My profile has Liam's Heart Melody.
"Get away!" Jared yelled as Noah jumped over the stone warrior. However, as he flew over the warrior's head, it swung its arm around and bashed him into a car.
"Easier said than done!" Noah called back, sending a burst of water at the warrior's back.
Alicia knew they were no match so she tried to lead it away with numerous arrow shots.
"We have to get out of here!"
Tobias's voice came from their morphers, "Guys, we need you back here now! We found something."
"Can it wait?" Asher asked as he rolled away from a kick. "We're kinda busy!"
"No, it can't. Just get back here!"
As this was going on, Liam found himself standing in a subspace. He was well aware of what was going on around him, but he of course had no control... Rather...
"Maia, you have to stop this."
Maia stood in front of him, her Slade-like armor glowing slightly. "It's too late."
"It's never too late. We can stop this."
"Liam, even if we did fight back, we can't separate. For as long as we're both alive, we're stuck in this form."
"I don't understand."
"Well, we're not going anywhere, so I'll tell you everything I know."
~HQ~
The Rangers were able to retreat and get back to HQ, which was slightly repaired thanks to Alicia's magic. All were exhausted from the fighting.
"So what was that thing?" Chris asked. "It countered everything we threw at it."
"It's Liam." Lydia informed plainly.
"What? How?" Sonia asked.
Tobias stood up with an old looking book from the HQ archives and started to read.
"The Sol-Garde were a civilization of Fairies who could use the attributes of Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and Mind. These men and women were isolated from those they protected, living in a city surrounded by mountains. Despite being great and powerful warriors, their strongest weapons did not come in the form of swords or spears, but in the form of their shields; the ones that they so proudly wore on their wrists. Combined with their Magics, they were formidable fighters. The only shield left in existence is the one Slade found."
Noah then asked, "So what does this have to do with Liam?"
"When the Sol-Garde civilization fell, a dark magic turned pairs of Sol-Garde into those giants you fought against."
"How'd they manage that?" Chris asked. "If they were so good, how'd dark magic get a hold of them?"
Lydia explained raising her pointer finger upward, "Whoever the mastermind behind the incident was capitalized on one thing flaw every warrior had: loneliness. According to the records," Lydia pulled up onto the main monitor a picture of a random Sol-Garde. In one frame, he was shown with a large green aura around him. In the adjacent one, it showed a small black wisp on his chest right over his heart. "... the Sol-Garde's need to defend comes from the loneliness inside them. My best guest is that Slade used Liam's loneliness to bind him and Maia together into what you just fought."
"How do we free him?" Noah asked worriedly.
"There's no known way. As it stands, the transformation is permanent. But... I'm pretty sure Maia is in full control of that form."
"Well then," Sonia said, "We'll force her to let Liam go."
Alicia nodded, "It's a risk, but we have to try. Liam… he's the best of us. And we owe it to him. And Maia."
An alarm sounded, and the Rangers knew that they were going to get Liam back no matter what.
~Bayview Streets~
After telling Liam everything, he went silent inside their conjoined space. Maia couldn't even see him anymore. As she steered the armored body through the streets, she commented, "It's quiet."
Slade's voice answered, "Indeed. And you better get used to it; it only starts here. The world will be ours."
Suddenly, a spiral of wind knocked Maia off her feet. Getting up, she took a battle stance. A wave of water bashed against her while a bolt of lightning made the wave explode. Letting out a scream, Maia was thrown into a building.
Darkness crept from the ground and wrapped around her as a beam of light was shot at her face. She quickly broke free and launched herself into the air, throwing rocks everywhere.
"Slade, help me!" She begged as she jumped away from the scene. "Liam's gone and I'm alone!"
"My dear, you are never alone."
Shiners appeared out of thin air and swarmed around the place. However, a heavy fog rolled in masking the entire area.
With a series of elemental attacks, the Shiners were gone.
Within the conjoined space, Maia started to doze off. "What's happening?" It didn't take long for her to realize... "Liam..." She whispered as her head started to throb. Falling to her knees, she felt a huge flux of emotion.
