The Practical One: Tomboy
by Stultulo
copyright 2003
The day had started getting bad after the last wave. Not that the weather was bad, or anything like it; Southern California rarely got cold. No, as soon as she laid eyes upon the guy chatting with Shane, she knew it was going to be bad.
She wasn't near enough to hear what they were saying, but it didn't really matter. The guy was cute, he had a surfboard... hot surfer guy, to be sure. And he was looking in her direction. Shane was, too. They were talking about her.
Then, as calm reason returned to her, Shane finished talking to the surfer guy, slapping him, and he was away. She watched in slow motion as the guy left, turned to smile at her regretfully, and then walked up the beach.
Her gaze was fixed on the surfer dude until Shane came up beside her. "What was that all about?" she asked.
"Oh, some guy couldn't stop talking about you, how hot you were, wanted to know what your phone number was. That kind of thing."
"Whoa, whoa. Rewind here. Ultra-hot surfer dude wanted my phone number?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Made sense, too. Why hadn't Shane intruduced the two of them?
"Yeah. It was *so* lame," Shane said enthusiastically. "Could you believe it?"
"And you let him leave?" She'd hit Shane in the arm. He was such a dodo sometimes! Here was this dreamy guy, and Shane sent him on his way? Had he taken a few too many blaster bolts to the helmet?
"Ow! What was that for?" Shan asked, rubbing his arm. He looked completely clueless. Of course, that was not impossible for Shane. Or Dustin.
"Did you ever think I'd like to meet him?" she asked. "See if he wanted to hang out sometime?" He was completely clueless. Good Ranger, passably good Ninja he might be, he was clueless when it came to human relationships. No wonder the only girl he hung out with was her. And maybe Kelly.
The grin dropped off Shane's face. "You're kidding, right?"
Tori about threw up her arms. "You are just a complete... doofus!" It was the best way she could come up to describe him at a moment's notice that wasn't rude. What was up with Shane, anyway? Was he a complete idiot? "I've got to go meet Dustin."
She walked away as fast as she could, carrying her surfboard. "Hey, I can try to get him back for you!" Shane called, but she ignored him. It was far too late. Her day was ruined.
=
It had taken her longer than she had thought to get to Storm Chargers. First, she'd had to fill up the tank of her ancient VW Bus again, and then a side trip for some pain medication. Being a Ranger always meant a need for a good supply of pain relievers. Sure, the suit took some of it away, but it always hurt.
She walked straight to where Dustin was leaning on the counter, Kelley nowhere in evidence. Shane was sitting on the table behind the counter, head bowed. She ignored him as she inspected a line of clothing nearby. "You know, dude," Dustin said, "Shane thinks you're mad at him or something."
Still not looking in Dustin or Shane's direction, she answered, "Wow. That must be why he gets the red suit." Trust Shane to use goofy Dustin as intermediary.
"What happened?" Dustin asked. "I mean, it didn't sound like a great deal to me."
Sighing, Tori turned towards Dustin. "You don't get it. I'm a girl. G-i-r-l." How could Dustin miss what was right before his eyes?
"Yeah, I know," he floundered. "But it's... like... you're not a girl girl."
"You're a guy girl," Shane contributed.
"Yeah!" Dustin said.
"My advice?" Kelly asked, coming up behind her, "Stop trying. You're only making it worse."
When you hit six feet, stop digging. That had been the advice Tori's grandmother, born in the UK, had given her as a little girl. It seemed fitting at the moment.
"Anyway, this came for you." Kelly handed her an envelope with an invitation inside, in that heavy cardstock that a lot of businesses favored. It was addressed to Tori Hanson.
"From where?" Tori asked. The advertisement on the outside was for Girl Sport magazine, a publication she'd subscribed to, secretly or not, since she was twelve.
"Don't know. I found it out back."
Tori dug into it, knowing by instinct that Dustin and Shane had crowded in to look. She read it through, scarcely believing her eyes. "Girl Sport saw me surfing... and wants me for a photo shoot... an article about 'Beauties and the Beach'." She stared at the invitation, as if staring at it would give her any more information.
"Girl Sport Magazine... isn't that where they have all those really beautiful girls?" Dustin asked, his tone indicating that she wasn't in that category.
"Yes... so?" she asked, glaring at him.
Dustin paled. "Uh, we're going to silent mode, here," he said, leading an equally-pale Shane over and away from her wrath.
"So," Kelly said, "Are you going to do it?"
