A/N: Wow, I suck. So sorry for taking a long time, guys! This episode is pretty good, I think. Something BIG happens, I'll tell you now!

Anyways, without further ado, I give you Power Rangers Element Storm Chapter 18. Enjoy!

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Episode 18: Everything Changes

The setting sun reflected off the waves crashing deep out in the sea. The soft, calming sound of water lapping against the shoreline was all that could be heard right now. A soft breeze flowed across the sandy beach, lifting up small, white grains and blowing them about the legs of the two people walking down it right where the water touched the land. Every once in a while, the translucent blue water tickled their feet as they made their way down the shore, holding hands.

Suddenly, they stopped and turned to face each other. The boy looked at the girl with love evident in his eyes. The same love could be seen in the girl's eyes as they sparkled in the fading sunlight. Slowly, the boy leaned in to kiss his partner. Their lips touched gently just as the sun sunk beyond the horizon, plunging the world into darkness.

Kimber awoke with a start, a cold sweat pouring down her face. Her room was completely dark except for the faint red glow of the digital numbers of the alarm clock next to her bed. Glancing at this, she saw that it was 3:28am. She let out a deep sigh of annoyance. Ever since they had gained their memories of Trienith back, she had had this same dream numerous times. The girl was of course herself, and the boy was Will.

Sitting up in her bed, she pulled the covers around her tightly, even though it was a rather warm night. Why was she being haunted with this dream? Every time she had dreamt it, it ended at the same place, right as they kissed. She had not yet figured out what happened next. She couldn't figure out where the dream came from. There was nothing similar to it in her memory, so why was she dreaming about it?

Sighing again sadly, Kimber leaned forward and put her head in her hands, closing her eyes again. She knew she would not get back to sleep tonight.

In his room in the café, Will suddenly awoke as well, but not as violently as Kimber had. He sat up as well and sighed. He had had the same dream the Trienith Yellow Ranger did, although neither of them knew it. Unlike her, though, Will knew what it was and what it meant. The dream showed exactly the last few minutes before the Chaos Three attacked. That had been their last battle; the battle where they were defeated, and the battle where Will's team had met their tragic fate.

That night had promised to be a great one. Adus and Anaia had just gone on a romantic date, and now they were walking along their favorite beach. The sun was setting and it was very peaceful and calm. As the sun set at last, Will kissed Anaia gently, and everything seemed perfect. That is, until they suddenly heard a sound none of them were ready for. A dark, deep laughter echoed across the beach. Breaking away from each other, they turned to see where it was coming from. Much to their annoyance (but not surprise), Pyric was standing a few hundred feet away from them, Raine and Oscuro at his sides.

Will closed his eyes as the memory hit him. He forced himself to stop thinking about it for now. It was too painful to remember the time he had allowed his team to be defeated like that. Deep in his heart, he knew that there was nothing he could have done to prevent what had happened to them, but he still couldn't help blaming himself for their fate. After all, he was their leader, and it was his responsibility to protect them and lead them to victory.

Beth opened her eyes slowly, shutting them again as the sunlight flooded in and hit them. Once she was used to the bright light, she opened them once more and looked around. Something was off. Her surroundings were unfamiliar. This wasn't her room. Where was she? Panic filled her heart for a moment until she heard a familiar voice.

"It's okay, Beth." Turning towards the sound, she saw Sean coming towards her. He sat on the edge of the bed she was laying in. "After you got so beat up by yesterday's battle, I called your mom and asked if you could spend the night at my house. I figured it wouldn't be good for her to see you all hurt like that." Beth nodded and looked away.

"Thank you, Sean," she said softly. She paused. "I really got my butt kicked by Erica, didn't I?" It was more of a statement than a question. She looked up again into Sean's eyes, her own eyes brimming with tears.

The White Ranger bit his lip. "Well, yes, but don't worry too much about it." His voice sounded calm and reassuring. "I'm sure you'll do better against her next time." She nodded a little, unable to tear her eyes away from his. He placed his hand on hers gently.

"Beth, there's something I've been trying to tell you…" Suddenly, much to Sean's annoyance, the voice of Tiz came flowing out through his morpher.

"Sean? You there?" he asked. Grunting a bit with frustration and mentally cursing is friend's bad timing, he lifted his wrist to his mouth and spoke into his morpher.

"Yeah, I'm here. What's up, Tiz?"

"How's Beth?"

Glancing for a moment at the girl in question, Sean responded. "She's fine," he said. "She's awake now."

"That's good," Tiz replied. "Will wants us to meet at the café to train today."