"You betrayed me..." Liam's voice echoed.
"You told me... I had no friends." Maia countered. "So shut up and leave me alone!"
"I won't..."
The Warrior sent a spear shaped rock at the Rangers but missed. Its aim was being thrown off.
"Give our friend back!" Noah shouted through the fog blasting the Warrior with a blizzard. The warrior took off in the opposite direction.
"Erif nrub, nordluac elbbub!" A wall of flames shot up from the asphalt and blocked off an escape route.
A streak of red raced through the air and passed the armored being, slashing it quickly. A black streak struck it as well, sending it into the ground forming a crater.
A final blue streak came from above and was about to pierce the Warrior with his sword, but without looking, the being swung its arm back and knocked the streak away.
Slade's voice informed Maia, "Don't look so surprised. That suit you're wearing binds us. I can help you fight."
"But Slade, I'm getting thrashed!"
"You will stay and fight!"
Liam pleaded, "Maia, you don't have to listen to him."
"Legend Burst Cannon: Shadow Mode! FIRE!" A sphere of dark energy nailed the armored being in the chest, sending it flying. Getting up, the being started to flee.
"After it!" Jared called out as the fog cleared up. However, several Shiners impeded their path.
"Noah and Alicia, go after them! The rest of us will clean up here." Jared instructed.
"Right!" The two took off after Maia.
Maia jumped from rooftop to rooftop trying to find a portal that would lead her back to Slade.
"Where do you think you're going, young lady?!" Slade demanded.
"They were tearing me apart! I have to get away!" Maia reasoned.
A twister of wind and water hit Maia in the back, sending her to the ground.
"Not so fast!" Alicia called. Noah came from nowhere and kicked Maia in the chest.
Slade quickly said, "Maia, I can only help you to a certain extent but you must stay and fight."
Maia raised her arm, but Liam called out, "NO MAIA!"
"Liam, why're you going so far for me?"
"I just..."
The warrior slammed its hands on the ground and launched rectangular rocks from the ground.
"Etaerc a elbbub dleihs!" A gold bubble appeared around Noah and Alicia protecting them from the attack. Noah then jumped up and threw a sphere of water at his enemy, knocking it into a lamp post.
Looking out, the Warrior spotted a small opening in the air. It desperately raced for the tear and jumped into it, disappearing. However, Alicia and Noah went after it.
~Slade's Dimension~
"Slade..." Maia greeted. "I barely got out of there. I thought I was done for."
Slade was not pleased at his new pawn's failure. Swiftly, he kicked his armored warrior into a wall.
"What I'm about to do to you will prove to be 10x worse than the Rangers."
"Hang on, Maia... please!" Liam encouraged.
Maia screamed in pain and fell to the ground. "Leave me alone, Liam."
The empty space shook with every strike Slade dealt to the body.
"You don't understand! I swore everything to him! I regret nothing!"
~Bayview~
All the Shiners went down easily, but one stood in their way. This particular Shiner was twenty feet tall and very bulky. Jared fired a few shots of fire at it, but the Shiner blocked them all. Sonia kicked it in the face but she was immediately grabbed and thrown into the ground. Chris came from above with his Fan and swiped a wave of darkness, but to no avail.
Asher dashed from below and fired multiple beams of light from his fingertips. The Shiner roared and kicked him away.
It tried to run forward, but the ground in front of it exploded.
Jared created a metallic disc and threw it onto the Shiner's back. Using his fire power, he made it explode.
Asher and Chris blinded the monster with light and darkness, giving Jared more time to construct metallic poles. He rammed them into the Shiner's back.
"Now, Sonia!"
Nodding, Sonia summoned a giant storm. One large lightning bolt came down from the heavens and struck the metallic poles, thoroughly zapping the Shiner into oblivion.
With the Shiner gone, the Rangers set off to find Liam.
~Slade's Dimension, inside the conjoined space~
"Why, Liam?" Maia asked, letting tears fall from her face.