"I don't know," Tori responded. "It's just... I hang around with the guys so much, it's like nobody remembers I'm a girl. I don't want to be some dopey tomboy."
Tomboy. She hated the term. A tomboy was one of the guys, unattractive, someone that doomed to a life alone. Sure, she surfed, but that was hardly unladylike in this day and age. But it was still bad enough that Shane had intercepted that guy. Bad that Shane hadn't considered that she was a girl. What was she now, a guy with breasts?
"I hope that's a good enough reason," Kelly said. Tori felt Kelly's hand slip away from her shoulder.
Tori was left watching as Kelly went about her business. A warm body slid beside her. "Look, I know you're a girl-" Shane said.
"Well, yeah," Tori said, wondering what his point was. Or if he'd ever get to the apology.
"You don't have to do it to prove that to us," Shane said. "We get the point. You're a girl!"
"Oh, really?" Tori said. "And what's the 'you're a guy girl' part about?" She tried to glare at Shane, but he looked so despondent that she couldn't.
"You hang with us. It's just that Dustin and I don't think of you as a girl. That doesn't mean you aren't one."
"Right." She hopped off the counter.
"Where are you going?" Shane called.
"To visit Sensei."
* * *
"... Is that a good enough reason to do the photo shoot, Sensei?" Tori asked. The guinea pig-like figure of her sensei peered at her through miniature, wire-rimmed glasses, while behind her, Cam typed endlessly. Whatever he was working on, he couldn't spare more than a moment to make sure she belonged there.
"A ninja's strength flows through them from deep within their being," Sensei intoned as only a ninja master turned into a guinea pig could. "This can help them in all situations."
What had Dustin said during their last run-through of the scroll of three simulation? That they could get better help from a fortune cookie? "You're no help at all, you know that?"
"There is a difference," Sensei said in response, "between helping a person and telling them what to do."
Tori frowned at him. "Right." Knowing that she'd get no more answers from him, she bowed to her Sensei and walked out.
Once out of Ops, she sat down on a rock. In the dirty, muddy pit that was all that remained of the former Academy, grass, flowers, and weeds were starting to cover the ground. Nature's attempt to cover the scar that Lothor had made.
She was a Wind Ninja, and a Ranger. She hung out with guys... well, because the guys she'd hung out with were funny and sweet and made her feel good. She, Shane, and Dustin were part of an inseperable trio. Mind, body, and heart. Shane was the strong leader, the body, she the thinker, the brains, and Dustin, ever goofy, was the heart. That was probably some cliche somewhere but it worked. Kinda.
But she was not a guy. She didn't think she acted like a guy. She was a ninja, and a surfer, and a girl. She didn't act like Shane and Dustin or any other guy she knew.
So why did Shane and Dustin forget? Was it because she didn't wear makeup? Wear dresses? She didn't *do* dresses, at least not since she had a choice. Lots of girls didn't nowadays. It didn't make them any less girls.
Or was it because she was plain? Or... were Shane and Dustin just too used to her? It wasn't like she could spend time away from them; being a Ranger meant being a member of the team.
Maybe... maybe they just needed a little reminder. A little something to remind them who she was. Sure, it wasn't a ninja thing to do... but it was a girl thing to do.
=
The letter hadn't contained any kind of contact info. It just pretty much gave her a time for the photo shoot, and if she wanted to show up, they'd take her.
So, Tori found herself almost timidly approaching a trailer with clothing racks on the outside, hoping that she'd gotten the place right. "Hello? Anybody here?" she called.
The door to the trailer flew open. One woman with pink hair and a sour expression stepped out, pretty much looking down at her. The second was a cheerful young woman with waving brown hair in a hairstyle and outfit that looked vaguely hippie-ish. "Hi, I'm Tori-" she managed, before wavy-hair ran a hand through a section of her hair.
"My, my, aren't you... ordinary." Before Tori realized it, she had been pulled inside the trailer by the enthusiastic wavy-haired woman. "By the way, I'm Marie...." The young woman giggled as she started pulling outfits out. "I promise that Kay and I will get you into gear for a *fabulous* photo shoot!"
"Kay... that's...."
"My boss." Marie laughed. "But don't worry about her right now. We've got to do something about your hair... and your nails... and that *outfit*...." Marie held up a dress. "Nah, too small." She started going through more dresses.
"But...."
"Don't worry," Marie said. "I know what I'm doing."
Tori knew she was in trouble.
