Just as it began to drop his head in a chomping maneuver, the Blade on Tori looked up.

“Bad dog! No biscuit!” Dustin’s voice called out as a frenzy of rocks pelted the red one, knocking him off of Tori.

Crimson lightning blasted the lead Wolfblade, causing him to release Blake. Hunter’s eyes sparked, “Muzzle it, Dogbreath!”

“Come here boy!” Shane jumped in front of the golden wolf, allowing him to get within feet of him, and then raising his hands… flames swirled in his palms as he thrust them toward the oncoming Blade, breaking into his Wind Ninja strikes.

“New toys, huh?” Cam stood in front of Shimazu. He shook his head. “I hear you’ve been hassling my grandfather. Guys, shall we, for old time’s sake?”

“Let’s.” Shane smiled as all six of them recited the words they love so much, the ones that call to their inner being, the ones that call them to become Power Rangers.

The Blades regrouped and prepared for attacking. Shimazu smiled and blew his whistle. The Blades howled and charged away. Shimazu danced from one foot to the other, laughing. “My new Blades will defeat you, Rangers! I’ll have my revenge for killing my precious ones!” He pointed his sword at the Green Ranger. And then he disappeared.

Six Rangers demorphed.

“So if he wants you, why’d he attack us?” Blake mumbled towards Cam as he rubbed his arm.

“Dogs are said to be color blind, maybe he is too,” Cam smirked. He walked over to Blake and began to look at his arm.

“You ok, Bro?” Hunter tilted his head and watched Cam examine Blake’s arm.

“Yeah… I’ll live… I just can’t wait to put that rabid hound down.”

“Yeah… I know what you mean.” Shane broke in.

“Hey, Hunter,” Blake pulled his arm away from Cam. “Since I have you here… I want to spend some more time with Tori, but I thought we might meet up at the apartment tonight?”

“Sure thing.”

“If you’re ok… I have some more repairs at Ops.” Cam tilted his head, as he tried to reach for Blake’s injured arm once more. Blake pulled it back and forced it to hang naturally.

“Yeah, and I should get back to walking Ninja with Marah.”

“And we should let these two love birds alone,” Shane smiled, as he put his hand on Hunter’s shoulder.

“You’re sure your arm’s ok?” At Blake’s nod, Hunter shook his head. “Hrmph.” Hunter mumbled and smirked back at Blake, before allowing Shane to pull him away.

Blake held out his other arm towards Tori. She wrapped her arms around it. They strolled off slowly. Blake focused on memorizing every word, every smile, every breath she made. She was all he wanted to think about right now. The pain in his arm drifted away with every step. Whether it was his rapid healing factor that was a gift to Rangers, or the fact that he was absorbed in the moment of being with her, he didn’t know… or care…

Finally, the darkness had covered the sky, and they were near her place. He smiled as she turned towards him.

“So, when are you going to be back?”

“Not sure. I’m going to try to get back more often. I’ll be in Reno for the next one, then back to Frisco. After that, we’re heading East again. I’ll give you more warning next time.”

“You’d better. Do you know how hard it is to study while you’re watching me?”

“Awe, come on. You already know the stuff.” He flashed that cute smile he knew she could never resist. “I’ll call you.”

She smiled at him. He couldn’t pull his eyes away from hers. This was it… He could tell her he loved her. Or… Leaning in, he placed his lips to hers. He kissed her. And then his heart stopped and fluttered at what he had just done. Pulling back, he braced for whatever response she was about to release. She smiled at him. She leaned forward. She kissed him. And he had to smile as she stepped back, for as if issuing a challenge, she had kissed him for a little bit longer than he had kissed her.

“Goodnight, Blake. Go see your brother.”

“Be good.” He chuckled. “I’ll call you… I mean it.”

She walked inside and he dashed into an alley.

Three bounces later and he was at the alley near his and Hunter’s apartment. As he opened the door, he saw Hunter chugging a soda while watching TV. Blake circled the room.

“Hey, Bro.”

“You finally came home… Do you know what time it is, young man.”

“Time to watch some….” Blake strained to get a glimpse of the TV, “Rugby?”

“Huh… yeah…” Hunter shook his head. “No football, right now.”

Blake plopped down on the couch beside his brother. He sat there for a moment and collected his thoughts. He glanced at Hunter. Hunter was watching the game, but glancing occasionally at him. Hunter’d wait all night for Blake to start talking. It reminded him of growing up…

“I’m having some doubts about my schedule. You know, duty… Ranger… and riding… Factory… and missing …”

“Tori.”

“And you, Bro.” Blake added quickly. “And Dustin, Shane, and Cam even.”

“Hmph.” Hunter turned towards Blake. “So made any decisions?”

“Can’t.” Blake sighed. “That’s why I wanted to talk to you… my head’s spinning with so many choices and so many directions… And I don’t want to mess any of this up.”

“Yeah. I can get that.”

There was a slight knock at the door. Before either brother could react, the door slowly swung open. They smelled the pizza before they even saw the bringer.

“Cam?” Blake tilted his head.

“Thought you might be hungry.” Cam stepped into the room and set the pizza box down on the cluttered coffee table.

“Wanna soda?” Hunter jumped up.

“Sure.”

“Bro?”

Blake looked at his brother. As their eyes met, Blake saw the answer to the question he wanted to ask so badly. Can we talk about this later? – Yes. “Sure, but don’t try to pull a fast ball and bring a diet… I don’t run on unsugared.”

Hunter chuckled as he trailed off towards the fridge.

The images of the Rangers fighting the new Wolfblades flashed upon the screen. He was glad he had convinced Shimazu to attack the Rangers as an exhibition, and an initiation into this so-called partnership. He had hoped they would perform better, but they were still in need of training. Shimazu would handle that. They were definitely stronger and faster than the last Blades he had witnessed. Vexacus shut off the screen as the last recorded image of the Wolfblades finished and folded his fingers together, in a move to crack knuckles.

Vexacus spoke over his shoulder as he turned, “I hope you have enjoyed the presentation. As requested, I have secured the Wolfblades into are arsenal.”

Catch an ALL NEW Power Rangers Ninja Storm, NEXT WEEK!!