Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers.

Chapter 40 – Growing Storm

With Mesogog officially having returned, Reefside became the Dino Rangers' official home once more. Due to his defeat at their hands last time, he seemed more intent on destroying them then ever, even Trent, who after having refused yet again to join Mesogog, this time when the arch-enemy himself made one of his rare appearances, was once again on mutant dinosaur freak's hit list, no matter what his host, or pseudo host, wanted; they hesitated to call Anton a host in the same manner that Jarrod was for he wasn't Anton with Mesogog inside him, but rather he truly looked like the mutant freak. With their battle having yet again begun, Connor and Kira's trips to Pai Zhuq in their capacity as Masters became fewer and further between, Mesogog taking up most of their time. Of course they did find time to join the Jungle Fury team in a few battles when they were needed, for if they were needed they weren't not going to go. Their lack of time also meant less time hunting down Thrax and teaming up with other Rangers.

Just before Christmas, quite literally 'just' as it was December 22, Connor got a call from his twin, Eric, asking him and Kira to come to the Wind Ninja Academy. As Eric had plans to return home to Reefside for Christmas, having planned to return on Christmas Eve, the two found this request unusual, and were sure it could only mean one thing. Their arrival at the Academy was met with nothing out of the ordinary. Students were training away, either on their own or under their Senseis' tutelage. Kira and Connor waved to Shane, Dustin and Tori, as they looked around for Eric. They found him training with some other Earth Ninjas. It had been many years since Eric had come to the Wind Ninja Academy, nine in fact, and although Sensei Watanabe had long ago deemed him good enough to pass his tests and end his training, Eric didn't want to leave. The Academy had quickly become his home, and through Connor he'd gotten to know the Ninja Storm Rangers, and Sensei, quite well. Although not a Ranger himself, Eric had been welcomed in to the fold and was all but a Sensei himself except in name, though the Ninja Storm team were determined that that would change. They knew Eric was worried that when he officially completed his training they'd send him on his way with little more then a goodbye, but oh how wrong he was. The other students loved and respected him, and he was a pretty damn good teacher; there was no way Sensei would be letting Eric go.

"Hey bro!" Connor called to his twin, effectively ending the training session. Seeing his brother, Eric bowed to the two he'd been sparring with and rushed over with a big smile.

"Dude it's great to see you!" Eric said, giving Connor a hug, then turning to Kira. "Sis." Kira playfully swatted his arm. Eric had cheekily called her that once when they'd first informed the McKnights of their bond, Eric having to pretend he knew nothing to save his own skin for his mom would flay him alive for not mentioning it, and it had stuck ever since.

"So what's up?" Connor asked. "You're coming home in two days, why'd you call us in?"

"Is it Lothor?" Asked Kira.

"I don't know, Sensei asked me to call you in." Eric admitted. "We should go see him." In total agreement, Kira and Connor followed Eric into the Academy and through the many halls to Sensei Watanabe's private office/meditation room.

"Sensei." Eric bowed out of respect when they were bid to enter. "My brother and his girlfriend are here."

"Thank you Eric." Sensei said in his accented voice. Eric bowed again and made to leave, but Sensei stopped him. "No, that was not a dismissal. Please have a seat." They did as requested and Sensei had barely poured them all tea when the door opened again to admit the Ninja Storm Rangers, Blake and Hunter, who were both Senseis at the Thunder Ninja Academy, Blake joining his brother after retiring from motocross a few years ago, having come over from their school.

"Is it Lothor?" Kira asked again, but her answer was given in the smiles their friends couldn't hide.

"Nope." Said Tori.

"At least not yet." Shane added.

"Dude, do you always have to be such a downer?" Dustin asked.

"I'm being realistic. He'll show up eventually." The Ninja Rangers had barely settled in when the door opened yet again, though slammed open was more like it, to admit Sensei's nieces.

"Sorry!" Kapri cried as they took their seats.

"We got caught up in our meditation." Marah added, earning a look from Cam.

"You two were meditating?"

"Yeah, we were calling on our inner ninja." Kapri defended.

"You should totally have more faith in us Cuz."

"And like, maybe also listen to our fashion advice, cause those baggy robes don't really-"

"Alright, enough." Sensei said calmly, effectively shutting the two up. "You have all been called here for a very special occasion."

