Disclaimer: Anything you recognize from the power rangers isn't mine.
A/N: This is a story I got after watching Power Rangers Ninja Storm. I didn't have a beta, and I honestly didn't do much work on it. I just needed to get this off my head. Please tell me what you think.
Tori struggled to pull in a raspy, gurgly breath. Her chest heaved in an effort to push the air to her lungs; but no matter how hard she tried, it still felt like she was suffocating. Her eyes fluttered shut as she struggled to keep her eyes open. It had almost been an hour, and she didn't know how much longer she would last. The draining was the most painful thing that had ever happened to her. It was pain that overwhelmed all of her senses. She could taste the metallic taste of blood in the back of her mouth, but she swallowed the tangy taste. Her head lolled down to her chest; it took too much of her energy to keep her head up.
She groaned as she felt the machine whirl faster, signaling that more energy had been stolen out of her body. Her entire life force was being slowly sucked from her body, one painful drop at a time. Another tear rolled down her already tear stained cheek. The pain flashed for an excruciating second that seemed to last forever and Tori saw white lights. Her eyes fluttered shut again, but Tori forced them back open. She had to fight. She saw the faces of her fellow five rangers flash through her head and she managed to get her eyes halfway open again. Blood dripped in a steady stream out of the corner of her mouth as her eyes fell shut, losing the battle to stay open.
One Hour Earlier
"No one realized it was my birthday." Tori whispered as one tear slipped out from behind her happy and uncaring mask. The guys were too busy at their sports. Dustin and Shane hadn't even remembered, and they were her best friends. Shane had pretty much ignored her giving her a passing glance as he skated by. Dustin had basically blown her off. Cam never forgot anything and he hadn't even said anything but he hadn't come out of his room yet. Tori had wished that when she saw Hunter and Blake they would remember that she had something about her birthday last week, but obviously they didn't. They had given her a passing hello between their races. She knew that everyone was busy, but this was her birthday and no one had remembered.
"I'm going for a run Sensei!" Tori yelled as she got up from her spot in the middle of the floor. She picked up from the blue cushion that she had been sitting on and put it away. She knew that if she just kept sitting here, she'd just keep feeling down in the dumps.
"Be careful Tori." Sensei said from his perch in his hamster house. He flipped down next to her. "Happy birthday." He said as Tori whirled to face him, her face full of complete surprise. A true smile graced her face for a moment before the sadness set back in.
"Thanks Sensei." Tori bowed slightly. "Glad that someone remembered." She gave him a glimpse of a smile, but Sensei saw right through the act by the pain reflected in her eyes. Pain and sadness radiated from her in tsunami waves. She waved behind her back as she shot off through the woods, trying to clear her head. Sensei watched her go with a heavy heart. He knew that the boys had been extremely busy lately, but they should have remembered their best friend's birthday.
Tori sprinted up the hill until she broke free of the trees and was staring up at the sun. She let several more tears fall from her eyes as she watched the beautiful, puffy clouds float lazily in the sky. They didn't have to worry about being forgotten. She bet that if she disappeared, they wouldn't even remember. She wondered if she could run far enough away to get away from the pain and hurt of not being remembered.
"Aw, a pretty little ranger all by her lonesome!" Motodrone appeared out of no where. Tori whirled in surprise, twisting her body down into a ninja defensive position. She put her hands up quickly to defend her face. "Do you really think that you can beat me all alone?"
"What do you want from me?" Tori asked in a loud, boisterous voice. She tried to reach for her morpher, but Motodrone was suddenly standing in front of her. He let out a horrible growl and Tori froze in fear.
"Not much, just your energy and life force." Motodrone grabbed her arms in a death grip and Tori couldn't get out of it. She punched him as hard as she could, but he didn't even seem to flinch. Motodrone tightened his grip and suddenly they were in an abandoned warehouse.
"You aren't going to win, you know that." Tori yelled in an angry voice. Motodrone shoved her roughly into a chair and strapped her arms into metal restraints. He locked one around her chest and then several more around her thighs and ankles. Tori was trapped, no matter how much she shoved and pushed against the restraints. She let a small growl of her own out when she realized that she was on her own, and no one had any idea where she was. No one would even miss her. Tori closed her eyes and pushed the tears back as she realized that the guys really didn't care about her.
"Hey Sensei, have you seen Tori?" Dustin said as he strolled casually into the command center. It was obvious that he was oblivious that he had forgotten anything.
"I do believe that Tori was upset and went for a run." Sensei said as he bounced from no where. He was hoping that Dustin would have a memory spark, but he didn't seem to remember that he had forgotten something important.
"What was she upset about?" Dustin said, scratching his head. He hadn't forgotten anything that he could remember.
"Think very hard Dustin." Sensei prodded him as he came to a rest on his shoulder. Dustin turned to look into Sensei's all knowing eyes, but nothing triggered in his memory.
"Oh no!" Dustin slammed his hand into his head as it hit him. "Oh Tori, I was so rude earlier! I had my head focused on my race and I didn't think about it. I can't believe I forgot her!" Sensei jumped onto the table before him. Dustin gave him a quick bow before he ran out of the command center to find the others.