"Okay then," Sean said. "We'll be there as soon as we can." With that, he lowered his hand again, still looking at Beth. "Ready to go?" he asked.

She nodded slowly in response, stretching and standing up a bit stiffly. "Sean, what was it you were trying to tell me before?" Beth asked as the two of them headed out to the White Ranger's car.

"Uh, nothing," Sean answered quickly. "I'll, um, tell you later." Confused, Beth simply nodded again, and they headed out towards the café.

Later that day, the Trienith Rangers were standing around together in the main room of their floor. Rufus and Erica were with them, and they were all talking and laughing happily. Since they had lost their battle yesterday, Stephen had given them a much deserved and needed day off today. So, they were taking advantage of it the best they could.

"And then, there was this one time when Sean and I were little," Jud began through his laughter. "Sean literally thought he was Gambit. He convinced his mom to get him a brown trench coat, and he carried a pack of cards with him wherever he went. He'd randomly pull one out and throw it and objects and people, pretending he had charged it like Gambit did. Once, he was doing that at school, and suddenly the principal walked out into the hall while he was throwing a card. It hit him directly in the forehead!" Laughter exploded from everyone, especially Jud. "The principal got a paper cut, and Sean got detention for two weeks. After that, he decided being Gambit was too dangerous, so he went back to being regular old Sean."

Kimber smiled. "I could so see Sean doing that!" she exclaimed. "You two were both so obsessed with Gambit."

"And we still are." Jud beamed at her as if he was proud of his obsession.

As the laughter quieted down, a thoughtful silence filled the room for a moment. At last, Angela spoke up.

"Peggy was a crazy child," she began, chuckling. "Once, when we were in 8th grade, I had a crush on this one boy in our class. I was too shy to tell him, but of course I told Peg about it. We always told each other everything, and we knew that if we didn't, we'd find out about it. That's just the way we were with each other. Anyways, Peg couldn't stand the thought that I liked someone and didn't tell him about it. So, she came up with this crazy plot to get him to ask me to the dance that was coming up. But, she had the wrong guy ask me! She was so embarrassed about it." Everyone laughed at this. "But, all is well, because the guy she told to ask me was Jorge, and we all know how that ended up." She smiled up at her boyfriend who was holding her in his arms.

"Sure do," he said, smiling back. He kissed her lovingly.

"You know, it's kind of ironic that you two ended up together," Kimber said thoughtfully. "You guys were together on Trienith as well, and then you ended up together on Earth. I wonder if it was just coincidence or something else."

"Hmm," Jorge mused. "You're right. I never thought of that. It is ironic."

"Maybe deep in the back of your minds you guys had some memories of your lives on Trienith," Rufus suggested. "It could be what drew you together on Earth."

Jud nodded slowly. "It's possible," he said. "But, we'll never know now, will we?" There was another thoughtful silence before conversation began again. Now, they were sharing memories of their lives on Trienith. Rufus and Erica felt a bit left out of this, since they were the Ranger's enemies back on their home planet. They sat silently next to each other and listened, laughing with the rest of them.

Suddenly, Jud turned to Rufus. "Hey, do you have any funny stories you could share?" he asked. "I'm sure Pyric isn't perfect. Has he ever done anything worth telling about?"

Rufus looked at Erica and smiled. "Well, yes, but you can't tell him I told you anything." He laughed a bit nervously.

Kimber gave him a serious face. "Not a word," she told him.

Feeling encouraged, Erica and Rufus took turns telling funny memories about their leader. Surprisingly, they had a lot to tell, and soon they had the Rangers laughing harder than they had in a while.

The youngest member of the Chaos Three beamed happily. He had never really had friends before besides Erica, and he had always thought of her as more than a friend. Stephen was his leader, but he couldn't consider him a friend. He was too serious and cruel for that. But now, Rufus was talking with people who were actually interested in what he had to say; people who actually cared about him. It was so nice to be accepted for once. He could hardly believe that these guys were being so nice to him after he had been their enemy for so long. Part of it, he knew, had to do with Stephen's spell, but as they had still kept their personalities, he figured it had to be more than just that.

Pondering a bit, Rufus decided that somehow, the Trienith Rangers were going to turn good again. It seemed inevitable, although he couldn't think of how it would happen. In that moment, he pretty much decided that if/when they did, he might follow them. After all, they were the only people who had ever shown him friendship.

In the parking lot of the Overclocked Café, yet another morphed battle with the Trienith Rangers vs. the Earth Rangers was going on. This time, everyone seemed to be fighting someone else, except that Beth and Erica were still fighting each other like last time. They were right in front of the entrance to the café. Next to them, Jud was fighting with Tiz. Next came Peg fighting with Jorge, then Sean fighting Angela and Dan taking on Rufus. Last, Will and Kimber were battling each other.

