Shadow Strike

Shadow Strike is the thirty-second episode of Power Rangers: Lost Ninjas.

Summary
With Chris out of town, Alex sets a plan into motion that will end very badly for the Ramirez family.

Last time we saw the Terra and Shinobi Rangers...
The monsters were getting further and further away from Castle Ridge, sparking an argument between Chris and Nico over whether the Blue Ranger had to fight those monsters. At Master Giry's demand, Nico dueled one of his fellow students for his morpher and won.

February 24th, Mortimer's Laundromat, Castle Ridge, 4:59 pm
Nico sat in a tipped-back chair, looking out the window and pretending he wasn't keeping an eye on the laundry. He'd lost an argument with his Mom; apparently being a superhero meant he only got out of chores if there was an actual monster battle going on.

Hearing the door open, he looked up and saw a tall, blond guy walk inside. Nico didn't recognize him, and guessed he'd come into town with the scientists and Ranger fanboys. He locked eyes with Nico, and strode up to him. Raising a wrist slightly, he revealed something silver and rectangular strapped to it. Nico guessed what it was and stood, looking the other teen up and down.

"So this is what you look like under that helmet. Got a name?"

"Chris Slater, if it matters."

Nico folded his arms. "What do you want, Chris?"

"The Solar Samurai is attacking the next town over." Yes, it was definitely the Silver Ranger's voice. He didn't sound any happier about this than Nico felt.

"Maiden Rock?"

"Bellwood."

Nico nodded once, curtly. "Good luck with that."

"So you're not going to help?"

"What if something happens here? There should be someone around to take care of it."

"The only way something could happen here is if you stayed," Chris said in an exasperated, weary voice. "Korassil's not after the city, he's after us."

Nico sat down again, tipping his chair back. "Then let's make him divide his forces."

Chris looked like he wanted to argue, but Nico glared up at him. At last, visibly disgusted, he shook his head and walked out. The front door wouldn't slam, but Chris tried anyway.

The dryer finally rattled to a halt, and Nico unloaded it. Stuffing everything into his backpack—he had to do his chores, he didn't have to be seen carrying a laundry basket through the city—he headed home. It was a warm, grey day, and most of the snow had melted.

With the monster attacks getting further and further out of town, Castle Ridge had had a chance to breathe. The city looked almost normal—quiet, but normal. A few construction and demolition crews worked downtown, creating a buzz of distant noise.

It was so empty that Nico decided to go for it and just ninja-streaked home. A split second later he stood in front of his house. A quick look around proved that nobody had seen him, and he dug around under a bush for the key. His Mom was still at work, from the looks of it, but she'd be home any minute. Jogging up the steps, he stuck the key into the lock, but as he pushed on the door, it swung open.

Nico froze. Slowly, he slipped the backpack off his shoulders, letting it thump onto the steps behind him. It could be a burglar, or another trap by Korassil. Or maybe Mom had just forgotten to lock up before she left for work, though Nico couldn't remember her ever doing that.

There was a noise from inside, and a familiar voice rang out. "Nico?"

"Alex?"

Sure enough, Alex opened the door, and grinned at the sight of Nico. Relieved, Nico relaxed, and retrieved his backpack. He wasn't going to have to fight after all.

"Hey. Your Mom said it was okay if I waited for you."

"What are you doing here?" Nico asked. "I mean, I don't usually see you this early."

"Yeah, I had something I wanted to talk to you about, but that can wait. How did you get here so fast?" Alex asked. "I mean, I was looking out the window, and one second the street's empty, the next, poof, there you are."

Nico stepped inside, slipping past Alex as he scrambled for an answer. The door shut behind him. Mumbling something about putting his stuff away, Nico ducked into his room. He emptied the backpack on the bed and started separating his and his Mom's clothes. Most of them were his; there were a lot more scorch marks and rips than he remembered.

"Nico?" Alex called.

"Uh, I was just running, not sure how you didn't see me," Nico replied.

"Then why aren't you even out of breath?"

Finishing, Nico returned to the living room, dropping onto the couch. "Guess I'm in pretty good shape, plus I walked most of the way. What were you here to talk to me about?"

"That job thing you were so worried about a couple of days ago. How did it turn out?" Alex asked.

Okay, he'd changed the subject. Nico leaned back against the couch. "Great. Sometimes you gotta break a few rules, show people what's really going on."

Alex nodded. "I know what you mean."