=
One makeover later, and Tori found herself being pushed out of the trailer by a hyperactive Marie. Kay was sitting on a chair and scowling at her nails. Tori grimaced at her outfit. She was in this outrageous reddish outfit without a touch of blue, her hair was style in an almost sixties style... it was hideous. But if that was what they wanted....
"It's perfect!" Marie exclaimed as Kay looked up.
"But it's not me." It wasn't her. Something wasn't right here. Every copy of Girl Sport she'd ever gotten was more focused on sports, not fashion. And certainly not this fashion. Had she walked into someone else's photo shoot, or somebody's elaborate practical joke? She could have sworn the two looked familiar....
"Darling, we've seen what's you. Trust me, it's an improvement. Now come over here and smile for the camera." Kay rushed her over, as if eager for the photo shoot to be over. She found herself staring at a somewhat old-fashioned camera while Marie did something to it and Kay typed something in to some sort of handheld that either gave her photo shoot data or was some kind of organizer. Bored, Tori looked at Kay's device.
"Hold still!" Kay called. "It'll be all over in a moment." She continued to type into her device, and Tori found herself staring at it, and the tag on the back. It took her a minute or two to read the tag.
"If found, return to Lothor." She looked up. In an instant, she knew.
It wasn't some practical joke. It wasn't a photo shoot, either. The two of them were Kapri and Marah, Lothor's nieces, and she'd foolishly walked right straight into it. "I should have known it was you two... bad hair, bad clothes, overdone makeup...."
"You really think it's overdone?" Marah asked, dismayed. "I mean, I have really weak pores." It was like Marah had forgotten, for a moment, about the trap.
"Marah! Stop it!" Kapri exclaimed as she punched a button on the device. "Kelzaks!"
Instantly, a group of Lothor's foot soldiers materialized. "Get her!" Kapri was pointing in her direction. Despite her best attempt to defeat the Kelzaks and get out of there, a misaimed kick caught by one of the soldiers meant that they soon had surrounded her and deposited her back in front of Kapri, Marah, and the camera.
"Hold her still! Wait, wait... move!" The Kelzaks flipped away as Marah threw a control down on the camera. Nothing happened for a second, and then she was looking at a duplicate of herself.
"Look familiar?" The girl asked in icy tones before Tori felt herself being drawn backwards, flying into the air, and landing in some boxy thing. She looked around. There was this octagonal window in front of her and some kind of skylight.
There were long slits around the walls of the place, enough to allow her light to see.
Suddenly, the room shook and she looked towards the window. A very large kelzak was looking at her. As it babbled and waved, she could see the sky behind it.
And then she realized that she was *in* the camera-device. Trapped while that... image of her went and did... well, what ever it was probably instructed to do.
The kelzak, joined by another, shook the 'camera' some more, and then it left her alone. She was now trapped, with hideous clothing and no ability to get out and tell the others of what was going on.
Well... maybe not. She shifted out of the hideous clothing and into her ninja uniform. Tapping her morpher, she hit the communications function. "Cam?" No response from the smartalec techie. "Shane? Dustin?"
But it was no use. The 'camera' was isolating her morpher communications as surely as it was isolating her. Sitting down, she tried not to cry.
All she had done... it was so stupid. Kelly's words came back to her, and then Shane's, that she didn't have to do this to prove anything to him and Dustin. And then she remembered what Sensei had said.
"A ninja's power comes from within," she mumbled. "That's it!" She was a water ninja... a Ranger attuned to the power of water. The Blue Ranger... it had to mean something. She closed her eyes and and concentrated her energy as Sensei had taught her. "I summon blue ninja powers of the rising waters!"
She felt the water build beneath her, and carry her up to the 'skylight'. In a rush, she was free. She landed near the abandoned 'photo shoot' on the beach. Looking around, seeing that the coast was clear, she took a moment to calm herself... and then she used her ninja streak ability to catch up with her friends. She just hoped the thing that she'd seen before she'd been whisked into the camera hadn't caught up to them as well.
When she landed, it was right in front of Dustin's van, or at least the one he used for work, the one with "Storm Chargers" emblazoned in front of it. The van screeched to a halt, and she could see the occupants: Dustin, Shane, and... the copy. The two guys looked like they weren't sure what they were seeing, while the copy looked furious. She got out of the van and stood in front of it.
"Anything *you* can do, *I* can do better," the copy said, sneering.
