Chapter 5

At the Thunder Ninja Academy…

"What, you nuts? No way I'm going against Hunter and Blake! Na-uh." Justine refused when Lexton asked her to join him for the trial tomorrow. Justine was one of the few who graduated recently, but she chose to take some time off before deciding on her next step.

"Come on Justine. You wouldn't want me to go up against them alone, do you?" Lexton pleaded.

"Well… no. But what's the deal with the trial anyway? Why are you competing with them for the Thunder morphers? I mean, its always been theirs." Justine shrugged.

"It was just a lucky break. Look, will you help me or not?"

"I dunno. I mean, Hunter's kinda cute. And Blake's really easy on the eyes too…" Justine ended with a sigh, with Lexton rolling her eyes.

"Fine. Wish me luck them. I'll need plenty of it." Lexton turned around to leave, but Justine put a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait…Alright… I'll join you tomorrow morning for the trial."

At the Wind Ninja Academy…

"What!"

"No way man!"

"That's way ridiculous!"

"Calm down everyone. This is a little surprising, but hardly a cause of concern." Sensei tried to calm everyone in Ninja Ops after Cam relayed the news of the Bradleys' trial.

"I don't like it anymore than you do, guys, but that's what Hunter said. Seems like there's someone in Thunder academy who thinks they should have a go at the morphers," Cam explained.

"Let me know who that jerk is, and I'll pound him to the ground man!" Dustin said angrily.

"Yeah, and I better not hear anyone from our academy doing the same!" Shane continued, a fist in his palm.

"Shane, Dustin; that is not becoming of you. The morphers are not a right, and only those who're deserving should use them. Have you forgotten the day when you received the morphers? You were unconvinced of your skills, but you tried your best and in the end shown that the prophecy was correct. That was also why I did not reveal the Scroll of Phrophecy earlier, lest you become arrogant with the morphers."

"Yes Sensei. We're sorry." Shane and Dustin said meekly.

"I know what you're trying to say Sensei, but it still feels wrong somehow for Hunter and Blake to have to compete for the Thunder Morphers when they've used them to fight so hard against Lothor. I can't think of anyone else who should have them," Tori chipped in, a slight annoyance in her voice.

"Agreed, Tori. But in this case it is not our place to offer any interference," Sensei replied.

"Sensei, could we go over to Thunder Academy and watch their trial? I'd like to see Blake and Hunter wipe the floor with them!"

"Of course Shane."

At the Thunder Academy…

Hunter looked out of the window, his mind on wandering. It had been a long day, training the students before he got the bad news from Cam. He's all for meeting up with the other rangers, though this time it wasn't really a social call. And that bastard Lexton had the gall to try to claim the Thunder Morphers for himself. Who does he think he is? Just because he's a teacher doesn't make him entitled to the morphers. He still remembered how Sensei Omino trained them harder than the rest of the students when they were young, though he never told them why at that time. Well, they did use the morphers to go against the Wind Rangers for a while, but after that they've put their lives on the line for the planet more times than anyone could count. And well, it's Lothor again… and both him and Blake know him better than anyone else.

He suddenly caught a streak of dark blue across the courtyard, and his face lighted up. He quickly reached for the door, even as the blue streak halted to reveal Blake with his luggage, grinning broadly as usual.

"Yo bro!"

"Blake!" Hunter grabbed Blake in a huge bear hug.

"Man, I can't believe how long it's been!" Hunter gushed, hardly able to contain his happiness of seeing his brother again.

"Yeah. me too. You could ease up a bit before you end up crushing me."

"Hehe, right." Hunter released his hug before putting an arm around his brother.

"So how are you? Was your plane alright? Hey, how come you streaked here?"

"I'm fine. The flight was cool. I couldn't really bring my bike on the plane, so I left it in the Factory Blue lot. And I can't exactly get a cab and tell them, 'Secret Thunder Ninja Academy please.' Man, you do not want to streak while carrying your luggage. Both my arms hurt like hell now."

Hunter's face immediately changed to concern as he took Blake's hands. "Are your sure you're all right? We could go the medic room right now and get it examined."

