ATTENTION!: How do you feel about having a character die in Parallel Realities Ninja Storm?" Please vote in this poll at the top of my profile page (click on Rogue Ranger to the top left of this). As of when I'm typing this, it's a toss up between somewhat open to and somewhat against.
Author's Notes: The action is back! And I've finally decided on Tobi's element…
Thanks YellowPrincess for signing in first! ;) I thought that allowing anonymous reviews would give me more feedback to work off of, but so far that doesn't seem to be the case. It's not terrible that you didn't sign in since I'm psychic and all… Haha. Anyway, I'm glad you liked Tobi's powers, since I decided to go with them some more in this chapter. But as for Marah forgiving him and what happens with grumpy Sensei, I'll have to sort that out in the next chapter, because the action scene went a bit long here. But, don't worry, I will make sure to resolve things in the next chapter!
Thanks Magichalo for reviewing both chapters! I have some comments to make for both reviews: I'm glad you liked the hints of Wes/Trip. It's such an underrated pairing. I mean, Wes/Eric is common enough, but they weren't the ones hugging and all cuddly in the show. But Lucas/Trip would be awesome! Anyway, we'll see a little more of past rangers (and some past NS characters) in this chapter. And I did like your idea of having all of TF, but I wanted to save that for when the rangers return to their dimension since everyone in Tobi's dimension has to be different (like Wes and Eric's personalities being switched or Kim and Billy acting like a combination of the MMPR episodes Switching Places and Power Ranger Punks). The advantage of Tobi's dimension is, of course, that I don't have to follow the episodes. For instance, I can have Circuit stay behind in the present day and have Frax never be destroyed. As for the self destruct button on the Zords, either Cam will blow them up upon leaving the dimension or a certain something else will happen… And yes, Tobi didn't die from his burns because he's not an average person (an average person can't self combust, I don't think anyway). I'm glad you liked Geo. I think I'll bring him back in the next chapter.
Thanks griffin blackwood for reviewing the last chapter! I suspected you had secretly been reading this story too. And I kind of wondered if you voted in the last poll because some of the past rangers that were voted for just happened to be the same ones in Hurricane Chronicles. Could be coincidence… Anyway, feel free to offer suggestions!
Previously in Parallel Realities Ninja Storm:
Marah learns that Dustin and the others are Power Rangers and feels betrayed. Meanwhile, a Zord rises out of the ocean floor, but stops while it gathers energy from the planet. Cam and Tobi find Circuit, a robotic owl from the future who might be able to help them. Tobi trains with Sensei to control his powers but accidentally sets himself on fire. He manages to heal his own burns but it drains his energy. Meanwhile, Hunter, Blake and Dustin travel to the Thunder Ninja Academy where they run into trouble. The grumpy Sensei leaves with Circuit to supposedly find a way to send the Power Rangers back to their dimension. Shane and Tori see the Zord emerge from the water and are told to join the others, but Sensei and Cam notice that Tobi has left, streaking off to the Thunder Ninja Academy to help Dustin and the others just as Hunter and Blake's parents enter Ninja Ops...
Parallel Realities Ninja Storm: Chapter 24 (Ghosts from the Past)
Tobi saw a red and blue streak ahead of him and he knew that he was nearing the location he had seen on Cam's screen before he left Ninja Ops. He landed his streak right beside the two morphed Power Rangers. They were in the middle of a forest filled with gray, dead-looking trees.
"Tobi? What are you doing here?" Shane asked, opening his visor to reveal his surprised face.
"I had to check on Dustin… and Hunter and Blake," Tobi explained as he leaned heavily on his knees to recover.
Tori was the next to open her visor. "Nice outfit," she commented, approaching Tobi. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah," Tobi replied, grimacing a little. "I just accidentally caught myself on fire and then had to heal myself," he explained. "It took a lot out of me."
"Did you just say you caught yourself on fire?" Shane asked, studying him.
"It's a long story," Tobi replied. "The point is, I'm here now."
Tori gave him a surprised look before knocking on a nearby tree. "It's petrified," she noticed. "I think the whole forest is," she added, looking around.