"Except pick clothes," Tori responded. She looked over the copy. "And what's with the *hair*?" The copy had the outfit she'd been in when Marah and Kapri had captured her with the camera.
"You think this is funny? Well, bring it on girlfriend!" With that, the copy rushed into battle.
The two fought for a while, and then the copy got the upper hand, and Tori ended up beside a turned-off fountain. "You're finished, girlfriend!" the copy announced.
Tori looked at the fountain. Water! "You're the one that's finished!" she said, and mentally called upon the water. If the copy was a photograph... well, photos weren't waterproof.
A large gush of water came from the fountain and drenched the copy. It fell back, gasping. "Help me! I'm melting!"
And with that, the copy disincorporated. As soon as she knew that the copy was gone, Tori turned around to look for the others and the van. The van was there... but Dustin and Shane were fighting against some monster that had come down while Tori was fighting the copy.
The other two sent the monster flying, and she came up to them, touching Shane on the shoulder. He jerked back, and they both fell into fighting position. "Relax, guys, it's me." She smiled.
Their helmet faceplates slid open, revealing their faces. "How do we know you're the real Tori?" Dustin asked.
How to prove her identity? She had to somehow show the two of them that she wasn't the copy. "Your real name is Waldo," she told Dustin. She turned to Shane. "You're afraid of spiders."
She smiled, but she was inwardly holding her breath. How would the others react? Had the copy seemed just like her? They'd apparently accepted it.
But Dustin was smiling. "You're afraid of *spiders*," he said, teasing Shane.
"Shut up, *Waldo*."
Tori smothered a grin. Both of her teammates had confided in her at points during their training. Dustin's full name was Waldo Dustin Croft, but after the "Where's Waldo?" craze he'd wisely changed it. And Shane... well, it was not easy for their bold leader to admit his one major fear of the eight-legged insects. "Look, group therapy later," she said, seeing the monster come back.
Witty puns, a water attack, and some Megazord fighting later (including Cam introducing a new fighting mode), and the three Rangers returned back to the van.
"That was something," Dustin commented as the three of them got back in.
"Yeah," Shane agreed. "Glad that's over."
"Right." Tori frowned. "By the way, how'd you know that was me back there? I could have been the copy!"
Shane shrugged. "Your copy was obsessed with getting to Ops," he said. "She was bossy and determined, like you on your worst days. You remember that guy from the beach the other day that you razzed me about for not introducing you?"
"Yeah, so?"
"'You' didn't even know who I was talking about. But I didn't know what was up, so I didn't know she was a clone."
"Copy. Literally." Even Tori could hear the distaste in her own voice.
"Anyway, then you hopped in front of the van and... the rest is history."
"So you trusted me because...."
"Your copy wouldn't have cared about proving herself to us. She'd have demanded we get back into the van and drive."
"And then you would have known?"
"Having seen the real you... yeah." Shane smiled. "I'm sorry, Tori. You are a girl. Don't feel you ever have to prove something to us, okay?"
"Okay," Tori said, grinning. "Just never, ever consider me a guy, ever again."
"You've got it," Shane answered.
"Guess we're not off to Ops now, yeah?" Dustin asked.
"What do you think?" Shane and Tori chorused.
=
The next day, Tori stopped by Storm Chargers to hang a little bit with her teammates. She wondered what Kelly would think if she knew that one of her employees was actually one of the Rangers protecting the town, and wondered if Kelly didn't know already. They hadn't been as cautious as they could be.
"Hey, Tori, give me a hand," Dustin pleaded as soon as they came in.
"With what?" Tori asked, wondering what argument Dustin had gotten himself into.
"There's this guy, and he's asking about surfboards, and I'm not any good at that sort of thing!" Dustin said. "Could you please talk to him?"
"You do realize I don't actually *work* here?" Tori asked.
"Yeah, but... I'll owe you a favor! Really!"
Tori sighed. "Okay."
"He's right over there," Dustin said, indicating the surfboards.
"Right." Tori walked over. "I'm Tori," she said, to the lone guy at the board display. "How can I help you?"
The guy turned around. "Hi," he said, and Tori's breath caught. It was the guy from the beach. "I'm Dill."
"Pleased to meet you," she said, sneaking a look at Dustin. He was now standing over at the counter next to Shane and Kelly, and all three were smiling. It was a setup. But one she could live with.
As she continued talking to Dill, she felt better than she had the last two days. She was a girl, her teammates knew that, and all was right with the world, for the moment.