"Which apparently everyone knows about but us three." Connor commented.

"Yes, but you shall learn of it now." Sensei assured them, then turned towards the Red Dino Ranger's twin. "Eric, the time has come for you to finish your training and graduate from the Wind Ninja Academy."

"Sensei with all due respect, I've taken the tests five times and failed each one."

"And yet in training you are practically undefeated and have mastered the Earth Ninja powers." Said Cam.

"We're not stupid, we know you're blowing the tests on purpose." Tori said.

"It has been nine years since you began your training. By all rights you should have graduated a minimum of five years ago." Sensei continued. "We are not here today to have you take your tests, but merely to present you with your diploma."

"Sensei-" Eric cut off as Sensei held up his hand.

"You seem to have very little faith in us Eric."

"We're your friends dude." Said Hunter. "We're not gonna let you go."

"And you're one of the best Earth Ninjas around." Added Dustin.

"The Wind Ninja Academy is your home, and we would like you to stay as a Sensei, teaching alongside your friends." Sensei said, earning a surprised and kind of hesitant look from Eric.

"Really? You…you want me to stay?"

"Dude seriously?" Connor asked his twin. "This is why you haven't graduated? You were afraid they'd send you packing?"

"Maybe." Eric mumbled.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. And if you'd mentioned this years ago I could have told you that years ago and we could have saved everyone a lot of grief." Connor didn't discount Eric's feelings, he'd never do that, but sometimes you needed to be told that you were being stupid and have some sense knocked into you. Once Eric had sufficiently been assured that he wasn't being forced from the Academy, he gratefully accepted his diploma, as well as the set of Sensei robes, and Sensei training uniform identical to Dustin's in the Earth Ninja colour of yellow.

"Welcome to the team." His former Sensei said to him, clasping his hand and giving him a quick hug.

"So is this why you called us in?" Connor asked Sensei while Eric received congratulations from the others there. "Just so we could be here for this?"

"There is nothing small about what was achieved here today." Sensei said to them and Connor backpedalled.

"Of course not, I'm glad we were here, just with everything going on, we could have sworn it would have been Lothor."

"Lothor has yet to make an appearance. I am certain that he has returned, however. I can sense him and his evil presence here on Earth, though he has yet to reveal himself."

"Well, at least he hasn't shown up to ruin Christmas." Connor said without thinking, then realized exactly what he'd said at the same time that Kira slapped him on the shoulder, unable to properly reach his head.

"Idiot. Way to jinx it."

"Sorry." He mumbled. Nothing more was mentioned of Lothor, or Connor's careless words that almost guaranteed the evil space ninja would appear sometime within the next three days. Once Eric had changed into his Sensei training uniform, they all headed outside, Sensei going to inform the students of Eric's new position. A large cheer arose at Sensei's news, they weren't kidding when they said Eric was well liked. Afterwards, with Kira and Connor present, it was determined that now was the perfect time to have a demonstration of Wind, Water and Earth Ninja, against Pai Zhuq, though the student body as a whole was merely told that Kira and Connor were from another special ninja school, not of the importance of Pai Zhuq. They thought, that just like they called on the elements, Pai Zhuq called on animals, which was entirely true, but where the explanation ended. It was certainly an intense battle, made all the more intense then their usual sparring matches as they had a rather large audience. They made it a free for all between all the Rangers, if you got hit three times, by special powers or otherwise, you were out and the last one standing won. That last person ended up being a very smug Connor for he'd been the one to single-handedly get Kira out, and not only that but she'd been the first one out due to a combination of a lucky hit, a well placed hit, and her own misplaced trust; Connor having sacrificed a hit on himself to get the final one on her.

Afterwards, the Ninja Rangers took Kira, Connor and Eric to the track where they got to watch Dustin and Hunter go up against the motocross champion. No need to say how that ended. The three then got a chance to ride the bikes themselves; something they'd been working on for years, their friends' bikes being their prides and joy and the inexperience of the three in question made the three motocross riders flat out say no. Today though, for whatever reason, they caved and allowed their bikes to be ridden by someone other then them, though under their direct supervision. On their way to lunch, Cam got a call from his father saying his cousin had arrived and was waiting for their lesson. Smacking himself on the head for forgetting, a fact that made the others wonder for a moment if he was Cyber Cam, the Green Samurai Ranger, one of two once the Samurai Rangers came into existence, ran out on them and headed back to the Academy. The others followed but only after having lunch in town, though the sight that greeted them was not one that Kira or Connor expected.

