He had been trapped down there. Betrayed and sent down there to his own personal hell. Zurgane would have gone insane by now until he met the person that would change everything for him. A chance to be free from the Abyss and seek revenge for what had been done to him. When Zurgane first met the dark ninja, he could feel that he was someone that had been changed by the Abyss. Someone more powerful than most trapped in this hellish place. It could be to his advantage to ally himself with someone like him.

Then it happened His brief moment of freedom from the Abyss and a chance to seek his revenge against the Rangers that had contributed to his being trapped there. He remembered the day that the Abyss had reopened. The dark ninja had ordered him to leave the Samurai Amulet there in the Abyss. It had seemed an odd request at the time, but he later understood the reason for that order. He certainly wasn’t going to defying the one that promised him release from his prison. He intended to never see the depths of the Abyss again. He was free and it was time to let out some aggression against those that had defeated him so many times before. But it was not to be Not only was he up against his former enemies, but another team of Rangers as well that harnessed new and different powers. He had been defeated once again. He didn’t want to think of what Lauthore would do to him for his failure But Lauthore had said nothing. It was taken as a setback and nothing more. It was time now to continue forward with the plans.

Zurgane walked behind the dark ninja. Lauthore had wanted a meeting with him. To discuss the plans for the city he supposed.

“So the Rangers are through?”

“We won’t need to worry about them any longer. They were a pathetic lot at best. How did you ever manage to be defeated by the likes of them?” Lauthore said in disgust.

“They were quite strong when they were Rangers. Now that they’re Powerless, they are no real threat.” Zurgane said in defense.

“No matter. I have seen what this world has to offer and I am far from impressed And speaking of such your performance has been far from impressive. I do wonder why I keep you around.”

“You need me. I thought that was why you brought me back with you.”

“Yes, I suppose I did.” Turning around, Lauthore grabbed Zurgane by the throat, lifting the massive general off his feet. “I also suppose I can always change my mind though.”

“What…are you doing? I can help…you.” Zurgane choked out.

“I have seen the kind of help you can offer and I severely doubt I need it. I do believe your powers can at least be of some use to me. It’s just too bad that I can’t say the same for you.” With that final statement, Lauthore began squeezing, tightening his hold on Zurgane’s neck. Just as Zurgane thought he would black out, a searing jolt of pain in his chest immediately shocked him back to full consciousness. Looking down, he saw that Lauthore had thrust his hand into his chest. The pain subsided some only to be replaced by an unimaginable cold. It felt vaguely as if his insides were being pulled from within. Zurgane knew this was not good. Unable to speak, he tried grasping at Lauthore to try and free himself, but he had no strength left to do so.

As Lauthore began flexing his hand inside Zurgane’s chest, he could feel the energy flowing directly into him. The power he would receive from Zurgane would supplement his own powers nicely. He could feel Zurgane beginning to fade away. He loved that feeling. The feeling of one’s life force slowly ebbing away into nothingness. Feeling the last traces of Zurgane’s energy becoming a part of him, he reached deeper, eliciting a pathetic groan from his victim. With all his power absorbed into him, Zurgane was now just an empty shell. His fist still buried within the lifeless general’s chest, Lauthore opened his hand. “Ashes to ashes…” Lauthore created a blazing flame that instantly incinerated Zurgane from the inside out, leaving nothing behind. “…dust to dust.” Flexing his arms, Lauthore relished in what he would do to this world. “Yes, this will do nicely. He’ll serve me far better in this way than he ever could have in life.”

In Ninja Ops, Cam and the others began preparing for their journey.

“So, with this we should be able to track down that temple, right?” Dustin asked holding up a small device with a digital display on it.

Cam reached over and retrieved the device from Dustin. He made a few adjustments as he continued talking. “It should. I believe when we actually reach Japan, the signal should become stronger and our search area much smaller.”

“Let’s find out if that theory of yours is correct. Everyone ready to go?” Hunter asked.

“Ready as we’ll ever be.” Tori answered. Looking over to Marah, Kapri, and CyberCam she asked, “Will you guys be able to hold the fort down here while we’re gone?”