Next part: Biking Fool
by Stultulo
copyright 2003
The day had started getting bad after the last wave. Not that the weather was bad, or anything like it; Southern California rarely got cold. No, as soon as she laid eyes upon the guy chatting with Shane, she knew it was going to be bad.
She wasn't near enough to hear what they were saying, but it didn't really matter. The guy was cute, he had a surfboard... hot surfer guy, to be sure. And he was looking in her direction. Shane was, too. They were talking about her.
Then, as calm reason returned to her, Shane finished talking to the surfer guy, slapping him, and he was away. She watched in slow motion as the guy left, turned to smile at her regretfully, and then walked up the beach.
Her gaze was fixed on the surfer dude until Shane came up beside her. "What was that all about?" she asked.
"Oh, some guy couldn't stop talking about you, how hot you were, wanted to know what your phone number was. That kind of thing."
"Whoa, whoa. Rewind here. Ultra-hot surfer dude wanted my phone number?" She couldn't believe what she was hearing. Made sense, too. Why hadn't Shane intruduced the two of them?
"Yeah. It was *so* lame," Shane said enthusiastically. "Could you believe it?"
"And you let him leave?" She'd hit Shane in the arm. He was such a dodo sometimes! Here was this dreamy guy, and Shane sent him on his way? Had he taken a few too many blaster bolts to the helmet?
"Ow! What was that for?" Shan asked, rubbing his arm. He looked completely clueless. Of course, that was not impossible for Shane. Or Dustin.
"Did you ever think I'd like to meet him?" she asked. "See if he wanted to hang out sometime?" He was completely clueless. Good Ranger, passably good Ninja he might be, he was clueless when it came to human relationships. No wonder the only girl he hung out with was her. And maybe Kelly.
The grin dropped off Shane's face. "You're kidding, right?"
Tori about threw up her arms. "You are just a complete... doofus!" It was the best way she could come up to describe him at a moment's notice that wasn't rude. What was up with Shane, anyway? Was he a complete idiot? "I've got to go meet Dustin."
She walked away as fast as she could, carrying her surfboard. "Hey, I can try to get him back for you!" Shane called, but she ignored him. It was far too late. Her day was ruined.
=
It had taken her longer than she had thought to get to Storm Chargers. First, she'd had to fill up the tank of her ancient VW Bus again, and then a side trip for some pain medication. Being a Ranger always meant a need for a good supply of pain relievers. Sure, the suit took some of it away, but it always hurt.
She walked straight to where Dustin was leaning on the counter, Kelley nowhere in evidence. Shane was sitting on the table behind the counter, head bowed. She ignored him as she inspected a line of clothing nearby. "You know, dude," Dustin said, "Shane thinks you're mad at him or something."
Still not looking in Dustin or Shane's direction, she answered, "Wow. That must be why he gets the red suit." Trust Shane to use goofy Dustin as intermediary.
"What happened?" Dustin asked. "I mean, it didn't sound like a great deal to me."
Sighing, Tori turned towards Dustin. "You don't get it. I'm a girl. G-i-r-l." How could Dustin miss what was right before his eyes?
"Yeah, I know," he floundered. "But it's... like... you're not a girl girl."
"You're a guy girl," Shane contributed.
"Yeah!" Dustin said.
"My advice?" Kelly asked, coming up behind her, "Stop trying. You're only making it worse."
When you hit six feet, stop digging. That had been the advice Tori's grandmother, born in the UK, had given her as a little girl. It seemed fitting at the moment.
"Anyway, this came for you." Kelly handed her an envelope with an invitation inside, in that heavy cardstock that a lot of businesses favored. It was addressed to Tori Hanson.
"From where?" Tori asked. The advertisement on the outside was for Girl Sport magazine, a publication she'd subscribed to, secretly or not, since she was twelve.
"Don't know. I found it out back."
Tori dug into it, knowing by instinct that Dustin and Shane had crowded in to look. She read it through, scarcely believing her eyes. "Girl Sport saw me surfing... and wants me for a photo shoot... an article about 'Beauties and the Beach'." She stared at the invitation, as if staring at it would give her any more information.
"Girl Sport Magazine... isn't that where they have all those really beautiful girls?" Dustin asked, his tone indicating that she wasn't in that category.
"Yes... so?" she asked, glaring at him.
Dustin paled. "Uh, we're going to silent mode, here," he said, leading an equally-pale Shane over and away from her wrath.
"So," Kelly said, "Are you going to do it?"