"Hey, isn't that…?" Kira trailed off pointing towards the group of people on the training grounds with Cam, all apparently waiting their turn to train with him.

"The Samurai Rangers?" Connor finished. It was then that they'd approached close enough for their presence to become known to the Rangers in question. Emily, ever the affectionate and welcoming one, immediately smiled and ran over to them.

"Kira! Connor!" She cried, giving them both hugs. "It's great to see you guys again!" They'd kept in touch over the last couple months since Master Xandred was revived, but had not seen each other since.

"You too." Kira said. "But what are you guys doing here?"

"We train with Cam once a week." Jayden said. "His samurai powers and fighting style is different enough from ours that it proves beneficial for all of us."

"Besides, Cam and I only recently found out we were both Rangers, which allowed us to come back into each other's lives." Said Mia, she having been the one sparring with Cam though the two stopped when they noticed the others arrival. "We've never been closer." Wrapping an arm around the older man, Mia smile up at him, earning one in return, though his was slightly indulgent, as Cam's smiles often were.

"So you two are…?" Connor trailed off really not sure where to go with this, but Cam, always quick to catch on, cut him off.

"Cousins." He said simply.

"Aren't Marah and Kapri your cousins?" Kira asked, getting confused.

"Yes."

"And Mia is as well?"

"Yes."

"Mia Watanabe." Kevin spoke up. "The last name didn't clue you in?"

"We never actually knew Mia's last name." Connor explained. "Or any of yours, except for Shiba."

"So what's the story here?" Kira asked. "You've never mentioned having another cousin, Cam, let alone that she was a Ranger."

"I didn't know she was a Ranger until recently." Cam said, taking a seat on the grass, the others following suit. "Our fathers are brothers, Mia's father being younger then my dad."

"We didn't see each other that often growing up." Mia picked up the story. "There's a bit of an age difference between our fathers. When Uncle Kanoi came to the Wind Ninja Academy as a teenager, my dad was still a little kid. He didn't tell his little brother he was a ninja, and when dad grew up, he didn't tell his big brother he was a samurai."

"They both kept their secrets, thinking it better the other didn't know." Cam continued. "It was only a few months ago we found out the truth. Like every other Ranger team out there, we've been monitoring the situation since you came to warn us about Thrax. When you and the Samurai Rangers teamed up that one time, I saw my cousin morph into a Power Ranger."

"He told his dad who got in touch with my dad, who called me, and here we are!" Mia finished with a smile.

"So that's how they're related." Said Mike. "I still don't get how you're related." He pointed to Cam then to Marah and Kapri. The story had been told once when they'd fist met the Ninja Storm team, but it was easy to get confused.

"We're cousins." Kapri said.

"By marriage." Marah amended. "But still cousins."

"But they're not biologically related to you. Isn't that what you said?" Mike asked his fellow Green Samurai.

"Yes, I did. At some point before he became the Lothor we knew in 2003, my uncle married, Marah and Kapri are his nieces by that marriage."

"Yet you still call them cousins."

"Dad and Lothor were, are, twins. Dad felt some responsibility for them." Cam said with a shrug. Marah and Kapri took no offense to this, they knew that in the beginning Sensei had only taken them in because they'd had a change of heart and helped the Ninja Rangers in the end, and because of that fleeting familial connection. Over time though, Sensei and Cam had truly grown to see then as their nieces and cousins, those titles became more then just words.

"Still not sure I get it, but whatever." Mike muttered.

