Tori carefully read the wordy question and then began to write her answer. The only sound she could make out in the large room was that of her fellow students doing the exact same thing. It was funny that the loudest noise in the place was the sound of pencil on paper. That�s when the morpher beeped. She managed to cover it quickly with her hand well enough that she couldn�t really make out what was being said and glanced around to make sure no one else heard a voice coming out of her large �watch.�

A few heads looked back toward her but most just kept down and focused on the exam. The ones that did look up quickly went back to their paper. The only one who didn�t return to working on the test was Tori.

She had sat in the very back of the room just in case. She�d worried to Dustin and Shane earlier this week that they�d have to save the city during one of her exams. Both of her friends had laughed and joked and found all kinds of silly ways to tell her it wouldn�t happen and that she worried too much.

Not that being right made her feel much better at the moment.

She thumbed through the remaining pages of her exam as she looked at the clock. She�d been at it for almost an hour and was making good time. She always kicked butt at tests and was usually the first one done.

Tori glanced at her morpher guiltily. She only had four missed classes allowed for this course and she�d used them all. This exam was half her grade. She just couldn�t blow this off like those other times. She�d fail if she did that. Money down the drain along with a lots of her ever-dwindling time.

Then she thought about her plans past this quarter. If she failed this class, it would have a huge ripple effect through her entire college schedule. She wouldn�t be able to go on to the next class and that would keep her from having some pre-requisites for two other classes before this year was up. It got even messier when she started thinking of the following year plus having to make up all the missed classes�

And the morpher didn�t beep again.

She put her head back down. She�d hurry, that�s all. Her friends would probably have it handled before she got done. If not, she�d join the battle soon enough. She just needed a little bit of time and she�d live up to the responsibilities of both her lives.

�Cy! The others!� Cam presented a volley of blows at the Shimazu and the two Blades as he took his stand over his grandfather. �Use your communicator!�

�Just did�Sent word� Dustin�s coming! Shane�s coming!�

�That�s it!?!�

�Thunders won�t answer,� Cy reported. �Dustin was first to respond-� Cy was momentarily interrupted by a charging Blade. �Haven�t heard from Tor yet, either.� Cy was now on two of the Blades, dodging and attacking as he reported. �Kapri�s going to keep trying.�

Cam looked around as Shimazu and the Blades began to converge on the remnants of the Samurai class. No snide remark or witty quip could begin to convey his irritation at the situation.

Still no word from the Thunders. Kapri wondered just how long she should keep the all-call repeating. If they could hear it, surely they would have answered by now.

She glanced at Marah, but she was intently watching the Samurai battle on the monitor. She really didn�t want to switch the monitor, but she needed to do something.

Kapri began typing, pulling up a program on one of the side monitors. When she had been helping Cam rebuild Ninja Ops, she had made some updates to the tracking program. She didn�t know if Cam approved, but he didn�t protest, which was as close to approval as you got from Cam sometimes.

The program was now a lot more user-friendly to the non-technologically-inclined. Instead of complex code with coordinates, there were now color-coded Ranger symbols on a map. You could switch back to the original version, of course. But the new version was easier to use in a hurry.

At the cliffs she saw Cam�s Green Samurai symbol. It was suddenly joined by Dustin�s Yellow Lion. Kapri glanced at the main monitor, and saw rocks flying. Yup, Dustin was there. And in record time.

She looked back at the smaller screen. Tori�s Blue Dolphin was at the college. The Thunders though�

Their symbols were still blinking in the little tray at the bottom of the screen. The program really should have found them by now. But their symbols just stayed at the bottom, still waiting to be found.

What surprised Kapri the most was the Red Hawk symbol beside the Thunders�.

Shane.

Shane shouldn�t be in the �not founds�. He had answered the all-call. He had said he was on the way. He couldn�t be missing. But the system said he was.

Kapri switched to a larger view. She looked at the map of the entire local scan area. And she knew something was wrong. There was a deadzone in Thunder Gulch. Instead of the map grid, there was a blacked-out area over a very large section of woods, including where the Thunders� home track should be.