"I knew a girl... she was the strongest person I've ever met who pulled me out of darkness too many times to count. She went against destiny and sacrificed her life to save the world. Maia, from the short time we've spent together I can say that you remind me of her in so many ways."
Maia cried even more, heaving air in and out. "You're pure, Liam... The purest friend... I won't let you die."
"What're you saying?" Liam asked. A bright green light distorted his vision and he found himself lying on the ground mere moments later.
"Maia?!" Liam called darting to his feet.
"You insolent, ungrateful brat!" Slade yelled as Maia, still in Stone Armored form, attacked him.
"I'm done with you!" Maia shouted.
"Oh no, child. You'll find that you'll be stuck with me once all the obstacles have been cleared." Slade pressed a button on his wrist plate. Electricity ran through the being and Maia let out an anguished scream.
"What're you doing to her?!" Liam shouted at Slade.
"Maia, my dear, the suit I gave you is interlocked to your spirit, giving me more control. I am now a part of you."
"No!" Maia responded with grief.
"You'll also realize that I will find a better use to your power than you."
Maia suddenly lifted her arms at Liam and sent forward numerous boulders. Liam backflipped, jumped into the air and threw an energy disc. Maia cartwheeled to the left and fired a spiked slab, but Liam spread his arms to his wingspan and broke the projectile into pieces.
Landing gracefully, Liam launched more green discs and knocked Maia back. Suddenly, the ground under Liam shook and he found himself constricted by a stone fist.
"Now, finish him." Slade ordered Maia.
Struggling and resisting, Maia was forced to raise her hands above her head. Multiple spikes rose above Liam's body.
"Stop, Maia!" Jared's voice shouted. He and the rest of the Rangers appeared, each wielding a sphere of their own element.
"Please, don't!" Alicia begged.
"It'll be the last thing you'll ever do." Sonia stated.
"Don't do it!" Noah called. "Leave Liam alone!"
"Do the right thing!" Asher beckoned.
"Maia, you've got to!" Chris added.
"DO AS I SAY!" Slade roared. "I took you in! I helped you understand your powers! They are meant for destruction and nothing else!"
The armored figure started to glow and shrink. Back to Maia's petite body size, the helmet fell off revealing her.
Her cold blue eyes met Liam's warm green ones. With deep eye contact, Liam said, "The girl I was talking about before... she was afraid of her power just like you. But when the right moment came, she stood up and faced her fears. You can too."
"I'm sorry, Liam... It's too late. Slade's won. I had no choice."
"It's not too late. There's always a choice."
Closing her eyes, Maia let a few tears escape. Letting out a battle cry, Maia swung her arms at Slade and knocked him into a wall with a stone slab. "No... the Earth is for protecting others; supporting life and freedom!"
"You runt!" Slade shouted. He pressed his controller button and Maia let out more screams of pain.
Liam desperately clasped Jared's shoulders with his hands. "Jared, pull out my True Soul."
"Would that even work?"
"I know what it can do; trust me."
Nodding, Jared demorphed and stared into Liam's eyes.
~Liam's Heart~
Jared passed through Liam's memories, seeing many different things. The usual birthday parties, ups and downs, flashes of Liam's older brother Seth teasing him, everything came and went by Jared's eyes. That was when Jared heard Liam's heart melody (Link on Profile).
Within a few moments, the Slayer reached Liam's core. Looking down, Liam's stained glass floor depicted a small green figure standing in front of a brown mountain range with a yellow sun in the horizon.
A green podium appeared in front of Jared with a forest green energy sphere floating on it. As Jared touched it, the familiar chorus of voices whispered to him in harmony, "Guardian's Shears."
~Reality~
Wielding his own Soul, which was a white armored pair of shears, Liam raised them in the air. "I'm not the depressed person I used to be, anymore. I'm not lonely, I'm not weak. I'm different because I met my friends! Slade, you'll see my real powers... Now." He slammed his left hand on the ground, and formed a green glyph under his palm. Metal chains burst from the ground and wrapped around Slade.