"You get used to the weirdness dude." Said Dustin, wrapping an arm around Marah. After Marah played him when Beevil came to town it had taken awhile, and a lot of making up for past behaviour on Marah's part, for him to give her another chance. Marah had meant it when she'd said she actually did like him and had worked hard to regain his trust. Once she did, the rest was history, and they'd been together ever since. A similar story had taken place with Shane and Kapri, though the latter hadn't ever had Shane's trust to begin with and so after defecting from one uncle to another the trust had just built over time, and eventually the two had realized they liked each other. Cam and Hunter were the only two who were still single, though in the last two months since being introduced to the Samurai Rangers, they'd gotten close with Lauren and Emily. Lauren had a seriousness to match Cam's, how could she not after having practically been locked away most of her life practicing the Sealing Symbol and doing little else, yet since returning to the world had gained an appreciation for fun that Cam's friends, and even his father, still said to this day that he needed. Emily on the other hand, didn't complement Hunter, but was the exact opposite. While Hunter was hard, distant, and often cold until you got to know him well, Emily was warm and welcoming from the get go, bringing everyone into the fold, and not putting up with attempts to pull away; there were no half friendships where she was concerned, and Blake joked to his brother that Emily's warmth would melt Hunter's ice.

"We've been Rangers for a few years now." Said Antonio. "If we're not used to weird by now, we never will be." No one could argue with her there. The group sat around for awhile, talking amicably if not largely about their time as Rangers, which is what Rangers often talked about when they got together.

"So are we gonna get to see what you samurais can do or what?" Kira finally asked after they'd sat around for awhile. The Samurai Rangers quickly acquiesced and Kira and Connor watched Mia and Cam get back to their sparring match, though decided quickly that they wanted in on the action, the Ninja Rangers agreeing with them. Blake elected to sit out with Eric, Marah and Kapri, as there were one too few Samurai Rangers compared to the rest of them and so those fighting more or less paired off by colour.

'Shocker there.' Kira thought, though it really only ended up being Dustin and Emily and Kevin and Tori, who were paired by colour. Hunter paired with Antonio and Shane with Mike, for Cam still fought Mia, and once Kira claimed Lauren as her partner, there was one Red Samurai Ranger for two other Red Rangers, and having fought Jayden in the past, Shane stepped aside for Connor. Kira was quite excited to face the first female Red Ranger and prepared to regale her family with tales of Lauren's awesomeness, for as far as Kira was concerned the fact that she was a the first of her kind, the first female Red Ranger, was enough to make her awesome. Kira wasn't disappointed and Lauren proved to be a fierce opponent, keeping the Yellow Ranger on her toes. Lauren had a training version of her Spin Sword and so Kira had called on her Bo, summoning its own training version from her house in Reefside; a replica of the one she used at the loft, which RJ still kept in his possession. Kira's Cheetah Technique against Lauren's Samurai fighting style made for an interesting battle, even if they limited their fight to purely physical combat, no special powers of any kind. After a quarter of an hour, their match was called to a halt by the arrival of Sensei, and two people Kira and Connor had never met.

"Kira, Connor, this is my Uncle Kouta." Cam introduced. "Uncle, this is Kira and Connor, they're the Red and Yellow Dino Thunder Rangers, and the Lion and Yellow Jungle Fury Rangers."

"I could also be called another Crimson Ranger." Connor added, for it was true, the colour of his Jungle Fury Ranger suit was pretty much the same as Hunter's Thunder Ninja suit.

"It is nice to meet you." He said in an accented voice similar to his older brother's, though not quite as thick.

"And this is Mentor Ji." Lauren introduced. "He's been with the Shiba family since the time of our grandfather."

"Though he'll remind us that he's not old and was a kid like our dad, even if our grandfather was the head of the family at the time." Jayden added with a smirk. He'd always teased Mentor Ji, as Ji had always teased Jayden, though doing so in public was rather new to the Red Ranger.

"He basically raised Jayden once our dad died. And he's been the mentor of the Samurai Rangers ever since."

"Hello." Ji said, shaking Kira and Connor's hands.

"What a Kodak moment." A voice interrupted them. "And me without my camera." Several of the people there knew the voice all too well and so while everyone whipped around to face the voice, those several people also fell into fighting stances; though Kira and Connor weren't far behind them once they saw who it was.

"Lothor." Sensei muttered.

"It's good to see you again, brother." The evil ninja said with much sarcasm.

"Kiya?" Kouta asked, not having seen his other brother since he was a child.

"Do I know you? Have I threatened you before?" Lothor too had not seen Kouta since his banishment; he'd not seen his younger brother grow up.

"It's me, it's Kouta."

"Kouta?" Lothor seemed ever so slightly shocked, though more because he'd simply not expected to see him here.