"What's that smell?" Shane asked, closing his visor again while walking forward through the petrified woods.
"It smells like Dustin's room," Tori suggested, following Shane.
"Hey," Tobi protested. "I've been in Dustin's room and it didn't stink."
"I hate to be the one to tell you this, Tobi," Tori said, placing a hand on his shoulder, "but you're slightly biased when it comes to anything about Dustin."
"Maybe," he conceded, "but Dustin's not the joke you think he is."
"Sometimes I forget which of us has known him longer," she replied before Shane interrupted them.
"Hey guys, check this out," Shane announced, gesturing toward a geyser that kept shooting off steam in regular intervals. He raised his morpher. "Shane to Cam," he said. "How do we get into he academy?"
There was silence from his morpher. He looked at Tori and she tried hers, also with no response.
"You think something's wrong?" Shane asked.
"Maybe it's because we're too close to the portal's energy?" she suggested.
"But how do we know where it is?" Shane shot back.
"Let me try," Tobi offered, closing his eyes and concentrating. In front of them was a glowing door that kept opening and closing. When he opened his eyes, he was looking right at… "It's the geyser," he told them. "It's a portal that only opens when it's active."
"After you," Tori offered, watching the burning hot steam shoot out of the ground.
"You're the water ninja," Shane suggested before reluctantly giving in. He walked over tot eh geyser and waited for it to become active. The moment the steam erupted from the earth, he stepped forward and vanished din a flash of light.
Tori shrugged before looking at Tobi and following suit. The moment she vanished, Tobi went next.
A glowing circular portal expanded as the three emerged in front of the Thunder Ninja Academy, a large building that looked like it was straight out of a kung fu movie, complete with crimson and navy banners. As the portal contracted behind them, they spotted the others. Dustin and morphed versions of Hunter and Blake were fighting against a circle of ninjas in black surrounding them.
Shane and Tori immediately jumped high into the air and landed beside their friends. Tobi backed up to get a running start before jumping toward the others. His jump was too short, though, and he ended up landing on one of the surrounding ninja students' shoulders. He tumbled off until he ended up in the circle with the other rangers.
"You don't need to tell us we shouldn't have gone off alone," Blake said, kicking at the surrounding ninjas while Dustin helped Tobi up.
"Thanks," Tobi said, getting to his feet. He noticed that Dustin was now also in his ninja training outfit.
"No prob," Dustin said with a grin before crossing his arms and pointing his fingers. "Awesome outfit," he commented before vanishing into the ground and burrowing beneath the surrounding ninjas, knocking them over with his movement.
Meanwhile, Hunter and Blake were using their weapons and an occasional blast of electricity.
"Where's your parents?" Shane asked, using his Hawk Blaster on some of what must have been at least fifty thunder ninja students and their sensei.
"We don't know," Hunter replied, gesturing toward the older man with a funny hat who was obviously a sensei. "Sensei Omino thinks we stole some sort of amulets from the academy," he explained while dodging a lightning attack from three students combining their energy.
"He won't believe it wasn't us," Blake added, taking out a ninja that was jumping toward his brother.
"I guess thunder ninjas just naturally have thick heads," Tori offered, jumping from one student's head to another, knocking them back. "So, I take it your parents aren't here."
"I guess it was a wasted trip," Blake conceded before being knocked backward by a blast of sparks from his former sensei.
Hunter helped his brother up, kicking at an approaching ninja and knocking her face covering off in the process.
"Leanne?" Blake said, shocked.
"It's nothing personal, sweetheart," Leanne commented, jumping into the air and diving down on the two brothers.
Tori blasted her back with water, glancing at Blake. "Sweetheart?" she asked.
"Don't ask me," he replied.
"Right," she said, attacking Leanne.
At that moment, Dustin jumped out of the ground, but a bunch of students dove into him, knocking him back to the dirt. This time, Tobi pulled him up.
"You guys, duck for a moment!" Tobi yelled, jumping up while concentrating. The others only had a moment to follow his advice before a shock wave exploded out from him, sending the surrounding ninjas flying backward.
