45-minute Moto on a tricycle," Dustin replied.
" We better get you guys back to Ops," Cam said. He looked back, finding Blake supporting Tori. Hunter and Dustin were helping the sisters up.
" Man, that guy worked us," Shane said, panting through the sentence.
Cam was scanning the Red Ranger, checking all his vital signs. " Madtroplis drained your Ranger energy force," Cam explained. " If you go back out there to fight again, there's a good chance you won't come back."
" Dude, that's harsh," Dustin commented, rubbing his neck. He sat on the floor. Tori and Blake were sitting with Hunter on the table. Tori resting her head on Blake's shoulder. Crystal also sat on the floor, her head resting on Hunter's leg. Lucy was lying on her sister's legs.
" This is grave news." Sensei turned to the drained ninjas. "We must retrieve your powers."
The computer beeped. Madtropolis was in the warehouse district of town. " Look," Tori spoke up. " There he is."
" Alright, it's go time," Shane said, starting to get up from the computer chair.
Cam pushed him back down. " You can barely stand, Shane." He stated.
" I will not sit here while that freak is loose," Shane growled, gripping the arms of the chair.
" Me either," Tori spoke up. Shane pushed past Cam, stumbling over and pulling Dustin to his feet.
Hunter stood up, pulling Crystal up to her feet by her armpits. Crystal pulled Lucy up to her feet.
" Okay, let me adjust your morphers to give you a temporary increase in energy," Cam explained. He typed away on his keyboard. "But it won't last." He said, hitting the button in the middle. The Rangers' morphers glowed with their respective color.
At the warehouse, Madtropolis had a string attached to the ball of powers that was quickly burning up. " Now to blast these Ranger powers out of existence." Madtropolis laughed.
Before he knew it, the ball was gone in a flash of red. Turning around, the monster found the Rangers standing there. Shane stood up and pulled the string from the ball. " Sorry, but we're here to snuff out your plans." He said, looking at the orb in his hands.
" Hey! That's mine!" Madtropolis screamed. " I stole that from you first!" He whirled around, sending a powerful blast of lightning to the Rangers. Crystal and the Thunders rolled to one side. Lucy, Tori, and Dustin rolled to the other. Shane stayed in his spot, holding the power container. He dashed forward, flipping over the monster and making a mad dash for the door.
The others tried to follow, but they ended up being wrapped in a black nightmare. Crystal pulled her rapier out. She turned around, slashing Madtropolis but found that it was Lucy. " Sorry." She said, running over to the downed Ranger.
" It's fine, I thought I was fighting Madtropolis," Lucy answered.
" Me too. Watch your back." Crystal advised. She pulled Lucy up, and the two stayed together.
All the Rangers were done with the magic trick, tired of taking each other out. " What's the matter?" Madtropolis asked. " Can't tell what's real and what's not?" He asked.
Crystal lifted her rapier, pointing it at Madtropolis. " I've had enough of your tricks," she growled.
" Aw, you're no fun!" Madtropolis whined. " I'm just getting started." The monster disappeared in a flash. The Rangers turned back into Madtropolis. Crystal groaned when Madtropolis hit her with his weapon, sending her to the ground. Suddenly, Crystal was back in the real world, on the ground.
" That was too weird," Dustin commented.
" Tell me about it," Shane added.
" I can't take much more." Tori breathed.
Crystal lifted her hand, but it fell back to earth. " Guys, I don't even want to get up," she groaned.
" The power boost must be wearing off." Shane realized. He groaned, falling to the ground. His power levels were dropping. Everyone else dropped to the ground.
" I'm crashing." Hunter breathed.
" Me too." Blake got out.
" This is worse than an ice cream headache," Dustin added.
" Thanks, now I'm hungry on top of everything else." Tori joked, pressing a hand to her stomach. She turned to find Crystal just lying on the ground. The only thing that told them she was alive was the twitching of her hand every few seconds. Lucy was curled in a ball, her hands pressed against her helmet. The two sisters suddenly moved, shifting around to climb to their feet.
All the Ranger followed the sisters, stumbling to their feet. But once they were back on their feet, they were shot down by Madtroplis' floating head. " Now, for the last time, give that back!" He sneered.