"Shane! Blake! Hunter!" Dustin yelled into his morpher as he sprinted through the woods area where Tori liked to run when she needed to clear her head. "I need you to get here as fast as you can." He didn't care how frantic his voice sounded. He was scared that Tori did something stupid. He couldn't believe that he was such a stupid prick that he forgot her birthday. What kind of friend forgets his best friend's birthday. She had always made him feel really special on his birthday.
"What's wrong?" Shane streaked in a few seconds later, followed closely by Hunter and Blake. "You sounded really urgent!"
"Yeah, what's up?" Blake added.
"Think Shane, what's today?" Dustin said as he walked quickly to where Shane was standing. He put his hands on Shane's shoulders.
"Uh, May 14?" Shane asked, scratching his head, looking confused. Suddenly it dawned on him. "Oh, no! Tori!" He pushed Dustin away and slammed his hands into a tree. "She probably thinks that we forgot!"
"What are we missing?" Hunter asked, stepping closer to where Dustin and Shane were standing.
"Tori's birthday is today." Shane whispered. "I completely forgot." He sunk down to the ground. "We need to find her." He said, looking up desolately at the others.
"Let's split up." Hunter suggested. Dustin pulled Shane to his feet. They didn't have time for pity parties. If they wanted to make this up to Tori, they needed to get going. She had to be so mad at them.
"Keep it together. We need to find her." Blake said, placing a commanding hand on Shane's shoulder. "Hunter and I will go this way. Dustin, take Shane and go that way." The other three nodded and sprinted off in opposite directions.
"TORI!" The four yelled over and over. They raced through the woods, making sure that they didn't miss any crevices or caves. They knew that Tori could easily hide if she didn't want to be found but if she was upset, she could have fallen and gotten hurt.
"Guys, you need to get back to Ninja Ops immediately." Cam typed furiously as he called for the guys over their morphers. The two brothers and Shane and Dustin shared a terrified glance before streaking back to Ninja Ops.
"What's wrong Cam?" Shane asked first. They had sprinted through the waterfall entrance.
"Tori, she's in trouble, deadly trouble." Cam twirled around in the chair. He had an extremely grim look on his face. "We have to get to her, right now." Cam said, he was so scared they would be too late.
"Where is she?" Blake pushed around the others to look at the screen. A blinking blue dot was flashing over an abandoned warehouse by the pier. "Let's go!" Blake turned to run out of Ninja Ops, the others following quickly.
"We need to get Motodrone out here." Shane whispered. The others nodded. "Blake and Cam, you get Tori. Dustin, Hunter, and I will take care of him." Everyone saw the glimpse in his eyes and knew exactly what he meant. "Good luck." It killed Shane not to save his best friend, but Cam could probably figure out the machine and Blake would do everything in his power to save the one that he loved.
"Let's go." Blake said and turned to crouch outside the building. He felt Cam next to him a second later. He could hear the others taunting Motodrone, trying to get him to come out. They could hear the sounds of explosions and bikes revving and then it faded away. "In here." Blake jumped over the crates and sprinted into the building. They hurried through the warehouse, throwing caution to the wind as they yelled for Tori. Tori was nowhere in sight.
"B-Blake?" Blake whirled as he heard a weak and faint reply. He turned in a quick circle; his eyes wide. He skidded around a column of crates and saw her. He felt his heart stop. His mouth dropped into the pit of his stomach as he fell to his knees beside her; the skin peeling back from his knees beneath his ninja uniform.
"Tori, oh Tori." Blake gently cradled her into his arms. "What did he do?" She had been thrown haphazardly on the floor, her arms tied roughly behind her back. The wire had sliced her wrists open in numerous places, but that wasn't the worst. She was very lethargic and her eyes were almost fully closed.
"En-energy." Tori breathed out in a sigh. Her eyes flickered shut, and this time they stayed shut.
"Tori!" Blake placed on hand on her cheek and tapped her face. She didn't respond, her head rolling limply back until it rested against his chest. "CAM! I FOUND HER!" Blake screamed and picked her up, trying his best not to jolt her.
"Get her back to Ninja Ops, now. I'll meet you there." Cam raced by Blake and disappeared in a streak of green. Blake nodded and shifted Tori so that her head was supported in the crease of his elbow.
"Sensei, can you please transport me to Ninja Ops?" Blake asked, scared that if he streaked, it would hurt Tori further. He looked down at his unconscious friend. She was still the most beautiful thing that Blake had ever set eyes on. He wished that he could free one of his hands to wipe away the blood that had pooled in the corner of Tori's mouth and ran down her face. Her eyes had sunken back into her face and her cheekbones stuck out. Her entire body was a ghastly shade of white.
"Yes Blake." A few seconds later Blake felt the world flicker and then he was in Ninja Ops. "Lay her on the table!"
"Please, Sensei, you have to help her!" Blake said as he carefully placed her on the table in the middle of the command center. He took special care not to let her head slam back into the table. Her eyes flickered for a moment as Blake broke contact with Tori, but stopped when he clutched her hand, squeezing to see if he got a reaction.
"She's not breathing!" Cam exclaimed in horror as he hooked several electrodes to Tori's chest and the machine let out a loud, flat beep…
A/N: Hope you are intrigued. Now, click on that button and tell me what you think.
