He watched the four figures walk into the glade. The wind disturbed his decorative tassels as he peered through the trees at the four he had followed for about 20 minutes. Two of them, he did not recognize. The other two, his master’s nephew, and his master’s nephew’s cyber pet were quite the sight. He would gain revenge for his master’s imprisonment. He had been grateful that he was allowed to serve his master once again at the final battle, despite his betrayal. As he was fleeing, he had seen Lothor’s valiant attempt to absorb the Ranger powers in the final battle. He had watched his master fall into the abyss with the amulet. Those Rangers! He had hoped to launch an attack at all of the former Rangers. He had noticed despite petty attempts by others of Lothor’s army, that the Rangers do not morph any longer. The ex-Green Ranger would pay for his part in the final battle. And then he would hunt down the others.

He would prove his loyalty again. Those girls and Vexacus had led him astray, and then those girls had turned on him. He wanted to prove to Lothor that he had made amends upon his dear master’s return. In his heart, he knew his master would return.

It was really fortuitous that he had stumbled upon these fools, as he was walking in the woods, plotting his next move. It was even more to his credit that he was able to recognize that meddlesome former Green Ranger after all of this time, and without his Ranger attire.

Was he ready to strike yet? The will was there, but the blades, the wolfblades… he could call only two of the wolfblades. He was going to have to play it smart. He was going to have to come up with a plan, by himself, to defeat his enemy. He decided to circle the glade, holding to the tree line. He would observe. He would study them. Then he would call in his new warriors as well as his beloved blades.

After about an hour of sword work, his grandfather had called a break. Cam was not ready to break. He wanted to keep up the pace and keep his mind off of how out of control this day had become. All of the ex-Rangers knew there were generals and aliens on the loose. He should probably get the memo to his grandfather sometime. And the impending danger had not removed the fact that the program, the one he had written to help with chores around Ninja Ops while he was taking care of Ranger duties, was now enrolled in samurai classes. Furthermore, he had spent the first 30 minutes paired off with him. His grandfather must have noticed the tension, because CyberCam had been paired with Mei Lien for the second half. It was a relief.

As they all sipped water, Cam watched CyberCam. The cyber had sat down. Mei Lien had quickly sat down near him. Cam wasn’t sure when all of the questions had began, but he was pretty sure it was between blows in practice after those two had been paired up. Mei Lien had started with the technical side, aspects of the program and functions. Somewhere in there, she had switched to what sounded more like a psychological evaluation. Now, the questions were sounding more chatty and even shifting towards friendly banter.

At first, Cam was annoyed at the questions. As the psych scan occurred, Cam realized something. CyberCam was sounding like he had put thought into his answers. He had programmed basic reasoning skills into the cyber likeness. But these answers were showing considerable growth on the programmed parameters. It was beginning to echo first season Star Trek: The Next Generation. Was he going to have to debate with someone about the qualities that makes someone human?

And then it happened.

“So, Cy, what would you consider your birthday?” Why was she doing this?

“Uh… dunno… Hadn’t put it to mind.” CyberCam looked perplexed. Sliding his signature green hat more securely on his head, he glanced at Cam. Cam was suddenly struck that he must have scowled at his cyber twin, because CyberCam flinched and looked away. “I guess I don’t have one? Eh… don’t need one…” and then he glanced at Mei Lien, “unless you want me to have one, ‘cause I can pick one.”

“June 14th.” Cam mumbled.

“What’s that super samurai bro?”

“Your program was compiled and initiated on June 14th. Though you weren’t brought online permanently until later. I would suggest using June 14th as your birthdate.”

“Wow. A birthday and a gift all in the same day.” CyberCam was now beaming at Cam.

“What?”

“You gave me a birthday to use, and the gift was the birthday.”

Cam smirked. Hiro put his hand on Cam’s shoulder. Maybe he wasn’t an only child now. Well, Cam wasn’t sure he was attached to the brother aspect, but maybe Cy could be counted as a being, and a student until other students joined the class.

“So, maybe we can celebrate Cy’s birthday for this past year tonight?” Mei Lien stretched.