"So the gerbil finally let you in on the ninja secret did he?" Lothor loved all reminders that his twin had spent almost a year as a guinea pig.

"And I let him in on the samurai one." Kouta said, having been warned by Kanoi that Kiya was well and truly Lothor and no longer their brother. Seeing him now, he fully believed Sensei.

"Samurai? You're a samurai?" Kouta nodded. "Why am I always the last to find out these things? We're going to have to have more family meetings to keep me up to date."

"That's Uncle Kiya?" Mia asked her father, having come up beside him while Cam came to stand by his father, Marah and Kapri, surprisingly enough, standing alongside them and not cowering like before.

"Uncle?" Lothor asked, his surprise becoming more apparent as his gaze landed on the woman beside his brother who held a samurai's blade aloft.

"Technically speaking." Cam muttered. "Though I suppose it could really be anyone under that mask."

"She's…"

"My daughter, Mia." Kouta informed his evil brother.

"Not another niece." Lothor shot a look to Marah and Kapri, clearly thinking Mia to be along the same calibre as them.

"I think you'll find this niece to be more then a match for you." Mia said, raising her sword ever so slightly.

"She's a Power Ranger, like me." Cam added, taunting his uncle.

"Us too." Kapri said, speaking up for the first time since Lothor appeared.

"Well, not the Ranger part." Marah amended. "But the match for you part." Though Lothor looked entirely sceptical, no one else gave any sort of indication that Marah was bluffing. While the sisters' personalities had changed little, they had grown up over the years, and began to take ninja training seriously. Neither of them found their place with either the Wind, Water or Earth Ninjas, or even the Thunder Ninjas during a brief stint at the Thunder Ninja Academy where Sensei sent them after not being able to place them at the Wind Ninja Academy. So, instead of mastering one discipline, they'd dabbled in each of them and became proficient ninjas with abilities in all three forms taught at the Wind Ninja Academy. This also had the bonus, as far as Marah and Kapri were concerned, of allowing them to keep their orange and pink uniforms instead of having to wear either the yellow, red or blue ones.

"Right." Lothor said sarcastically, before dismissing the two of them completely. "Well down to business shall we?" Lothor raised his hand, a burst of power leaving it and hitting the ground, making Kelzaks appear. This was apparently the signal his minions had been waiting for, for seconds later, Zurgane and Choobo appeared, letting out an evil laugh before disappearing once more though a blast sounded close to the school soon after.

"The students!" Cam said.

"We can't let them be captured for a third time." Shane added.

"We'll go." Said Kira, motioning to herself, Connor and the Samurai Rangers. "We'll protect the students and the school. You guys deal with Lothor." Gratefully accepting their help, the Ninja Rangers nodded as everyone ran off, leaving only the six of them, along with Marah, Kapri and Sensei. Lothor raised his hand again and summoned a couple random monsters to even out the odds.

"Marah…" Dustin muttered, knowing his girlfriend to be more then capable, but still not wanting her, or anyone really, near this fight without Ranger powers.

"We'll leave Lothor and the goons to you and stick to Kelzaks but we're not going anywhere." She responded, Kapri nodding beside her, and even though it was all he was gonna get anyways, it was good enough for Dustin.

"Well what are you waiting for?" Lothor then asked, indicating for them to morph.

"Oh…right." Shane muttered before stepping forward. "Ready?"

"Ready!"

"Ninja Storm-"

"Thunder Storm-"

"Samurai Storm-"

"Ranger Form HA!"

They cried together, falling easily back into their standard individual morphing call before finishing all together, morphing for the first time since they'd fought with the Dino Rangers back in 2004; save for Tori, who'd fought alongside Kira against Thrax the first time.

"Power of Air!"

"Power of Earth!"

"Power of Water!"

"Navy Thunder Power!"

"Crimson Thunder Power!"

"Green Samurai Power!"

"Power Rangers Ninja Storm!"

"Yes, yes, we know who you are." Lothor said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Can we get to the fighting now?"

"Gladly!" Shane snarled. "Ninja Sword!" He, Tori and Dustin called on their weapons, the others following suit.

"Thunder Staff!"