" Let me get this straight," Shane said, pushing himself up to his feet. "We're just supposed to hand this over with all our powers in it?" He asked. "That will never happen." All the others got back onto their feet. "Come on, guys."
" Thunderstorm cannon." The Thunders and Winds formed their large cannon.
" But which one of me is real?" Madtropolis asked. He duplicated himself multiple times.
" One way to find out," Shane commented. "Fire." He yelled after the cannon charged. It hit Madtropolis in the chest and sent him flying to the ground in a shower of sparks.
All the Ranger ran outside to find that Madtropolis was bigger than ever. " Ready Shane?" Dustin asked, holding out the orb.
" Ready Dustin," Shane said, pulling his sword out. He tried to use his sword against it. " What?" He asked, staring at the unbroken seal.
" We don't have time to figure it out." Hunter snapped. " We got to stop him."
Madtropolis threw his hand back and sent it forward, pushing lighting out of it. All the rangers were pushed back. " Whoa, Cam!" Shane lifted his arm. " We need the Megazords." He ordered.
" You'll never last through a Megazord fight." Cam reasoned.
" Look, we don't have a choice," Shane replied.
" Alright, do what you have to, but we got to get that sphere back to Ninja Ops," Cam said. " I've been working on a teleportation system. I hope it's ready."
In a matter of seconds, the sphere was out of Dustin's hands. Just after that, the five Megazords had arrived. Then, towering over Crystal and Lucy, were the Thunder Megazord and the Wind Megazord.
The downed Eclipse Rangers looked up, seeing the rest of the team ejected from the Megazords. Crystal and Lucy both made their way over to them. Reaching down, the two tried to pull the Rangers up. Crystal started with Hunter. But the Crimson Ranger was stronger, pulling her down on him. She rolled off him, breathing in deeply. " I'm not even going to try." Crystal mumbled. The others groaned, trying to get up. Lucy tried to pull Tori up, but she ended up on the ground.
" Now, say goodbye Rangers," Madtroplis said, still towering over them.
" They're out of energy." Cam sighed. " Isn't there anything we can do?" Cam asked his father.
" In the past, there was a power mighty enough to help up. But there is no sense in longing for what has long since been destroyed," Sensei explained.
" This is no time to riddles, Dad," Cam said, rubbing the bridge of his nose. The Rangers weren't doing so well. " If there is a way, tell me." He said, placing his glasses back on his face.
" It is useless to discuss," Sensei said. "We cannot safely predict how the portal will respond to…"
Cam interrupted him. " The Scroll of Time." he smiled. " Of course." He hopped out of his seat and over the ledge of the bookshelf just in time for his father to intercept him.
" No," Sensei said. " You must not disturb that which is the natural progression of time." He explained.
" If I don't do something, there won't be any time left," Cam replied. " You know I have to do this. I have to go back in time and get the one power source that will help us. "
" To confront one's past is an awesome responsibility," Sensei told his son. " But it risks changing everything you know about the present."
" I have to take that chance," Cam argued. Sensei moved out of the way, allowing Cam to grab the Scroll of Time. " Thanks, Dad," Cam said. He gripped the edge of the Scroll. Cam dropped from the level and untied the scroll. He unrolled it all the way. The words lit up, and the scroll flew out of Cam's hands and grew bigger.
" Are you certain this is the only way?" Sensei asked. The light grew stronger. " Our time here will be frozen until the writing on the scroll fades away."
" I can't think of anything more desperate than this." Cam turned to his father. " Can you?" He asked.
" No, I cannot," Sensei replied.
" And I can't think of any power source but one that can save us," Cam explained. " We're going back to the past to get it."
" Cam, you must hurry or you will be trapped in the past forever," Sensei said.
" I know," Cam said. " Let's hope it doesn't come to that."
" You have your mother's courageous heart and your father's stubborn head," Sensei told his son. " Be careful." He said.
" I'll be back, Dad." Cam smiled. " I promise." He said. Cam turned back around. With a few steps, the scroll sucked the genius into the past, awaiting his trials.
Cam landed on the ground, a small waterfall behind them. The genius turned at the sounds of hooves on the ground. He met a black horse rearing on his hind legs. On its back was a ninja in a red uniform.
Next Episode: Samurai's Journey Part II