Marah answered, “Oh yeah, we’ll be totally fine. If we have any problems, we’ll handle it.”

“Just be careful. I don’t want you guys going up against Lauthore by yourselves if he shows up again.” Shane said.

“We’ll be fine. The sooner you guys get going, the sooner you can get back here and show off those brand new Powers of yours. Good luck, okay?” Kapri said, giving a slight smile to everyone.

“Think we’re ready? We don’t really know what we might be up against out there. I’m sure the temple is probably pretty heavily guarded or really well hidden, seeing as no one has really seen this place in a couple hundred years.” Blake said.

Hunter spoke up. “We’ll handle it. This place was meant for us to find. Like the legend said, they hid the powers for a time if they were ever needed again This is definitely that time. I’m sure there’s a way for us to get to them. The ancients would have made sure of it.”

“If you are all as confident about this is as Hunter is, you will have nothing to fear. A safe journey to you all. The next time I see you, you will be as Rangers once again.” Sensei said.

“Okay, we’re all set then. Got the coordinates ready for us, CyberCam?”

“Completely ready, guys. See you on the other side.”

With that, CyberCam pressed a sequence of buttons, teleporting the Rangers.

When the light of teleportation faded away, the ex-Rangers found themselves standing in a forest clearing. Cam looked down at his scanner. “Well everyone, welcome to beautiful Kyoto, Japan.”

Lauthore stood over the smoking entrance to the Abyss of Evil. His mind wandered back across the ages to the last time he stood in this spot. He could still remember the feeling of humiliation as he plummeted into the darkness below, his power broken by the six warriors who opposed him.

They could not have realized that their actions would lead to his ultimate triumph. He was one with the Abyss now. Its power was now his power. His only opposition was a group of children who were barely shadows of the warriors of old.

This world was his for the taking.

Vexacus watched Lauthore from the woods nearby, as the dark ninja raised his hand over the Abyss, releasing a dark surge of energy into its depths. “Everything is going according to plan,” he laughed as he watched monster after monster appear in a burst of energy from out of the Abyss. “The Rangers will no doubt appear to defend the city. Without their Powers, they don’t stand a chance” An evil glint appeared in his eye as he watched the creatures make their way towards Blue Bay Harbor. “Even if they do survive, this is nothing compared to what still awaits them. The Karmanian power will be mine at last!”

“Okay, not to be the pessimist of the team or anything, but is anyone else somewhat concerned about the complete lack of resistance and/or danger we’ve had in actually trying to reach this temple?”

“Thanks for bringing that little fact up, Blake.” Tori said sarcastically

“And now that you’ve said that, we’re probably going to be attacked by like an army of unstoppable ninjas to test us of our worthiness to gain the Power.” Shane added.

“Or some crazed assassin tries to pick us off one by one.” Hunter said.

“Hey, I got one. What if the forest floor dropped out from under us and we ended up landing in like this huge underground maze and we had to fight our way through it to get to the Powers?” Shane asked.

“Ooh, but only after we defeated like these massive stone statues that end up coming to life.” Hunter added.

“Whoa, guys. Slow down. I gotta get this stuff written down. How awesome of a movie would this make?” Dustin said.

“You guys do realize you’re theorizing on your potential untimely demise, right? How unsettling is that to anyone else here?” Cam asked.

Blake laughed “Okay, really not helping here with the apprehension about all of this It’s just too quiet, you know?”

“Yeah, I know what you mean, Bro. We better stay on the alert just to be safe,” Hunter said.

“So where are we exactly?”

Cam looked down at the device in his hand. “Well, Tori, we seem to be in the area of Mt. Daimonji, just northeast of the city of Kyoto.”

“We’re close to a pretty modern city. It’s amazing no one ever found this place.” Blake observed.

“Most likely because the ancients didn’t want this place found. I mean, look where we are. I haven’t seen this many trees in a long time. Kinda reminds me of the Academy grounds.”