"Samurai Sabre!" With their weapons out, the battle began and although it had been ten years, they all fell back into the rhythm of a battle against Lothor relatively easily. The six Rangers each took on one of the monsters, making their fights three against one, and heavily in their favour. Marah and Kapri, much to Lothor's shock, proved themselves more then just competent ninjas and dealt with the Kelzaks while the brothers went up against each other once more. The monsters went down fast, seemingly freeing up the Rangers to help Sensei and Marah and Kapri, but instead Lothor upped the anti, pulling out his Personal Alien Manager and punching in a few buttons.

"Scroll of Empowerment, descend." He called on the scroll that would see his monsters grow to epic proportions.

"Woah!" The Rangers cried, turning immediately back towards the monster.

"Hope those Zords are still in good condition." Shane muttered.

"No worries there dudes, and dudette." Came the reply of Cam's cybernetic counterpart who took care of Ninja Ops and all things technical, though with help from the real Cam.

"Good, cause we could sure use them." Said Hunter.

"On their way!" Cyber Cam assured them, and true enough, the Zords appeared moments later. The Rangers jumped up into their Zords and formed the Megazords, taking on the monsters while the others continued to fight against Lothor and his Kelzaks, though they didn't fight alone for long. After seeing to the safety of the school and its students, and seeing to it that the students didn't get captured yet again, the others returned to this battle, most of them joining Marah and Kapri, though Kouta and Mia joined Sensei.

"Give up Lothor." Mia said. "You've lost."

"Is that any way to speak to your uncle?"

"No uncle of mine could be as evil as you are!" Mia wanted to believe this even if the truth was staring her in the face.

"Think again." Lothor then sent a blast towards Mia who blocked it with her Spin Sword, the Samurai Rangers having summoned their actual weapons during the fight against Zurgane, Choobo and more Kelzaks.

"Samuraizer! Go Go Samurai!" Mia morphed, the only one of her team to do so, but then the rest of them weren't facing the arch-enemy/family member, but rather foot soldiers.

"A Pink Ranger." Lothor commented. "Haven't destroyed one of those before."

"That's because you failed to destroy any Rangers!" The fight between uncle and niece then began, both Sensei and Kouta allowing Mia to spearhead the fight, knowing of Lothor's power and that while they could match him in fighting ability, his power level surpassed theirs for they didn't have the addition of Ranger powers, or any additional powers.

"Spin Sword!" Mia called. "Airway!" Summoning her air element, Mia sent a powerful blast at Lothor, but it didn't seem to have too much of an effect.

"No!"

"Oh yes." Lothor said with an evil laugh. "Your samurai powers are weak, niece. They are no match for my-" Lothor was caught off as he was brought to his knees by an attack hitting him from both sides. In his gloating he'd failed to notice that the battle with his Kelzaks had come to an end and his other two nieces had taken the opportunity to shut him up.

"Blah blah blah, you really haven't changed." Kapri said as she and Marah strolled past Lothor to join their family.

"You hit me." Lothor said once he'd regained his breath. Their attack had had no true power behind it, but it had had the desired effect of both weakening him slightly, and shutting him up.

"Duh." Said Marah.

"You actually hit me." He still seemed to be in shock, having now seen with his own eyes that they weren't the simpering fools they'd been before. "And not with an entirely weak attack."

"It's been ten years." Cam said as he and the others re-joined the group, having finished off the giant monsters. "Lots can change in less time then that."

"So I see." Lothor snarled as he got back up on his feet. "Well no matter. I've always said good things come to those who wait. You can't rush an evil genius plan like mine. I'll destroy you later." He didn't wait around any longer, having chosen his day of attack badly, what with all these other Rangers visiting, and knowing he'd get no further today. Once he was gone, those who were morphed powered down and they all joined together for a debriefing, though was really just them sharing their feelings and thoughts on what had just happened.

"He won't underestimate us again." Kapri said, referring to her and Marah.

"Maybe, maybe not." Shane said. "I'm pretty sure he still thinks you're as dumb as you were back then…" Shane trailed off, realizing what he'd just said and cringing as he turned to his girlfriend. "Not that you were dumb back then, more just…"

"Just what Shane?"

"I'm gonna pay for that comment later aren't I?"

"I'll think about it." The guys sniggered at Shane, but other then that let it go, largely because Sensei was sending them a look.