"I don't know," Tori responded. "It's just... I hang around with the guys so much, it's like nobody remembers I'm a girl. I don't want to be some dopey tomboy."
Tomboy. She hated the term. A tomboy was one of the guys, unattractive, someone that doomed to a life alone. Sure, she surfed, but that was hardly unladylike in this day and age. But it was still bad enough that Shane had intercepted that guy. Bad that Shane hadn't considered that she was a girl. What was she now, a guy with breasts?
"I hope that's a good enough reason," Kelly said. Tori felt Kelly's hand slip away from her shoulder.
Tori was left watching as Kelly went about her business. A warm body slid beside her. "Look, I know you're a girl-" Shane said.
"Well, yeah," Tori said, wondering what his point was. Or if he'd ever get to the apology.
"You don't have to do it to prove that to us," Shane said. "We get the point. You're a girl!"
"Oh, really?" Tori said. "And what's the 'you're a guy girl' part about?" She tried to glare at Shane, but he looked so despondent that she couldn't.
"You hang with us. It's just that Dustin and I don't think of you as a girl. That doesn't mean you aren't one."
"Right." She hopped off the counter.
"Where are you going?" Shane called.
"To visit Sensei."
* * *
"... Is that a good enough reason to do the photo shoot, Sensei?" Tori asked. The guinea pig-like figure of her sensei peered at her through miniature, wire-rimmed glasses, while behind her, Cam typed endlessly. Whatever he was working on, he couldn't spare more than a moment to make sure she belonged there.
"A ninja's strength flows through them from deep within their being," Sensei intoned as only a ninja master turned into a guinea pig could. "This can help them in all situations."
What had Dustin said during their last run-through of the scroll of three simulation? That they could get better help from a fortune cookie? "You're no help at all, you know that?"
"There is a difference," Sensei said in response, "between helping a person and telling them what to do."
Tori frowned at him. "Right." Knowing that she'd get no more answers from him, she bowed to her Sensei and walked out.
Once out of Ops, she sat down on a rock. In the dirty, muddy pit that was all that remained of the former Academy, grass, flowers, and weeds were starting to cover the ground. Nature's attempt to cover the scar that Lothor had made.
She was a Wind Ninja, and a Ranger. She hung out with guys... well, because the guys she'd hung out with were funny and sweet and made her feel good. She, Shane, and Dustin were part of an inseperable trio. Mind, body, and heart. Shane was the strong leader, the body, she the thinker, the brains, and Dustin, ever goofy, was the heart. That was probably some cliche somewhere but it worked. Kinda.
But she was not a guy. She didn't think she acted like a guy. She was a ninja, and a surfer, and a girl. She didn't act like Shane and Dustin or any other guy she knew.
So why did Shane and Dustin forget? Was it because she didn't wear makeup? Wear dresses? She didn't *do* dresses, at least not since she had a choice. Lots of girls didn't nowadays. It didn't make them any less girls.
Or was it because she was plain? Or... were Shane and Dustin just too used to her? It wasn't like she could spend time away from them; being a Ranger meant being a member of the team.
Maybe... maybe they just needed a little reminder. A little something to remind them who she was. Sure, it wasn't a ninja thing to do... but it was a girl thing to do.
=
The letter hadn't contained any kind of contact info. It just pretty much gave her a time for the photo shoot, and if she wanted to show up, they'd take her.
So, Tori found herself almost timidly approaching a trailer with clothing racks on the outside, hoping that she'd gotten the place right. "Hello? Anybody here?" she called.
The door to the trailer flew open. One woman with pink hair and a sour expression stepped out, pretty much looking down at her. The second was a cheerful young woman with waving brown hair in a hairstyle and outfit that looked vaguely hippie-ish. "Hi, I'm Tori-" she managed, before wavy-hair ran a hand through a section of her hair.
"My, my, aren't you... ordinary." Before Tori realized it, she had been pulled inside the trailer by the enthusiastic wavy-haired woman. "By the way, I'm Marie...." The young woman giggled as she started pulling outfits out. "I promise that Kay and I will get you into gear for a *fabulous* photo shoot!"
"Kay... that's...."
"My boss." Marie laughed. "But don't worry about her right now. We've got to do something about your hair... and your nails... and that *outfit*...." Marie held up a dress. "Nah, too small." She started going through more dresses.
"But...."
"Don't worry," Marie said. "I know what I'm doing."
Tori knew she was in trouble.