"Awesome, TZT!" Dustin congratulated as he landed from his jump and the others stood up.
"Impressive," a voice called from where the three had emerged through the portal. The rangers turned to see two adult ninjas holding Cam hostage. Sensei was sitting on his son's shoulder. "But we would have expected nothing less from our sons' friends," one of the adult ninjas stated.
"Mom? Dad?" Hunter and Blake called, running through the pile of recovering thunder students.
"Don't come any closer," their father warned, "or your friend suffers."
"Just return the amulets and no one gets hurt," their mother added. "Remember, we taught you everything you know."
The brothers stopped in their tracks as the others caught up to them. "But we don't know anything about any amulets," Blake insisted.
"We wouldn't lie to you," Hunter chimed in. "We're your sons. We love you."
Their mother flinched for only a moment. "You've lied to us before," she said. "We taught you that too…"
Sensei Omino stood up, dusting himself off and helping Leanne up. "Only a ninja that has mastered and elemental power can possess the amulet, let alone use it without the user being destroyed. Once she was properly trained, the amulets were meant for my daughter." He looked toward Leanne.
"We don't' blame you for wanting the additional power, especially with the delay in presenting you two with the… gifts we promised," their father added.
"What's so special about these amulets?" Blake asked.
"The Thunder Ninja Academy was charged with keeping the Shade and Sun amulets safe after the Dawn Temple was raided," Sensei Omino explained. "Since the Wind Ninja Academy has not had other students besides your friends for years and it could not have been another of my students…"
"How do you know that for sure?" Tori spoke up.
"Since no aliens can pass through the portal, it must have been a Power Ranger," Sensei Omino explained, "and there are only so many ninja Power Rangers."
"What about the Mighty Morphin Power Rangers when they like got ninja powers?" Dustin asked.
The three older ninjas exchanged looks. "They would not know where to find the amulets without help reaching the academy," Sensei Omino explained.
"Last chance," Leanne wanred.
"It wasn't us," Hunter insisted. "We're not even from this dimension."
"He's telling the truth," Dustin chimed in.
"We're sorry about this," Tori whispered to Hunter and Blake before nodding to Shane.
A gust of air hit the brothers' father while a burst of water hit their mother, sending both flying backward.
"Sensei!" Tobi called as the guinea pig jumped off Cam's shoulder just as Cam morphed into the green Samurai Ranger.
Shane and Tori then turned their attentions toward Sensei Omino and his daughter.
"Back to the portal!" Shane yelled as the two Ominos dove for cover and Sensei landed on Tobi's shoulder while Cam joined the other morphed rangers.
"Not so fast!" Sensei Omino said, shooting lightning out of his hands and causing the group to fall to the ground, writhing and twitching in pain.
"Mom, dad," Hunter choked out, fighting to stand despite an array of yellow sparks running up his body. "Gaaaah!" he cried, falling to the ground with the others as another powerful wave of electricity hit the group.
The brothers' mother turned to Sensei Omino as her husband helped her up. "Sensei, is this really necessary?" she asked.
Sensei Omino looked at them with a confused expression. "I know you want to protect your sons, but I am also protecting what is rightfully my daughter's."
"We understand, Sensei," the brothers' father replied, turning to his wise, who nodded before flinching as another blast of electricity hit the rangers.
"It wasn't their fault," a female voice suddenly announced. The others turned weakly, their bodies still twitching, to see a girl around the age of the rangers with tanned skin and long curly black hair appeared out of thin air.
"Who are you?" Sensei Omino asked.
"Skyla?" Shane answered for them, staring in disbelief.
"So, this is Skyla," Tori commented, trying to shake off the pain and lingering tingling.
"She's…" Sensei Omino said, squinting. "…a Karminion. How could she be here?"
"A what?" Leanne asked.
"I took the amulets," Skyla confessed nervously. "I wasn't sure what I was supposed to do and Tommy tricked me to get the Shade Amulet and gain the power of shadows."
"Doctor Oliver," Hunter realized, helping Tori up.
"What happened to the Skyla who was so convinced about our destiny?" Shane asked, helping the others to their feet and approaching Skyla.