"Yes, well, the fact remains is that Lothor has revealed himself." Sensei effectively changed the subject. "We must be on our guard."

"And we should prepare the students." Eric said, joining in the conversation in his capacity as a sensei. "Good chance Lothor will come after them again." He may not have been around when the Rangers fought Lothor the first time, having joined the Academy just after his defeat, but his friends had told him all about their arch-nemesis. The other senseis quickly agreed and Hunter and Blake said they'd warn Sensei Omino and get the Thunder Academy on guard as well.

"I still can't believe that's what has become of Kiya." Kouta said as they began the trek back to the Academy.

"He is no longer Kiya, and has not been for a very long time." Kanoi told his younger brother. "Lothor has completely taken over the man that used to be our brother."

"You have no idea how right you are there." Connor spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. "Kira and I sensed something from Lothor. We were going to tell you once we got back inside, but that's as good a segue as any."

"You know what segue means?" Eric asked his twin and Connor wondered for a moment if that question was serious or not. No one thought of him as the 'dumb jock' he'd more or less been in high school, but even after all these years he still wasn't one to use words like segue.

"Shut up." Connor muttered then promptly ignored his brother, going back into his explanation, though Kira beat him to it, having merely rolled her eyes at the brothers and picked up where Connor left off.

"There's evil flowing through Lothor, but not just the evil of his own choosing." She said. "Thrax may have done something when he revived Lothor, or this evil may have been there the whole time, may have taken hold of Kiya and helped his transition into Lothor."

"You're saying Lothor's not really evil but is being controlled?" Cam asked sceptically.

"At least partially." Kira said. "Lothor, Kiya, wasn't always evil, you can't be born evil, you're either turned evil against your will, or you learn to be evil, or you choose to be evil, but no living being is truly, innately evil."

"Are you trying to say that there's good inside him?" Mia asked, if possible more sceptically then her cousin.

"Yes." Connor said simply. "He's a being that was born, he wasn't created from pure negative energy like the monsters who can grow big." He then turned to the Ninja Storm team and gave them all a pointed look. "You've heard this before. More then once, after ten years of being our friends."

"Yeah, but, to apply it to Lothor?" Said Tori. "We never really made that connection. And now that we have…"

"We're fully creeped out by it." Blake finished, earning nods of agreement from the other Ninja Rangers.

"But if there's good left in him, then Kiya's still in there somewhere." Kouta said, wondering if it was possible to get his brother back.

"It's entirely possible." Kira answered knowing exactly what he was thinking, not that it was hard to figure out. "There's every possibility that we'll be able to bring Kiya back and do away with Lothor for good."

"But how?" Hunter asked. "Wouldn't we need, like, a huge power to do so?"

"Yeah, but don't worry about that part, Kira and I got it covered." Connor said nonchalantly, earning weird looks from their friends. It took a moment but eventually Connor realized why they were staring at him weirdly; they had no idea about that prophecy. "Right, sorry, let us explain…" The two did just that, though the explanation took longer then usual as their friends were both shocked, concerned, and incensed that they'd kept this a secret for all these years. But, in the end, they got through it, leaving the Ninja Storm Rangers with a whole new outlook on this battle against Thrax and all past evil, which they'd previously thought they probably wouldn't win, even though Kira and Connor warned them they still might not, and more importantly to most of them, to see to the destruction of Lothor, but this time not at the expense of Kiya Watanabe. All the Rangers were determined to see Kiya returned to his family, especially after catching the hopeful looks on Kanoi and Kouta's faces. They'd missed their brother and were ready for their family to be whole once more, a fact that was reciprocated by Kira and Connor. They were ready to get this battle going, to get their family back, and see to the return of the Power Ranger Family.

A/N - Yes, for those of you who haven't seen Samurai (like me though I did I bit of reading on Wiki), Mia's last name really is Watanabe. Me and my love of connecting the seasons together in any way that makes any sense couldn't help but make them family.

We're getting there with these "tribute chapters", done with the Neo-Saban and Disney eras and moving back into Saban with Wild Force (though before anyone can say it, yes, I know Disney technically took over halfway through Wild Force so it's technically both Disney and Saban, but Saban started it so I'm placing it in their era). I'm really looking forward to that chapter! Love Shayla and Merrick!

Review please!