=
One makeover later, and Tori found herself being pushed out of the trailer by a hyperactive Marie. Kay was sitting on a chair and scowling at her nails. Tori grimaced at her outfit. She was in this outrageous reddish outfit without a touch of blue, her hair was style in an almost sixties style... it was hideous. But if that was what they wanted....
"It's perfect!" Marie exclaimed as Kay looked up.
"But it's not me." It wasn't her. Something wasn't right here. Every copy of Girl Sport she'd ever gotten was more focused on sports, not fashion. And certainly not this fashion. Had she walked into someone else's photo shoot, or somebody's elaborate practical joke? She could have sworn the two looked familiar....
"Darling, we've seen what's you. Trust me, it's an improvement. Now come over here and smile for the camera." Kay rushed her over, as if eager for the photo shoot to be over. She found herself staring at a somewhat old-fashioned camera while Marie did something to it and Kay typed something in to some sort of handheld that either gave her photo shoot data or was some kind of organizer. Bored, Tori looked at Kay's device.
"Hold still!" Kay called. "It'll be all over in a moment." She continued to type into her device, and Tori found herself staring at it, and the tag on the back. It took her a minute or two to read the tag.
"If found, return to Lothor." She looked up. In an instant, she knew.
It wasn't some practical joke. It wasn't a photo shoot, either. The two of them were Kapri and Marah, Lothor's nieces, and she'd foolishly walked right straight into it. "I should have known it was you two... bad hair, bad clothes, overdone makeup...."
"You really think it's overdone?" Marah asked, dismayed. "I mean, I have really weak pores." It was like Marah had forgotten, for a moment, about the trap.
"Marah! Stop it!" Kapri exclaimed as she punched a button on the device. "Kelzaks!"
Instantly, a group of Lothor's foot soldiers materialized. "Get her!" Kapri was pointing in her direction. Despite her best attempt to defeat the Kelzaks and get out of there, a misaimed kick caught by one of the soldiers meant that they soon had surrounded her and deposited her back in front of Kapri, Marah, and the camera.
"Hold her still! Wait, wait... move!" The Kelzaks flipped away as Marah threw a control down on the camera. Nothing happened for a second, and then she was looking at a duplicate of herself.
"Look familiar?" The girl asked in icy tones before Tori felt herself being drawn backwards, flying into the air, and landing in some boxy thing. She looked around. There was this octagonal window in front of her and some kind of skylight.
There were long slits around the walls of the place, enough to allow her light to see.
Suddenly, the room shook and she looked towards the window. A very large kelzak was looking at her. As it babbled and waved, she could see the sky behind it.
And then she realized that she was *in* the camera-device. Trapped while that... image of her went and did... well, what ever it was probably instructed to do.
The kelzak, joined by another, shook the 'camera' some more, and then it left her alone. She was now trapped, with hideous clothing and no ability to get out and tell the others of what was going on.
Well... maybe not. She shifted out of the hideous clothing and into her ninja uniform. Tapping her morpher, she hit the communications function. "Cam?" No response from the smartalec techie. "Shane? Dustin?"
But it was no use. The 'camera' was isolating her morpher communications as surely as it was isolating her. Sitting down, she tried not to cry.
All she had done... it was so stupid. Kelly's words came back to her, and then Shane's, that she didn't have to do this to prove anything to him and Dustin. And then she remembered what Sensei had said.
"A ninja's power comes from within," she mumbled. "That's it!" She was a water ninja... a Ranger attuned to the power of water. The Blue Ranger... it had to mean something. She closed her eyes and and concentrated her energy as Sensei had taught her. "I summon blue ninja powers of the rising waters!"
She felt the water build beneath her, and carry her up to the 'skylight'. In a rush, she was free. She landed near the abandoned 'photo shoot' on the beach. Looking around, seeing that the coast was clear, she took a moment to calm herself... and then she used her ninja streak ability to catch up with her friends. She just hoped the thing that she'd seen before she'd been whisked into the camera hadn't caught up to them as well.
When she landed, it was right in front of Dustin's van, or at least the one he used for work, the one with "Storm Chargers" emblazoned in front of it. The van screeched to a halt, and she could see the occupants: Dustin, Shane, and... the copy. The two guys looked like they weren't sure what they were seeing, while the copy looked furious. She got out of the van and stood in front of it.
"Anything *you* can do, *I* can do better," the copy said, sneering.