Hunter jumped over a fallen tree to catch up to the others ahead of him. “Dustin’s right. There’s no way they’d make this place easy to find just out in the open. It’s gotta be guarded in some sort of way.”

“We’ll definitely find out when we get there. Any word on how close we may be, Cam?” Shane asked.

“The energy readings are getting stronger. It looks like we need to continue southwest and it should take us where we need to be.”

Alarms blared through Ninja Ops as Kapri rushed to the monitor with Marah following close behind In the time she worked with her cousin in Ninja Ops, she learned that loud screeching noises were definitely not a good sign.

“Ooh, this is bad!”, Marah exclaimed, echoing her sister’s thoughts

“Sensei!” Kapri called. “We’ve got a situation here!” The sisters were soon joined by Kanoi, Hiro, CyberCam and Mei Lien, all equally horrified at the sight before them.

The monitor display showed an army of creatures and Kelzaks reeking havoc in downtown Blue Bay Harbor. Lauthore followed close behind, clearly enjoying the destruction surrounding him.

“Man,” Kapri commented. “It’s like a reunion of Uncle’s old army out there.”

“How come we didn’t get invited?” Marah joked. Kapri just rolled her eyes and hit her sister on the shoulder.

“We have to do something.” Mei Lien spoke up.

“But we told Shane that we wouldn’t go up against Lauthore ourselves.” Marah explained.

“Shyeah.” Kapri agreed. “Besides, that guy is like beyond scary”

“We don’t have a choice!” Mei Lien exclaimed. “The whole city could be destroyed before the others get back.”

“Mei Lien is right.” Kanoi interjected. “We cannot allow Lauthore to terrorize the city.”

Turning towards Mei Lien, the sensei gave his orders. “You will take the senior members of the strike teams into the city. Hold them back as long as you can. The rest of us will remain here, to provide a second front, should it become necessary.”

“Right.” She bowed before her sensei. As she headed for the exit, she turned to CyberCam. “Are you coming?”

“Whoa.” the replicate held up his hands. “In case you forgot, I can’t exactly be making public appearances.”

“We’ll be masked.” Mei Lien explained. “No one will know who you are. Besides, we could use you out there.”

“And hey!” Kapri jumped in. “We so have things covered here!”

“We do?” Marah asked, curiously.

“Yeah!” Kapri exclaimed. “We totally have your back!”

Nodding, the sisters watched as Mei Lien and CyberCam rushed out of Ninja Ops.

“Kapri?” Marah whispered. “Are you sure we have things covered here?”

“Of course!” Kapri replied, hiding the uncertainty in her voice.

The ex-Rangers had been walking for the better part of an hour. They had just reached a small clearing where a stream ran through, surrounded by trees and hills. When they reached the stream, Cam spoke up. “Looks like we should be there now.”

Blake looked around. “It looks nice, but I don’t see a temple here, do you?”

“Could the energy readings the scanner is getting be off?” Tori asked.

“Not likely. The scanner is directly in tune with the energy signature of the Samurai Amulet. It should only be tuning into that energy source. Wherever it is, we’re right on top of it.”

“Could I have a look?” Hunter asked. Cam passed the scanner over to him As Hunter looked down at the screen, he slowly began walking through the clearing As he moved, he noticed the light pulse getting brighter. He moved around a small grove of trees and saw the light fade some. He repositioned himself and began heading toward the stream. As he moved closer, he noticed the light brighten once again. He continued past the stream until he reached the other side where he saw the light on the scanner reach its brightest point yet. Looking up, Hunter scanned his surroundings. He couldn’t see anything even remotely resembling the entrance to a temple. Looking up and down, he still couldn’t find where the power source could be coming from. He stepped forward some and felt a strange elevation in the land as if he had stepped on something. Looking down he noticed a strange color change in the ground beneath the leaf covered forest floor. Kneeling down, he began brushing the leaves aside. Cam came up behind him then. “Find something?”

“I’m not sure. Something seems to be here though.” Brushing the leaves aside, Hunter saw a strange circular stone slab set into the ground. What he found most interesting was that carved into the stone slab were six very familiar symbols.