Beth charged at Erica quickly, kicking her in the chest. Erica caught her leg and spun her around, making her fall onto her back. From her position on the ground, Beth tripped Erica, bringing her down with her. The Green Ranger leapt to her feet, waiting patiently for her enemy to do the same. It didn't take long for her to do that, and the two quickly resumed fighting. Erica shot a blast of Dark Water at Beth, hitting her in the arm and making her trip a little. She didn't fall, though, and she threw a punch at Erica's head. The girl dodged it and kicked Beth's shins rapidly in turn, causing her to fall over onto her knees.

Nearby, Tiz gave Jud an electrified punch in the chest with his left fist. The Trienith Green Ranger winced in pain and swiftly swiped his daggers across his enemy's outstretched arm, then he twisted sideways to kick his arm with the side of his ankle. Tiz spun around a bit, clutching his limb painfully. Gripping his sai in his other hand, he slashed it across Jud's legs, making him fall over into a sitting position. He quickly forced himself to stand and he glared at Tiz from under his helmet. Jumping up a bit, he gave Tiz a spinning kick in the chest, making him fly back a few feet, still standing.

Peg charged at Jorge with her trident, but he blocked it with his own, forcing her away from him. He then quickly slashed the weapon across her chest several times, causing sparks to fly from her suit. At last, he hit her with the broad side of the trident, making her fly backwards. She landed on her back, but she got up quickly. Letting her weapon fall to her side, she thrust her hands forward and shot out a blast of Water at him. With his quick reflexes, Jorge pointed his trident at her and shot out his own Dark Water. The difference in pressure was his downfall, though, and Peg's water soon broke through his and hit him square in the chest, making him fly backwards into a car.

Near them, Angela and Sean were shooting arrows at each other. Somehow, each arrow they shot was blocked by the other person's arrow. Eventually, they gave this up and ran at each other, holding their bows, ready to use them as weapons. Sean slashed at Angela with his bow, but she blocked it and swung around to swipe at him. He blocked it as well though. Seeing that this was going nowhere, Sean leapt forward onto his stomach and beat his bow across Angela's legs. She tripped and, much to both of their surprise, she tumbled forward onto his back.

Dan had set his sword on fire and he was now slashing Rufus viciously with it. The Chaos Ranger could not block the Red Ranger's extremely fast attacks. At last, he put his hands at his sides, palms downward, and shot fire out of them at the ground. This sent him flying high above his enemy and out of reach of his sword. He flipped in the air and landed behind him, calling on his lance as he fell. Gripping it tightly in both hands, he jabbed it into Dan's back and sent Dark Thunder surging through it. Dan cried out in pain and dropped his sword.

On the other side of the parking lot, Kimber ran at Will and slashed at him with her sai. He blocked it with his sword easily. This continued for a little while until at last Will was able to force his enemy away from him. The girl immediately came back at him though and she slammed her sai into his sword, forcing it towards him with all her might. Then, much to Will's surprise, she started to talk to him.

"Adus, meet me in the park this afternoon at 3:00, okay? And come alone. There's something I need to talk to you about." Her voice sounded both serious and sincere. This confused the Trienith Red Ranger.

"Why?" he asked. "So you can ambush me?"

"No, no, nothing like that," she replied, still pushing at his sword with her sai. "I promise it will be just you and me. Please say you'll be there?" She sounded urgent now, and he could sense pleading in her tone.

"Fine," he agreed reluctantly. "But this had better not be a trap, Anaia." As he said her name, he cringed automatically, his strength failing for a moment. This gave Kimber an advantage, and she pushed him away from her, making him stumble backwards. She nodded to him and powered down, going over to where Rufus was waiting for Dan to get up.

"Hey, let's get out of here," she called to him. "We can destroy these weaklings next time." Rufus stopped what he was doing and looked at her curiously, although she could not see his face.

"Uh, okay, I guess," he agreed. Saying the names of each of the Trienith Rangers and Erica, he teleported them back to the tower.

Confused, the Rangers came together and demorphed.

"What was that about?" Dan asked.

"I don't know," Tiz said. "It's not like them to attack and then just take off like that."

"Maybe they have something really big planned?" Sean suggested.

"Wouldn't surprise me," Peg agreed. She looked at Will, who seemed to be off in another world right now as he stared blankly at the pavement. "What do you think, Will?" she asked him. He said nothing in response, making no sign that he had even heard her.

"Will?" Beth looked at her mentor with concern. "What's wrong?"