"Except pick clothes," Tori responded. She looked over the copy. "And what's with the *hair*?" The copy had the outfit she'd been in when Marah and Kapri had captured her with the camera.
"You think this is funny? Well, bring it on girlfriend!" With that, the copy rushed into battle.
The two fought for a while, and then the copy got the upper hand, and Tori ended up beside a turned-off fountain. "You're finished, girlfriend!" the copy announced.
Tori looked at the fountain. Water! "You're the one that's finished!" she said, and mentally called upon the water. If the copy was a photograph... well, photos weren't waterproof.
A large gush of water came from the fountain and drenched the copy. It fell back, gasping. "Help me! I'm melting!"
And with that, the copy disincorporated. As soon as she knew that the copy was gone, Tori turned around to look for the others and the van. The van was there... but Dustin and Shane were fighting against some monster that had come down while Tori was fighting the copy.
The other two sent the monster flying, and she came up to them, touching Shane on the shoulder. He jerked back, and they both fell into fighting position. "Relax, guys, it's me." She smiled.
Their helmet faceplates slid open, revealing their faces. "How do we know you're the real Tori?" Dustin asked.
How to prove her identity? She had to somehow show the two of them that she wasn't the copy. "Your real name is Waldo," she told Dustin. She turned to Shane. "You're afraid of spiders."
She smiled, but she was inwardly holding her breath. How would the others react? Had the copy seemed just like her? They'd apparently accepted it.
But Dustin was smiling. "You're afraid of *spiders*," he said, teasing Shane.
"Shut up, *Waldo*."
Tori smothered a grin. Both of her teammates had confided in her at points during their training. Dustin's full name was Waldo Dustin Croft, but after the "Where's Waldo?" craze he'd wisely changed it. And Shane... well, it was not easy for their bold leader to admit his one major fear of the eight-legged insects. "Look, group therapy later," she said, seeing the monster come back.
Witty puns, a water attack, and some Megazord fighting later (including Cam introducing a new fighting mode), and the three Rangers returned back to the van.
"That was something," Dustin commented as the three of them got back in.
"Yeah," Shane agreed. "Glad that's over."
"Right." Tori frowned. "By the way, how'd you know that was me back there? I could have been the copy!"
Shane shrugged. "Your copy was obsessed with getting to Ops," he said. "She was bossy and determined, like you on your worst days. You remember that guy from the beach the other day that you razzed me about for not introducing you?"
"Yeah, so?"
"'You' didn't even know who I was talking about. But I didn't know what was up, so I didn't know she was a clone."
"Copy. Literally." Even Tori could hear the distaste in her own voice.
"Anyway, then you hopped in front of the van and... the rest is history."
"So you trusted me because...."
"Your copy wouldn't have cared about proving herself to us. She'd have demanded we get back into the van and drive."
"And then you would have known?"
"Having seen the real you... yeah." Shane smiled. "I'm sorry, Tori. You are a girl. Don't feel you ever have to prove something to us, okay?"
"Okay," Tori said, grinning. "Just never, ever consider me a guy, ever again."
"You've got it," Shane answered.
"Guess we're not off to Ops now, yeah?" Dustin asked.
"What do you think?" Shane and Tori chorused.
=
The next day, Tori stopped by Storm Chargers to hang a little bit with her teammates. She wondered what Kelly would think if she knew that one of her employees was actually one of the Rangers protecting the town, and wondered if Kelly didn't know already. They hadn't been as cautious as they could be.
"Hey, Tori, give me a hand," Dustin pleaded as soon as they came in.
"With what?" Tori asked, wondering what argument Dustin had gotten himself into.
"There's this guy, and he's asking about surfboards, and I'm not any good at that sort of thing!" Dustin said. "Could you please talk to him?"
"You do realize I don't actually *work* here?" Tori asked.
"Yeah, but... I'll owe you a favor! Really!"
Tori sighed. "Okay."
"He's right over there," Dustin said, indicating the surfboards.
"Right." Tori walked over. "I'm Tori," she said, to the lone guy at the board display. "How can I help you?"
The guy turned around. "Hi," he said, and Tori's breath caught. It was the guy from the beach. "I'm Dill."
"Pleased to meet you," she said, sneaking a look at Dustin. He was now standing over at the counter next to Shane and Kelly, and all three were smiling. It was a setup. But one she could live with.
As she continued talking to Dill, she felt better than she had the last two days. She was a girl, her teammates knew that, and all was right with the world, for the moment.
Next part: Biking Fool