"Alchemy?!" Slade identified.
A green transformation circle appeared under Liam as he explained, "Alchemical Magic is my Discipline, Slade. Spirit Legend, Awaken!"
Gaius appeared behind Liam and merged with him in a flash of swirling green and white lights. "Spirit of Earth: Green Legend Ranger!"
With that, Legend Green dashed forward at a fast speed. The foot long shears glistened with energy as the Sol-Garde descendant raced toward Maia.
"Hang on, Maia!" He called, making his True Soul glow a bright green. Liam swung the blades of his Soul at Maia and struck her full force. Instead of slicing into her, the blades passed through Maia, causing a black aura to appear around her only to be destroyed within seconds.
"No!" Slade shouted.
Jared took a breath and said, "The Guardian's Shears were built from Liam's inner loneliness. It was due to this loneliness that he had to be good at separating himself from others. Now, he can separate anything he wants. Maia's free from Slade's control."
"Curse you, Green Ranger!" Slade charged forward and drew a sword ready to stab Liam. Liam blocked the blade with his Shears and slashed at Slade, hitting him in the chest actually cutting through his armor. Liam then jumped and kicked him in the same place, sending him flying.
"I'll end you both here!" Slade growled lunging forward.
However, both Liam and Maia stood together and pointed their arms at the man.
"You're going down, Slade!" Maia threatened.
"We're not gonna let you win!" Liam shouted. The two glowed bright green aura and caused the entire place to shake. Their energies sent Slade flying through numerous walls. As the lights died down, Maia collapsed into Liam's arms.
"It's over." Liam whispered. However, this was far from the truth. The dimension they were in started to shake with a tremendous earthquake. The ground opened and lava started to burst from it.
"A volcano!" Alicia informed.
"We've got to high tail it!" Chris told the others.
"Let's go, Maia." Liam beckoned.
"I can't..." Maia informed him.
"What, why?"
"Only I can stop this."
"We have to go. We have no choice; it's too late."
Letting a small smile creep on her face, Maia informed, "There's always a choice. It's never too late."
Giving Liam a quick kiss on the cheek, Maia cried a bit more. "You're the bravest and the greatest friend I've ever had." She then whispered something into Liam's ear and pushed him away toward Noah who grabbed his wrist and dashed out of there.
Focusing all her power within her, Maia let out one final cry of fury and let all her brilliant energy burst from her body. The energy coalesced around her shoulder blades, forming giant green Fairy wings.
The Rangers made it out of the portal in time as if closed.
"MAIA!" Liam shouted as he witnessed the tear close. Maia's words echoed through his head, "I believe that though I'll die here. I'll see you again in my next life. Most definitely we'll meet again..."
~Liam's POV~
My name is Liam. I constantly felt alone. But for the first time in a long time, someone alleviated that feeling. Her name was Maia. Like me, she was capable of tremendous things... but those things terrified her as well. To save us, she made the ultimate sacrifice; that tends to happen to a lot of my close friends. She was the first person to understand the gift of Earth control and the curse of it as well.
My name is Liam. I will never fall. I'll stay strong for her, my friends, the world... for me.
A/N:
I have to say, this was probably one of my favorite arcs to plan out. You see, I wanted to show how Liam wasn't a lonely kid anymore. Rather, he's a full fledged warrior who can take care of himself, which is why I introduced Maia. Maia is lonely because of her power and Liam was able to see that.
When Maia was talking to Liam as the stone warrior, I purposely switched off between "Maia" and "She" with "The Warrior" and "It" showing the change in who was attacking: Maia or Slade.
Looking at my episode outlines, the count is as follows:
- 8 Filler Episodes, which I am cutting down to four or less (Will be explained in a second)
- 1 Plot Advancing Episode which may or may not happen
- 2 "Movies"
- 4 Character Arcs (Alicia, Asher, Noah, Jared) Not in that order
- 1 Mini Arc regarding Bobby
- The Finale Arc