“I will see to the arrangements upon our return.” Hiro smiled. The thought suddenly occurred to Cam that the old man saw everything as an adventure. All of those years where he hid in Ninja Ops, and wished for adventure. Then grandfather shows up and proves that everything can be an adventure.

She giggled as she approached. Kapri had to wait for Marah to get out of class, but operation Cat-Can-Do was worth the patience, she knew her sis would be waiting for her. She knew her sis would be vibrating in place, her foot working like a piston, rustling her ninja boot. Marah pondered if Kapri had had the double expresso that morning instead of an extra smooth half decaf double latte. Maybe she should switch her to green tea chai. Marah hugged Kapri in greeting.

“Ready?”

“Sh-yeah. Been waiting for hours.”

“Only one hour. It was really gripping to see Dustin move those stones. You should have been there.”

“Well, we’ve got a mission… They’ve been gone this whole time.”

“So we go quickly. We can even practice ninja zipping. Race ya!” Marah dashed off. She knew Kapri would have to roll her eyes before starting after her.

As they arrived at the glade, Marah quickly noted that the class was training. Cat-girl and cybercuz were exchanging blows.

“And a cake. You want a cake, right?” Had they missed the marriage proposal? Marah scrunched down. Kapri panted as she plopped down beside her. They exchanged glances, as they shared the question almost psychically, as close sisters were prone to do. Marah handed her some water and strained to listen.

“Cake would be radical… rockin’!”

“With candles, or at least a candle.”

“No… no wedding plans.” Kapri whispered, as she slumped.

“Sad.” Marah sighed. “But wait, that means we will be able to help with the wedding plans. Yay!”

“Right. Now, let’s get them married.” Kapri perked up.

“Hey! Who’s that?” Marah squinted.

“I dunno. He’s kinda of odd shaped, kinda familiar.” They both rose and slinked toward the spikey shadow. Kapri froze and stopped Marah. “Shimazu?”

“Ooooh… no. We gotta tell cuz. We gotta go get Dustin.”

“Wait a minute.” Kapri’s face brightened. “We are ninja now, good ninja. And if we need help, there are samurais – uh samurees… oh, those guys, just over there. We can handle Shimazu.”

“Samurai, Kapri, the plural is samurai. And yeah, let’s do it… And then we can tell them all that Shimazu returned.”

“And we kicked his little silk clashy butt.” Kapri stood to full height. “What are you doing here? Spying?” she said as she called out to Shimazu’s partially hidden form.

Shimazu nearly fell over, but gathered his balance. He bowed low. “Ladies. I didn’t expect you were still around. I was afraid you’d been banished to the pit with your beloved uncle. I was just stalking the enemy. I know I failed to help your uncle twice now. I am going to make things right, for the glory of Lothor.”

Marah knocked into Kapri. “He doesn’t seem to know we’re good guys now.” She whispered.

“So, let’s use that to our advantage.”

“How?”

“Shimazu, you should come with us. We have a better spot for spying… It’s right over here.”

“I don’t know. I can hear fine here.” His mask seemed skeptical, but as dim-witted as always. Marah snickered at the thought of how he always seemed to follow. Hadn’t they killed him last time?

“Oh, come on. Where we’re at, you can even hear their hearts beat.” Kapri smirked, turned, and started back, carrying out her old power strut. Marah hustled to fall into step. She glanced back and saw Shimazu shrug and follow.

“So, are we going to capture him?” Marah whispered.

“Oohh… That’s an idea. Cousin would love that.”

“Ladies? You are dressing abnormally, for your post?”

“Oh, well,” Kapri turned and gave a whimsical roll of her eyes. Once again, Marah had to giggle. “We’re infiltrating the enemy’s ranks! HELLO!”

Shimazu nodded, but still seemed skeptical.

As they reached the tree line where they had been spying, they noticed that the samurai class had broken for another recess. Food and beverages were being sorted and handed out.

“They’re eating now. It’s an excellent time to strike!” Shimazu raised his voice almost too much. Kapri rolled her eyes. Marah had to agree with her sister, he really wasn’t too good at this.