A/N : Usual disclaimers apply. Thanks for the reviews!

The Real Ninja Storm

By

James P.

Chapter 3: High School Reunion, Pt. 2

Katherine arrived at her destination, and looked around. She was used to teleporting to an enclosed space, like the Command Center or Power Chamber. Instead, she teleported into a jungle. She was alone, and confused.

"Hello?" Katherine said. "Is anyone here?" Her voice echoed back to her. "Tommy? Rocky? Alpha? Anyone?"

Katherine was feeling nervous. What if this had been a plot by some evil force to capture her or destroy ex-rangers? Of course, why would they want to attack her of all rangers? Why not Tommy? Or Jason? Or Kimberly? She just couldn't understand what was going on.

Then, there was a bright flash of red, and another ex-ranger suddenly appeared before her.

"Jason?" she said. Jason turned around, and was surprised to find Katherine in front of him.

"Kat? Did you call for help?" he asked, concerned.

"No. I was called too." The two ex-rangers hugged, having not seen each other for about three years. Then they took another look around at their location. In the distance, they could see some ruins. But overall, there did not seem to be any signs of life.

"Think this could be a trap?" Jason asked.

"I don't think so…" Kat said. "I mean, I don't think any evil forces can tap into our communication channels."

"Well it has been over ten years since we've really used these things. Maybe the bad guys have become more sophisticated."

"Maybe… but I don't feel like I'm in danger."

"Me neither."

"Should we explore?" Katherine asked. Jason nodded. They started heading out when they saw two more flashes, and turned around to find Kimberly and Rocky standing before them.

"What in the…" Jason said. Rocky and Kim had surprised looks on their faces.

"Jason. Kat. What is going on?" Rocky asked.

"You tell us," Katherine said.

"You guys were summoned too?" Kim asked. The other ex-pink ranger nodded. "This is too weird."

"Do you think any of the others were summoned?" Rocky asked, and soon got his answer when Tommy and Adam finished teleporting and landed right in front of them.

"Wow… this is just becoming a reunion…" Rocky said sullenly. Adam and Tommy looked confused.

"Did one of you guys call us?" Adam asked. The other ex-rangers just shook their heads.

"Where are we?" Tommy asked.

"Good question," Jason replied. Rocky stayed silent. He felt out of place with Tommy and Jason around, and his relationship with Adam had become strained over the past few years. Kim noticed Rocky's grimace, and patted his shoulder with a reassuring glance.

The other ex-rangers silently looked around. The place was similar to where Kim, Rocky, Aisha, Tommy, Adam, and Billy had received their ninja powers. But they didn't see any warrior women running around.

"We should stick together, and go towards those ruins," Tommy suggested. Rocky just shook his head.

"Already giving orders, Tommy?"

"Rocky…," Kim groaned. Katherine and Adam looked at each other quietly. They had known Rocky was upset over not being asked to take part in the red ranger mission, but he had never talked to Tommy like that.

"What is that supposed to mean, Rocky?" Tommy replied.

"You always look for a chance to be the leader, don't you? Why can't you just let us make up our minds for ourselves for once, instead of always barking orders?"

"Rocky, calm down," Jason said. "None of us know what is going on, and we need to stick together. Tommy was just stating the obvious."

"You're just as bad Jason," Rocky responded. "Forget this, I'm going to go explore on my own." Rocky stormed off.

"Rocky, wait!" Kimberly exclaimed, and went after him.

"Since when did those two become best friends?" Adam asked.

"Around the time that you stopped being his," Katherine responded. Tommy glared.

"Well aren't we just a big happy family!" Tommy exclaimed, and stormed off. Adam followed. Katherine and Jason stood looking at the pair.

"Well if whoever summoned us was looking for a team to help them, they obviously picked the wrong rangers," Jason said.

^v^v^v

Kimberly caught up with Rocky fairly quickly. The sculpted man still had a scowl on his face, and was a bit startled when Kimberly laid a hand on his shoulder.

"What do you want Kim?" Rocky said.

"Rocky, we both know what this is about…"

"No we both don't. It is simply about Tommy thinking that we still need him to boss us around."

"Fine, that's what it is about."

"You sound like you don't believe me."

"That's because I don't."

"Kim…"

"Rocky, just come back with me to the group. We're in a strange place, we don't know why we're here, and we need to stick together. Besides… Katherine is there, so it evenly matched." Rocky sighed. Kimberly always had a way about getting across to him. The pair turned around, and walked back to the clearing.

^v^v^v

Jason and Katherine were surprised to see both pairs come back so quickly. Tommy and Rocky both stopped to glare at each other, while Kim and Adam whispered into their ears. Katherine looked at her ex-boyfriend. She couldn't help the feelings of anger that swept over her for the way he had dumped her. But at the same time, she also recalled all the good times, and their teamwork as rangers, and couldn't help but smile a bit.

Jason on the other hand, stared at Rocky. He could understand Rocky's feeling towards him. After all, he had been compared to Jason for years, and it was uncomfortable when Jason came back to the team as the gold ranger. Rocky had felt compared even more at that point. And then there was the red ranger mission. But at the same time, Rocky needed to stop being so hard-headed about the leadership roles. Jason and Tommy had always been the leaders of this group of rangers, and nothing was going to change that.

"So what are we going to do?" Katherine asked.

"While I don't want any fights to break out," Jason said. "I think we should go visit the ruins. We will probably find some answers there." The group looked at Rocky.

"Fine. Let's go," he said. Kimberly smiled at her best friend, as did Katherine. The group started their trek towards the ruins, in silence.

Tommy glanced at both Kat and Kim. He felt awkward being here with his ex-girlfriends and his new boyfriend. Of course, Adam and him hadn't told anyone about their relationship except Hayley. Adam's parents were very prejudice against homosexuals, and Tommy being a teacher had been hesitant to come out because parents could be not very understanding when it came to those matters. It didn't excuse not telling their former team mates, but they weren't sure everyone would understand in that group either. It was just easier to keep it to themselves.

Adam looked over to his old friend, Rocky. It had been a few years since Adam and Rocky had spent any time together. Ever since Adam had started accepting that he was gay, which he had known since before they were rangers, he felt like his friends wouldn't accept him. So he pushed them all away. But Tommy wouldn't let him run away so easily, and the two former teammates had discovered their love for one another. But Rocky… Rocky was a whole different story. When Adam pushed him away, Rocky had fallen into his friendship with Kimberly, and the two old friends had only seen each other in passing. Maybe this was an opportunity to get things back on track.

The group finally reached the ruins. There were strange carvings all over the pillars that stood at least twenty feet higher than the tallest ranger.

"Too bad Billy isn't here," Kimberly commented, as the ex-rangers tried to decipher the carvings.

"Well…" Katherine said. "He did teach me a few things during our Zeo time, and I recognize some of the patterns."

"So, any clues?" Rocky asked.

"Some of these say 'great power'. Some of them say 'great evil'."

"Same ol' thing, huh?" Adam commented. The other rangers, even Rocky, chuckled at this. But it was short lived, as they heard a familiar noise in the distance.

"No way," Kimberly said.

"Didn't they get defeated when Zordon purified the universe?" Jason said.

"You would've thought so but…" Tommy was cut off as a group of Tengu warriors surrounded them.

"Oh well long time no see boys," Rocky commented, as the group prepared to fight.

^v^v^v