“I think we may have something.” Cam called out to the others. As everyone gathered around to see what they had found, they all began to see the importance of their find.

“Hey, it’s our symbols.” Dustin pointed out.

“Right. Air, Water, Earth, Thunder, and the Samurai.” Blake said.

“If this isn’t a clue, I don’t know what is.” Shane said “So do you think this could mark the entrance to the temple?”

“I’d say it’s a good guess that it does. But now we need to actually figure out how to access the entrance.” Cam answered. Examining it more closely, Cam reached out to touch the stone for any trace of a switch or lever. When he touched it, he felt an immediate warm sensation through the stone. As he drew his hand away, the Samurai symbol on the stone began to glow a faint green light.

“Did you see that? When Cam touched it, his symbol lit up,” Dustin said “That could be a good sign.”

“Well, it’s got all six of our symbols here. We’re all gathered around it, maybe it needs us all to be here together to open the way.” Blake said.

“It’s worth a shot. We all try touching it and see what happens,” Shane offered. Shane knelt down to touch the stone and when he did, he felt the same warm sensation through the stone as his Air symbol glowed red. Dustin next did the same, his symbol glowing yellow. Tori followed next, followed by Hunter and Blake. Each of the ex-Ranger’s symbols were glowing their respective color on the stone. They now waited in anticipation for something to happen.

“Well, it looks pretty cool.” Dustin observed. “Should something be happening? Bright lights, earth shaking, anything?” As if on cue, the lit symbols on the stone disk began to pulse, becoming brighter and brighter with each pulse. When the symbols were fully lit and shining, the stone disk began to rise out of the ground. As the stone rose, another structure began to rise just behind the ex-Rangers. A massive wooden gateway resembling an ancient Japanese torii, a portal, began to rise from the ground. When the ground finally stopped moving, the stone disk had become a pedestal reaching about waist high from the earth. The huge wooden portico towered above the Rangers easily reaching some of the higher tree limbs there in the clearing.

“Well, Dustin, looks like you got your bright lights and earth shaking. And we even got what looks like an entrance out of the deal.” Tori said.

“Seems we found what we were looking for. I guess all that’s left to do now is step through.” Hunter said.

“I can see right through to the other side. Think it might be kinda like at the Academy? You know, the holographic waterfall?” Dustin asked.

“It’s probably exactly like that. Well guys, you ready?”

“Ready as we can be, Cam.” Shane said. “Let’s go get our Powers.” And with that, the six of them stepped through the ancient portico, disappearing before reaching the other side. Once stepping through, each of the six found themselves standing in a massive antechamber. The ceilings were high with wooden pillars surrounding them on all sides. Candelabras and torches lit the way down a hall decorated in colors of red, black, and gold On the floor before them were the now common Ninja and Samurai symbols, all bound together in a circle.

As the ex-Rangers began walking down the long corridor, they noticed the pictures and symbols carved onto the walls around them. Images of ancient battles and the elements of their powers. Stories from centuries before of the ancient Ninja and Samurai As they continued walking down the corridor, they came to a stop at a huge door flanked by two stone statues dressed in the armor of the Samurai.

“Guess we head through here. Any idea how we open it?” Blake asked.

“Let’s just go through.” As Shane stepped up to enter, the two statues on either side came to life, bowing before them.

“Now that’s what I call a warm welcome.” Dustin said. As the six stepped through the huge ornate door, they walked into another chamber lit by candles along the wall. In the center of the room stood another huge torii that dominated the center of the room. Beyond the huge portico, sat a stone altar on which sat a large black and gold box.

“What do you want to bet that’s what we came here for?” Blake asked

Hunter thought a moment. “Could very well be. But it just seems too easy. Something doesn’t seem right.”

“What do you think? Should we go for it?”

“I don’t really see any other option. We have to go forward if we want to get our Powers. We’ll stand up to whatever might get thrown at us, just like we always do. We’ll do it together.” Shane said.

Feeling much more confident now, everyone nodded in agreement and proceeded to move forward through the portico.