Chapter 13

Changes in the Wind

Blue Bay Harbor

It was a typical day at Storm Chargers. The displays were set up for the latest equipment sale, the shelves were stocked, the courses were refreshed and Kelly Halloway had just opened the equipment store and rental counter. It was a tough job keeping the Harbor's skateboarders, surfers and freestyle motocross riders on their respective vehicles and still riding, but Kelly liked it all the same. Recently, Storm Chargers had gone into selling scooters, rollerblades, and BMX gear, so now there was an even more varied amount of customers' needs being met.

Meanwhile, three of Storm Chargers' most loyal customers were on their respective courses practicing. Shane Clarke was on the half pipe, Tori Hanson was on the waves, and Dustin Brooks was on the dirt track. Each was practicing tricks for any competition that might come their way. The three were already excellent extreme athletes, but in secret they were ninja operatives who had fought off an evil shogun named Lothor a few years ago, protecting their academy alongside their friends Hunter and Blake Bradley, the Thunder Rangers, and Cam Watanabe, the son of their sensei.

It had been a long time since Lothor had been defeated, not once, but twice. The Dino Thunder Rangers had helped out a great deal when Lothor escaped the Abyss of Evil and had tricked Shane, Tori, and Dustin into fighting for him. Luckily Cam, Hunter, and Blake were able to pull together and bring back the Wind Rangers to their old selves. The Ninja Rangers and the Dino Thunder Rangers then united and took down Lothor and Mesogog's troops. No one knows what became of Lothor since.

Tori, Dustin, and Shane had agreed to meet at Storm Chargers to go over their lesson plans and training regimens for their students back at the Wind Ninja Academy as soon as they were finished their individual training. Cam had agreed to join them to add his own suggestions. The three hadn't been to Storm Chargers as often as they had liked since they had become teachers at the Academy, but they still got there from time to time.

Suddenly, a motorcycle pulled into the parking lot. A young man in a yellow and black racing suit hopped off the motorcycle, walked in, pulled off his helmet, shook his hair out and shouted, "Whoo! What a run I just had!"

"Hey, Dustin," Kelly called to him. "How'd you do today?"

"Awesome, Kel. I finally pulled a backflip this run. I've been working on that for months."

"Nice," Kelly responded. "When you gonna bust it out in competition?"

"I don't know," Dustin answered. "Probably gonna make sure I can land it right a few more times before I pull it off in competition."

"Sounds like a plan."

"Have Tori or Shane showed up yet?"

"Not yet."

"I'll wait for them, then."

Dustin didn't have to wait long. As soon as he said those words, the door opened and a girl in light blue carrying a surfboard walked in.

"What's happening, Tor?" Dustin called out to her.

Tori noticed him, waved, and headed over to where he was standing. "Hey, Dustin," Tori greeted him. "How's it going?"

"Great. Had a great run. How 'bout you?"

"Pretty good, typical day riding the waves. Where's Shane?"

"Not here yet."

"Oh."

"Have you talked to Blake and Hunter lately?"

"Hunter, yes; Blake, no."

"How come?"

"You know, with Blake on tour with Factory Blue, he hasn't had much of an opportunity to call the Thunder Academy, much less us."

"I guess, but you'd think he'd find some way to get in contact with his friends every once in a while. They do have this thing called texting nowadays." Dustin's tone grew lighter. "Maybe he's such a superstar now that he's forgotten his roots in the Academy."

"As if, Dustin."

"I'm kidding. I know Blake's not like that. But I'm worried that we haven't heard from him in a while. Hunter called Shane about some inter-Academy thing last week. I hope Blake finds the time to take out of his busy schedule to see us again."

"That would be cool. We haven't seen him since that time in Reefside."

Suddenly, a young man in a red t-shirt, grey shorts, and pads rushed in.

Kelly looked up and recognized him immediately. "What's the rush, Shane?"

"Sorry, Kel. Are Tori and Dustin here?"

"We're here, bro," Dustin responded. "What's the problem?"

"Urgent text from Cam. We're needed."

Tori got it. Dustin didn't. "Needed? Where?"

"The Academy." Shane hissed.

"Ohhhhhhhhhhh." Now Dustin got it. "Well, let's go."

"Go? Where are you guys going?" Kelly asked them.

"Umm…Cam's place," Shane said.

"How come?"

"Uh…strategy planning," Tori answered.

"For what?"

"For our students," Dustin said quickly.

"OK, get out of here."

"Thanks, Kelly," Shane answered. The three turned and ran out.

"Another close call," Shane sighed.

"You're gonna get us busted one of these times, Dustin," Tori said shaking her head.

"Let's just get there, OK?" Dustin grumbled. The three headed into the woods. Once there, they quick-changed into their ninja uniforms and used their special abilities to high-tail it to the Wind Ninja Academy.

The three arrived in near record time. Not since that fateful day when they had been late had they moved faster. When they rushed in to Ninja Ops, they found Sensei Kanoi Watanabe waiting for them, a troubled expression on his face. Cam was also there, looking quite worried as well. Also there were Cam's cousins, Marah and Kapri, both looking frustrated. As soon as they noticed the three ninjas step in, Marah and Kapri started up.