Blinking quickly, the older boy snapped back into reality, turning to the Green Ranger. "Huh? Oh, nothing. Just kind of lost in my thoughts. Yeah, it is kind of weird that they left so suddenly, but I don't think we have to worry about them attacking again today. Let's take the rest of the day off. Go on home and get some rest, guys." Sighing softly, he turned and walked quickly back into the café, checking his morpher/watch for the time as he went.

The Rangers looked at each other, confused, wondering what was up with their leader and mentor.

The sun hung high in the spring sky, casting shadows on the few white, puffy clouds that were scattered across the great blue expanse. Its light reflected off the still water of the pond in the park as Will gazed into it. Glancing at his watch, he saw that it was exactly 3:00. He closed his eyes as a light breeze blew through his short blonde hair. Suddenly, he heard a familiar voice behind him saying his name softly. He jolted around to look, seeing Kimber walking towards him slowly. The younger girl had an almost distraught look on her face, and she seemed sincere.

After checking to make sure that no one was following her, he walked cautiously over to her. "You, uh, had something you needed to talk to me about, Anaia?" Will asked, clearing his throat. She nodded.

"Yes. This is really awkward for me, but I have to ask you something." She paused and looked away before continuing. "Okay, well, I've been having this dream lately. It happens every night and it's really disturbing my sleep. I don't know where it comes from. There's nothing like it in my memory, but it keeps haunting me and I don't know what to do about it…"

"Well, what is it about?" Will asked. A part of him could guess what it was, but he didn't dare to ask if he was right.

Kimber proceeded to describe the exact dream that Will himself had had last night. He nodded as he listened, his suspicions confirmed.

"What is that about, Adus?" she asked as she finished. "I have no memory of it, but it seems so real and vivid."

Will closed his eyes painfully before saying anything. "That was the last night we had together before the last battle with the Chaos Three. You and I had just gone on a date, something we hadn't had a chance to do in a long time because of our Rangerhood. But, of course, Pyric chose then to attack, so we had to cut it short and call the others. I had thought it would be just a normal fight, but it turned out to be so much worse. Sure, the Chaos Three were finally defeated that night, but the cost was too much. It was then that you and the others were put under Pyric's spell. I had thought you were destroyed, but it seems to be worse than that…" He said the last thing quietly, his voice trailing off.

Kimber said nothing for a moment, letting all of this sink in. "That must be why I can't remember that night," she mused. "That was the night that we…" She stopped, unable to finish her sentence. She looked back up at Will curiously. "How is what happened worse than us being destroyed?" she asked, pretty sure she knew the answer.

"Because now you are my enemy and I'm forced to fight against you. It's much worse than any punishment I could have to bear." Will was unable to stop the tears that were now falling gently from his eyes. The Trienith Yellow Ranger looked away sadly, not knowing what to say. At last, she found her voice again.

"I'm sorry," she said softly. "But we can't help it, you know? I know that somehow Pyric is forcing us to be on his side, whether through mind control or something else."

Will looked up at her, a serious expression on his face. "Then fight it," he said firmly. "He obviously doesn't have too strong a hold on you if you're here now. Don't let him control you, Anaia."

The girl opened her mouth to protest as she looked at the older man. But, her words stuck in her throat as she looked into his sad, serious, kind eyes.

"I…I want to fight it…" Her voice faltered as she began to walk towards him slowly and with great effort. "He can't control me," she insisted, her voice growing stronger as she neared Will. "I will fight him. He did this to me. He separated us and tried to destroy you. He can't get away with it." Intensity grew in her voice with every word and step. "I will fight against him. He couldn't take my first home, and I won't let him take this one either!" As she finished this, she finally made her way to Will. He took her in his arms, holding her as he looked down at him. Their eyes were still locked, and a determined smile graced both of their faces.

"I won't fight on his side anymore," Kimber told him. "I'll fight with you and stop Pyric at all costs." Closing her eyes, she leaned into his embrace, her arms wrapped around his waist tightly.

Will's sad tears turned to tears of joy. "I knew you could do it, Anaia," he said gently as he held her close to him. Before either of them could do anything else, the sound of someone clearing their throat was heard not far away from them. The two of them jolted to attention and turned towards the noise. Standing there a few yards away were the other Trienith Rangers, accompanied by both Rufus and Stephen. It was obvious that the latter was the one who had cleared his throat. His arms were folded across his chest, and an angry look was spread across his face. The other Rangers looked confused and a bit fearful, but not angry like Stephen was.

"Anaia." His voice was as dark and angry as his expression as he glared at the two people before him. "Get away from him! He is your enemy."