Something was blocking the satellites.

This day was just getting worse.

Cam and Cy fought back to back, trading enemies as they chased them out of their circle of wounded. It could have been minutes, it could have been days� Cam was out of sarcasm and operating on pure battle strategy now.

Shaking his head, Cam paused once more and tossed back his vest. �Super Samurai Mode!�

The Blades and Shimazu continued their fury against the Cams, though Shimazu seemed more careful when confronting the one in green armor.

The ground suddenly shook. Rocks pummeled the Blades. Rocks of ever increasingly greater size than the last rocketed by Cam�s head.

�Dudes! No dogs allowed at Samurai practices!� Dustin mocked.

Shimazu jumped back to dodge the large stones. Pulling his pipe, he let out a tune and disappeared.

Cam swung around, and assured himself they all were gone. Quickly, he raced to Hiro�s side. He was unconscious, but still breathing. He looked over to Cy, who held Mei Lien.

�Unconscious. Bloodloss. I�m getting her back to Ops�� Cy whispered, as he pressed his hand against the gash in her shoulder to stop the bleeding.

�I�ll meet you there.� Cam nodded as he scooped up his grandfather. Turning to Dustin, both Ranger modes shattered around them as they shifted back. Dustin and he locked eyes as the helmets disappeared. �Thanks� You were� It was�� Cam exhaled and looked around.

�Dude, get your gramps back home�� Dustin smiled, his face etched in worry, but ever trying to cover it with friendliness. �I�ll come back too.�

And green and yellow streaks zipped out off of the cliffs and over the trees.

Regaining consciousness, Shane awoke to a bizarre sight. He was standing in expansive mire, surrounded by mists that covered the surrounding area.

�Ninja Ops come in.� Shane spoke into his morpher. No reply.

He was alone, with no idea where he was.

The howl of a wolf echoed across the land.

�They�re resting comfortably.� Cam whispered as he approached the computer console. Cy nodded as he continued to scan. �Grandfather will be out for a while, but there seems to be no permanent damage according to my scans. I stopped Mei Lien from bleeding, I�ll check later to see if we need to seek �formal� medical attention.�

Cy exhaled. He paused for a nanosecond. Cam watched. Kapri stood off to the side, but neither seemed to recognize she was there.

�Have you found anything of Shimazu?� Cam moved over to the other side and investigated the monitor.

�Nope� Nada� Zipperoo�� Cy shook his head.

�Hunter? � and Blake?� Cam could almost kick himself at the pause after Hunter�s name. No one seemed to notice, though Kapri shifted anxiously.

�No clue. No word.� Cy typed some more. �They never call, they never write�Those Distant Thunder Dudes!�

Cam shook his head at the thought. �Tori?�

�Won�t be hearing from her.�

Cam stared at Cy.

�Major test, dude. It was up to Shane and I to save the universe today,� Dustin added to save the cyber being from the Evil Eye of Cam.

�Where�s Shane?� Kapri interrupted, seemingly tired of looking back and forth between the two and being ignored by them.

Cam turned and looked at her� thoughts racing through his head. �Anything?� he queried as he turned to Cy.

�Nothing there.� The back of Cy�s head shook. �He said he�d be there at the battle when I called. And then �no show���

�That�s not like him,� Marah whispered moving to Kapri�s side protectively.

�Dude! This ain�t right�� Dustin paced. �Maybe I should go look�� He glanced at the girls and ate the rest of his sentence before he spoke. Marah blushed and Kapri began to wring her hands.

Cy turned from the computer long enough to regard Dustin and the girls for a moment. He then glanced at Cam, his head tilted, �Shall I call Daddy-ola?"

Cam gazed at his cybertwin. He exhaled long enough to allow the flare up of emotions at Cy�s word usage to flow out of him. Shaking his head he began to turn, "No, he�s safe at Sensei Omino�s for now. Let's not bother him until we know more..." He started to walk toward the hallway, and paused at the door. �Keep scanning� I�m going to brainstorm about taking down some Blades.�

Stay tuned for the SEASON FINALE of Power Rangers Ninja Storm!