"Oh, good, you're here," Marah said, relieved. "Uncle won't tell us anything."

"Yeah," said Kapri. "He said he wanted to wait for you guys to show up to tell us the news, and here you are, so…"

"Calm down, ladies," Cam said. "They're here, and that's all that matters."

"Yeah," said Marah. "So… maybe now we can find out what's wrong?"

Shane stepped to the center of the room and bowed. Tori and Dustin did the same. "We're here, Sensei. What do you need from us?"

"I am glad you three are here," Sensei said. "I called you here because I sensed something today. A great disturbance in the balance of power. I hoped it was only something I mistook, but the feeling lingers. It can only mean one thing…"

"What, Dad?" Cam asked.

"Once again, Lothor has returned."

"But why didn't we feel him after we beat him last time?" asked Tori.

"Lothor was trapped by powerful means after that battle. I believe he has only recently escaped from his prison."

"Wait a minute…" Dustin pondered. "Doesn't this all seem familiar to you guys?"

"Yeah, this is exactly how Lothor tricked us into serving him the last time," said Shane.

"So how do we know he's not doing it again" said Tori. All three took up battle stances.

"Guys, what are you doing?" Cam said, confused at his friends' actions.

"That's not Sensei, it's Lothor!" Dustin shouted.

"We were fooled once," said Tori. "Not again." The three Wind Ninjas circled Sensei.

"Get him!" Shane ordered and they rushed Sensei, who calmly stepped aside as all three collided with each other.

"I can see how you would believe that I am Lothor in disguise," said Sensei, with an almost bemused look on his face. "After all, 'fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.' But I can assure you I am the genuine article."

"Prove it," Shane huffed.

"Simple, Shane. I know that each of you was considering using your powers in practice for your tricks. And Dustin, you actually did use your powers to soften your landing on that backflip you did today. You all know the rules, even if you think you can get away with it, you will be caught."

"It's Sensei," all three of them said at once.

"Glad that clears that up," Cam grumbled. "I can't believe you guys thought my dad was Lothor. That family resemblance was axed a long time ago. I know he got you guys last time, but you know what they say, 'Don't forget who your friends are.' "

"Very true, Cam," Sensei said, "But also remember that past experiences color future judgment."

"So wait, if Lothor's back, where is he?" Dustin wondered.

"And does the Thunder Academy know?" Tori asked.

"And what can we do to stop him?" Shane added.

"We have many questions," Sensei said. "And unfortunately, not enough answers. To start, I cannot find Lothor's current location, nor have I had time to contact our allies at the Thunder Academy."

"Well, that's not good," grumbled Kapri.

"But we can do something, right, Uncle?" Marah said uneasily.

"That I am not certain of. Shane, Tori, Dustin, Cam; I believe you all have great roles to play. I have found a secret scroll that speaks of this very situation. I do not know where it was years ago, however. It is as if it only revealed itself recently. Wait just a moment while I retrieve it." Sensei stood up and headed for the back.

Everyone looked around at each other. "Could Sensei be right?" Dustin wondered. "Are we not finished fighting?"

"I suppose it's possible," said Cam. "I just wonder what our roles are this time."

"Oooh, oooh, can we be Rangers, too?" Marah asked. "We would look so good in those tights."

"I know," Kapri added. "Can we, cousin? Please?"

"No." Cam said firmly. "You didn't have Ranger powers before, you can't have them now."

"Aw, c'mon," Kapri grumbled. "We've always wanted to help you guys. It would be fun."

"Yeah," Marah pleaded. "We would make great Rangers. You know it."

"Sorry, girls," Shane said, "but you don't know the first thing about being Rangers. You barely know enough about being ninjas."

"Not true," countered Marah.

"So not true," Kapri agreed.

"Look," said Tori, "you can be the emergency backups. If we go down, you can rally the students to help us out. Sort of like our secret weapon. Deal?"

"Well, it's not exactly being Rangers," said Kapri, "but that secret weapon thing sounds great."

"Being a secret weapon? I'm in!" Marah said with a half-smile on her face.

At that moment, Sensei came back into the room. "Here it is," he told them. The six gathered around Sensei as he unfurled the scroll. "As you can see, the scroll shows each of your symbols…"

"Which obviously means us…" Cam guessed.

"Indeed. The scroll also shows Lothor's symbol…"

"That's not good," said Dustin.

"… and paths connecting from each to a symbol I've never seen before."

"So what does it mean?" Shane asked.

"I'm not certain, but the new symbol must be the key. You must find the thing that that symbol represents before Lothor does."

"But what does that symbol mean?" asked Tori.

Sensei shook his head. "I wish I knew that, Tori."

"Say, maybe it's another Ranger and they just don't know it yet," said Marah.

"Good thinking. I wish it were one of us," sighed Kapri.

Cam pondered these words for a moment. "I never thought I'd say this, but they may be right. There could be a seventh Ranger and we have to find him or her before it's too late."

"The question is: can we find this person?" Tori wondered.

"Most likely, they'll find us." Dustin figured.

"I'll call Hunter and tell him the news," Shane volunteered.

"Take great care, everyone." Sensei said as he drew a deep breath. "I sense that things will be very difficult in the near future and that things will not return to the way they were when this is all over."