"So . . . now what?" Nico asked. "None of the fun places will be open for hours."

"Eh, I don't really feel like going out drinking anyway," Alex said, with a shrug. "Gets kind of boring after a while. Though you are pretty funny when you're drunk. Do you know you punched through a wall last night when they wouldn't let you into that Irish pub?"

"I did what?" Nico asked, startled.

"Put your fist through a solid oak-and-metal-siding wall. Didn't even seem to hurt, either; it was like your hand was made of rock," Alex said.

Nico laughed, though he was starting to feel nervous. Had he really been that careless? And had he done anything else like that while he was out with Alex? A lot of his recent memories were blurry with alcohol.

"How did we not get arrested?"

"Running, hard. Nobody would have believed a guy could do that without breaking his hand anyway," Alex replied. "I still don't fully believe it myself, and I actually saw you do it."

"I take martial arts," Nico said, trying to play it cool.

"Really? Where?"

"Oh . . . this local school called Terra Academy. It's pretty obscure, you probably haven't heard of it."

Alex looked thoughtful for a minute. Then he laughed. "Okay, enough screwing around: you and I both know that you're the Blue Ranger. You really need to be more careful if you want to keep this 'secret identity' thing going."

Nico sat bolt upright. "What did you say?"

"Don't play dumb, it's insulting." Alex leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs. "Did you really think I'd have called you to deal with Crystalis if I didn't know it was you under the helmet?"

Nico just sat there for a long minute. He was good and trapped, and he and Alex both knew it. For a second he almost wished he'd gone with Chris to fight the Solar Samurai after all.

"Now what? Going to tell everyone?"

"I don't think so. It's more fun this way. Tell you what, I'll keep your secret if you'll keep mine," Alex said, rolling up his left sleeve to reveal a black morpher strapped to his wrist.

At the sight of it, Nico leaped out of his chair. Everything became crystal clear: Korassil and his goons had been playing him the whole time. Alex just smirked. The friendly, open attitude was gone, replaced by something that made Nico wish Chris was here to back him up.

"Promise you won't tell," Alex said, rising and raising his wrist. "Shadow Storm, Ranger Form."

Alex stands in a dark forest, shifting shadows passing over him. The inky blackness at his feet begins to creep up his legs, soon covering his entire body. Silvery fangs flash in the light as the helmet closes over his face, visor snapping shut.

Nico finally snapped out of it, going for his own morpher. As the blue light enveloped him, he glimpsed Alex just standing still, waiting for him to finish. Once he had, the Black Ranger spoke again.

"Shadow Swords!" He plucked two black-bladed swords from the air and struck a fighting stance.

"Stone Claws!" With a roar, Nico lunged, throwing his entire body weight behind the slashes. Alex batted them aside and stepped aside, letting Nico stumble into the couch. The Stone Claws tore into the upholstery, and Nico spun around, taking up his guard again.

Alex circled slowly, and Nico followed, loosing another wild swing at Alex's head. With a single swift motion, Alex ducked under the strike and brought his sword down on Nico's arm. Sparks exploded at the impact, and Nico fell to one knee. He turned the fall into a roll and sprang to his feet, just in time to see a sword swing towards him. Throwing himself back, he felt the tip of the blade scratch his chest.

"Why?" Nico demanded, finding his balance once more.

"Can you be a little more specific?" Alex replied, with a grin in his voice.

Before Nico could comply, he let loose a flurry of rapid slashes. Nico caught some of them, but most got through, gashing his arms and sides and forcing him to back into the corner. He hit a standing lamp and knocked it onto the futon. Alex scissored both swords forward, and Nico caught them in his claws, holding the blades inches from his throat.

"How could you do this to me? Pretend to be my friend only to turn on me like this? I trusted you!" Nico yelled.

"Your mistake. Enough talking, start dying." Alex pushed, trying to break the weapon lock, but Nico slipped a foot free and push-kicked him in the gut, sending him staggering back.

Jumping onto the futon, Nico sprang at Alex, claws extended. The Shadow Ranger ducked, but Nico slammed his knees into his shoulders, flipping him back with his own momentum. As they hit the floor, a sharp pain shot up Nico's leg. One of Alex's swords stabbed into his thigh. Something popped, and Nico lost his balance. Cursing, he rolled onto his back, clutching at his leg, and hit the coffee table.