"Hey, you don't have to go all big-bro mode on me. I'm fine; it's just a little sore. But still strong enough to give Lothor a knuckle sandwich anytime. So, you've asked Sensei Omino for our morphers yet?"

"Yeah Blake, about that..."

Hunter explained the whole situation to Blake.

"…so there's this trial tomorrow. Sensei Omino asked us to gather outside the Thunder Woods at 9 am tomorrow."

"Damn it! I was right about that bratty Lexton. A super-brat no least. Maybe he's an evil space ninja in disguise. You know, one of Lothor's monster to steal our morphers."

"Nah. He may be a brat, but I'm quite sure he's human. Sensei Omino would've found him out if he's been a monster in disguise all this while."

"Yeah, guess you're right."

"Hey bro, I know you're tired and all after your flight, but if it's alright with you maybe we could do some training later. Nothing heavy, just maybe a couple of moves and a little sparring."

"Right…sure bro. Let me unpack some of my stuff first. Erm, where am I crashing tonight?"

"You can crash in my room. There's more than enough space for two. Head Teacher perks." Hunter smirked before continuing, "I'll pull out an extra bed from the store later. Hey, I'm going down to training room to warm up a bit first. Take your time and come down when you're ready ok."

"Ok. See you later bro."

Blake slowly unpacked some of his staff, his mind deep in thoughts. There's something about the trial that's bugging him. He turned as he heard a soft knock on the door before it slid open.

"Hey Hunter, what time is Blake...Blake!" Leanne was stunned momentarily before rushing forward to give Blake a hug.

"Hey Leanne. It's good to see you too."

"I was just about to ask Hunter what time you're arriving. Wow...So how's everything? How's Factory Blue working out?"

"Fine. Everything's cool. I'm following Factory for race tours all over the globe. I've picked up quite a lot new stuff on riding, and well it's just me living out my dreams."

"That's nice Blake. I wish I could come watch you race sometime, but there's always stuff to do at the school."

"Sure, don't worry about it." Blake replied as he unpacked his ninja outfit out of his bag. He put it down, but he continued to stare at it silently for a few moments.

"Blake? What's wrong?

"Nothing Leanne, it's just … nah, it's nothing."

"Come on Blake. You can tell me anything, Or would you rather talk it over with your bro? Speaking of him, where is he?"

"He went to the training room to practise a bit. I'm supposed to meet him later."

"Oh right. The trial tomorrow. And you're…not really eager to see him..?" Leanne asked, her eyes narrowing.

"No, of course not. But it's just… I don't know…"

"Why don't we go outside and talk? Come on…"

Both of them were walking out the door to the courtyard when two students bumped into them.

"Oh sorry… Leanne and…oh my…" Both of them seemed startled when they saw Blake standing next to Leanne.

"Greetings… uh… Master Bradley. We're really sorry… to bump into you. Uh, not that I mean we're trying to avoid seeing you or … I mean…," both of them stammered.

"It's alright. Don't worry bout it," Blake shrugged nonchalantly.

"Yeah. No problem, Jen. Er... Cindy, are you alright?" Leanne asked as she noticed her turning red and looking down.

"Hello Blake." A cold voice sounded behind Blake. He turned around, to face Lexton.

"Oh. Hi Lexton." Blake greeted neutrally. Leanne followed suit.

"That would be Master Falls for you. But as one of you is a senior student and another is a… former student of the academy, I'll let it pass. But Jenny and Cindy, as junior students you would do well to learn to give respect accordingly. It would be… distasteful if all ex-students can run around the academy acting as teachers."

Blake's felt a surge of anger, but he didn't say anything. Leanne though, didn't let it pass.

"Blake graduated with the highest distinctions along with Hunter. And he helped to defeat Lothor and rescued all of you from Lothor's ship. You don't have to pull the formality card on him."

Lexton's face hardened. "Just because you and Sensei… have a special relationship doesn't mean you can show disrespect to the teachers," Lexton said darkly as he turned around and disappeared off the corridor. Blake put a hand across Leanne to hold her back, as her face flashed with anger.

"Uh, we better go now," a meek voice sounded. Blake and Leanne turned around, suddenly realising Jenny and Cindy still standing timidly behind them. Both of them shuffled quickly into a separate corridor.