Glaring back, Kimber took a few steps towards him. "No, Pyric," she began, her voice firm and resolute. "He's your enemy, not mine. Adus was my leader on Trienith, and he's the one I should be following now. You are the one who did this to us. You tried to destroy us numerous times on Trienith, and now you're using us as your pawns here against the Earth Rangers. Well, I won't be your tool anymore."

Ignoring the look of shock and furious anger on Stephen's face, she turned to the other Rangers. "Guys, he did the same to you as he did to me. Why are we following someone who tried to destroy us so many times?"

Jud, Jorge, and Angela seemed to have no answer for this. They looked around at each other and then back at Will and Kimber.

"Cirin, Feanaro, Alassea." Will said his friend's names gently, trying to conceal the urgency in his voice. "You don't have to follow Pyric. He is evil and he's only using you for his work. In your hearts you know this. Please listen to them, and to us. Don't fight for the one who tried to take over Trienith and who is now trying to take Earth. Fight against him, and help us defeat him once and for all."

A deep and thoughtful silence filled the park, the only sound coming from the wind rustling through the leaves and grass. After a moment, Stephen grunted angrily.

"Why are you listening to him?" he asked, looking at the Trienith Rangers. "He wasn't able to save you in the end. He was your leader and it was his job to protect you. Did he? No. He allowed me to put my spell on you. What makes you think this time would be any different?"

Before he could continue, Jud put his hand up, signifying for him to stop.

"Thanks for that, Pyric," he said, his voice and face devoid of emotion. "You sure convinced me which side I should be on." With that, he crossed the field and stood next to Will and Kimber, grinning at them before turning back to the others. "Sure, Adus wasn't able to protect us, but you were the one attacking in the first place. I'm sure that our leader did everything he could against you. He defeated you once, and now I'll help him defeat you again."

Glancing at each other for a second, Angela and Jorge smiled and then they walked across the field with the others.

"You know, this will be quite a relief," Angela said with a laugh. "I'm sick of getting my butt kicked by my sister." Jorge just hugged her and laughed. Jud continued to gaze over at Rufus.

"Oscuro, come with us," he said. "You're our friend. Use the Chaos powers to fight with us, not against us for Pyric. Aren't you sick of taking orders from him?"

The older boy hesitated. "Well, yes…" His voice was barely audible to the others. "But wait, I'm really your friend?" The Trienith Rangers smiled as they nodded to him.

"Of course, silly," Angela laughed.

Stephen turned to Rufus furiously, Dark Fire burning in his eyes. "Don't you dare join them," he said darkly. "Your allegiance is with me. I'm the one who gave you the Chaos Power. Do you really think you can use it against me?"

Rufus looked thoughtful for a moment. "Hmm. Why don't we find out?" With that, he shot a combination of Dark Fire, Dark Water, and Dark Thunder at Stephen. It hit him straight in the chest, making him fly back into a nearby tree. The Chaos Ranger grinned at him. "I guess that answers that. Later, Stephen." As he said his name, the leader of the Chaos Three teleported away in a flash of red. Rufus then walked across to join his friends.

He looked at Will seriously, a strange expression on his face. "Adus, I'm sorry for all the trouble I caused you guys…" His voice trailed off as he looked down sadly. Will smiled at him though.

"Hey, you were following Stephen's orders," the older boy said kindly. "It will be nice to have you fighting on our side now, Rufus." The Chaos Ranger looked up at him again and smiled.

As Stephen was teleported back to the tower, he growled in frustration. Now, his whole body was engulfed in flame. Thrusting his hands in front of him, he shot all the Dark Fire on him out towards a window. The glass melted immediately as the fire touched it and burst to the outside. From her position in the doorway to her room, Erica could only stare in awe at the power of his anger. She shrunk fearfully back into her room. Although she had no idea what had happened, she knew it must be horrible to cause him to act like that.

"How am I supposed to beat all of them, two teams, with only one person on my side?" His normal deep, indifferent voice was now horrible dark and threatening as it boomed through the tower, seeming to shake the building with its intensity. "Eleven of them against two of us? It's not possible for me to defeat them the way I am now." Suddenly, a thought came to him. His voice calmed back into its normal tone. "But, I still have the books I studied to get the spell I cast on the Trienith Rangers. Perhaps if I looked deeper into them, I could use them to increase my powers immensely." A horrible, wicked grin spread across his face. "Yes, that is what I'll do. The Rangers will not stand a chance against me and my strength." With this thought in mind, he went calmly into his room and closed the door behind him.

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A/N: I hope you liked it! Leave a review!