He just glimpsed Alex spring to his feet, and then the Shadow Ranger's swords were at his throat. Nico froze. Panting, he stared up at Alex. His opponent wasn't even breathing hard.

"If you see my grandfather in hell, tell him I'm sending Chris as soon as I can," Alex said.

Nico saw his muscles tense, but before Alex could deliver the final blow, a wooden chair smashed over his helmet. A shudder ran down Alex's body, and his arms dropped. As his swords slipped out of his hands, he crumpled. Behind him stood Mrs. Ramirez, holding two halves of a kitchen chair.

"Mom?" Nico asked in disbelief.

Dropping the chair, she seized his arm with shaking hands and tried to pull him to his feet. As Nico put weight onto his injured leg, he swore in pain and fell down again. Blood darkened his pants leg. Stepping over Alex, his mother crouched beside him.

"Don't use that kind of language in the house. What happened?" She demanded.

"Alex is the Shadow Ranger," Nico managed. He tried to lift his leg, and the stabbing worsened. "I don't think I can stand."

"I'll call an ambulance," his mother replied. "You'd better demorph."

Nico obeyed, and only just bit back another profanity as his injuries grew suddenly much worse. Eyes squeezed shut, he felt his mother's hands prodding his wounds.

"Agh! Don't do that!"

"Stop whining."

However, as she stood up, she recoiled with a startled noise. Nico saw it as she did: Alex was gone without a trace. Nico tried to spring to his feet, but his leg wouldn't hold him. He caught himself on the coffee table with a thump.

"He jumped through a shadow," he said, and punched the floor. It only made his knuckles sting. "Coward!"

"Not quite," Alex's voice came from directly behind Nico and under the coffee table. It flipped upright, and before Nico or his mother could react, Alex kicked her aside and seized Nico in a headlock. Jerking him to his feet, the Shadow Ranger pricked Nico's back with one of his swords.

"I was going to just kill you quickly and move on, but you two have earned something special."

Nico twisted around and spat at his attacker, but missed. Alex just laughed at him.

Outskirts of Castle Ridge, 7:45 pm
Chris stopped ninja-streaking as he reached the outskirts of the city. He leaned against a tree and caught his breath, which clouded the winter air. He'd finally trashed the Solar Samurai—just like he'd guessed, after sundown the guy was basically helpless. Still, it would probably have taken less time if Nico had bothered to show up.

Chris decided to drop by Nico's house on the way back to his hotel. The guy seemed to know he wasn't doing his job; maybe with enough guilting he'd apologize and start putting his back into it. He stood up, scanned the city, and took off again. A shadowy copy of him stayed behind, fading slowly into the dark.

It was a quick trip. Chris stopped a few streets away from Nico's house. As he stepped out of the shadows, an ambulance shot past, sirens wailing. Looking in the direction it had come, he saw a cloud of smoke hovering over the end of the street. Red and blue lights flashed against the smoke.

Something was wrong. He began to walk, and soon broke into a run. The closer he got, the more he could see: fire engines, ambulances and police cars. Rounding one final corner, he skidded to a halt. Nico's house was the one on fire, though it looked like the firemen had gotten it under control.

Slowly, he walked forward, not believing what he was seeing. Something had happened while he was gone. He'd been tricked. A small crowd hovered outside the ring of emergency vehicles, and Chris shoved through. Nico couldn't have been home, he'd have called his Zord or hidden in the hangar, but he had to see.

Reaching the edge of the crowd, Chris scanned the crowd of emergency workers, looking for any sign of the Ramirezes. That was when he saw the stretcher. It stood near the house, unattended and covered in a sheet. Forgetting all about the caution tape and the policemen, he pushed through and ran to it. A policeman tried to stop him, but he shouldered past and caught the end of the stretcher. Patches of blood and soot stained the white sheet. People jabbered loudly around Chris, but he couldn't hear them. He flipped the sheet off.

It was Nico. The streaks of dried blood and dirt looked black against his chalk-white skin. Someone grabbed Chris by the arms, but he slammed both elbows into the strangers' gut, knocking them loose. With a shaking hand, he touched a single, neat gash along Nico's left cheekbone. It perfectly matched the scar on Chris's face.

Alex.

Several sets of strong hands caught Chris, and this time he didn't resist as they dragged him away. He couldn't; his legs had gone weak. The last thing he saw before a fire truck blocked his view was someone covering Nico's face once more.

Allies

 * Luciana Ramirez

Villains

 * Korassil
 * Solar Samurai