Blake and Leanne walked silently along the courtyard. A few moments later, Leanne burst out, "Who does he think he is?"

"It's no big deal." Blake shrugged.

"I mean, he's just a teacher! And he called you an ex-student! Sounds like you dropped out or something!"

"It's ok Leanne. It's not important."

"It is important! I mean, you and Hunter saved the world from Lothor, not to mention his life as well."

"Leanne…" Blake started, but he didn't continue. It was then Leanne remembered why she asked him out.

"I'm sorry Blake. So… what's on your mind? It has something to do with Lexton isn't it?

Blake took a deep breath and sighed. "When Hunter first told me about the trial, I was mad at Lexton for suggesting that he should get the morpher. But after thinking about it, I just…felt that he might not be entirely wrong."

"So you're saying that he should get the morpher?"

"That's not what I mean. But you know, things are different now. Maybe it's time for someone else. Lexton might not be Mr. Personality, but he's a not a bad ninja. Who's to say who gets a morpher anyway?"

"Sensei did. And both you and Hunter proved him right."

"Yeah but…" Blake let out another sigh. "You know, I've sometimes wonder about Sensei's decision to give us the morphers. I mean, why us? Yeah he did train us extra hard and we did quite well. And us being adopted fits the prophecy too, though he didn't reveal it until after we defeated Lothor. But, it could easily have been any other ninja too. A more skilful ninja who had been given a morpher might even defeat Lothor earlier."

"No," Leanne answered without hesitation. Blake glanced at her, puzzled by her confident response.

"It had always been you and Hunter, even from the beginning. It's not just something as easy as you and Hunter being adopted. Sensei saw something special in both of you and prepared you for it." Leanne said, her voice full of confidence.

"How do you really know that? We're just ninjas like you and everyone else."

"No, you're not." Leanne let out deep breath. "You of all people should know that. Being a Power Ranger is not just about having a morpher and getting all those special powers and Zords."

"It's who you are that makes a Ranger. Like last year when Lothor returned. You were no longer a ranger, but that didn't stop you from going into the Abyss with the rest to get your powers back and stop Lothor." Blake squirmed a little at the mention of this, as he was the one who protested loudly against Cam's idea at first.

"Look Blake. The other students always ask me to tell them bout the rangers. You know how Hunter is; they're scared to death of him." Blake smiled as Leanne continued,"So I'm the only one they turn to. I don't know everything, but I just tell them what I know."

"The things you did, the kind of dangers you faced. And to stand up to Lothor time after time when all seems lost. It takes more than just ninja skills to do that. And it's not just Lothor's monsters you have to deal with. From alternate dimensions to love spells to illusions, it's a miracle you guys pulled through. I don't think I could." Leanne shuddered at the last part. Blake listened silently.

"All the students really admire and respect you for doing what you did. For all your courage and sacrifices. I know I do. They only respect Lexton for formality's sake. It doesn't matter if you're not a teacher, they look up to you as much as they do Hunter and Sensei. Take a look at Jen and Cindy just now." Leanne continued, starting straight at Blake. He gotta admit, there was some truth in her words.

"You might not be the best ninja in the world, but I wouldn't trust anyone else to become the Navy Thunder Ranger," Leanne ended with a smile.

Blake couldn't help but smiled back. Leanne had definitely gotten wiser, and every word she spoke rang true. Tomorrow's trial is not just a contest, he had to make sure that he get his morpher. Lexton might be a good ninja, but he doesn't have what it takes to be ranger. Besides, he doubts the others, especially Hunter, would want Lexton in the team.

"Ok, ok. You can wipe that goofy smile off your face now, " Leanne said, rolling her eyes.

"Hey, I thought you said you respected me!" Blake replied, feigning hurt.

"I do. But that doesn't mean I can't make fun of you," she laughed as she punched his shoulder lightly.

"Come on. We don't wanna keep Hunter waiting all night, do we?"

"We?" Blake asked, surprised.

"What, afraid I'll wipe the floor with you? Come on," Leanne jerked her head as she started walking back to the academy

Blake ran behind her, feeling glad he had this talk with Leanne.