"I wish I had that kind of confidence or faith," she replied hesitantly.
"Who did this to you?" Shane asked, taking Skyla's hand.
"What do you mean?" she asked, looking down at his hand around hers.
"It's a different dimension and a different Skyla," Tori told Shane quietly.
"Oh, right," he muttered, obviously choking back a strong emotion as he released her hand.
"So, why did you take the amulets?" Blake asked.
"I thought I was supposed to give one of them to someone," she explained. "I'm not really sure. It was just a feeling until now. Now I know who I'm supposed to give this to." She opened her hand and a gold medallion appeared in it.
Shane smiled as she approached him. Even without him saying so, it was obvious how much he cared for her and missed her. At least, the other Skyla…
But she walked past him and stopped in front of Tobi, who stared at her with a surprised expression. "I tried to contact you in your dreams but I couldn't find you, so I didn't know what to do," she confessed. "I felt so lost."
"Because I was in the other dimension," Tobi realized. "But why me?"
"You saved me when you were a child," she explained.
"So, that's all destiny is?" Shane asked, approaching. "If you met someone else back then, everything changes?"
"What do you mean?" Skyla asked, turning to Shane.
He frowned and turned away, a pained look on his face. "Nothing," he mumbled.
"Here," Skyla said, handing Tobi the amulet. "It's the Sun Amulet. It will grant you the power of sunlight."
Tobi's eyes widened as he examined the round, golden object in his hand. It has an engraved image of a sun in its center, curly waves stretching out from the carving. A chain was attached to one end, so he slipped it around his neck. "How do I use it?" he asked.
"I don't know," she admitted, embarrassed. "Maybe you'll figure it out or it will just come naturally like with Tommy."
"Thank you," Tobi told her, placing his hand around the amulet.
"You are not leaving here with the amulet," Sensei Omino warned.
"Why not?" Skyla asked, genuinely confused.
"Skyla," Shane whispered, "you can get us out of here."
"Okay," she agreed and, in a flash, the rangers found themselves and Skyla back in the petrified woods.
"Woah," Hunter said, looking around at the sudden change in surroundings as the others did the same.
"I told you," Dustin said, approaching Tobi, "You shined like the sun."
"You did," Tobi recalled, still unsure what to do with the metal sun around his neck.
"I'll head back to Ninja Ops," Cam said, transferring Sensei from Tobi's shoulder to his own. "We still have an ancient Zord to deal with."
"We'll meet you back there soon," Shane told him.
"Don't be surprised if security is a little tighter when you get back," Cam said, streaking off.
"Skyla, do you… feel weak?" Shane asked her hesitantly.
"No, why?" she asked.
"You aren't going to transform into something else?" he suggested.
"I never seem to stay in one form for long," she admitted, "but I don't think I'm going to change right now."
"When you change, you're supposed to give something to… Tobi," he added.
She thought for a moment. "You mean, besides the amulet?" she asked.
"A power of some kind," he explained.
"Okay," she replied. "I'll stick around then. Can I ask you something?"
"Of course," Shane replied.
"How do you know me?" she asked hesitantly.
"Oh," he replied. "That's a long story, but let's just say I met another of you… of your kind and she gave me something before she… Well, she didn't die. She sort of became like an angel, a glowing light."
"I understand," Skyla replied. "She meant a lot to you?"
Shane straightened up. "I didn't really know her long," he justified, "but she was… special," he admitted. "She was always so certain of everything, like she knew it all ahead of time. She even knew I was a Power Ranger and she said I was her… destiny."
"I'm sorry that she left you," Skyla apologized, "but you have your friends, right?"
"Yeah," Shane agreed, "I do."
"I wish I knew the other Karminion," she said somberly. "I've never had a friend before and you have nine of them."
"Skyla," Shane replied, "you can be our friend." She turned to the others, who nodded.
"I know I'm not good at math, dude, but there aren't nine of us plus you, bro," Dustin pointed out.
Shane looked around and counted in his head before turning back to Skyla. "Those dudes we were fighting weren't our friends. There's just the… six of us here, counting me, and then Cam and our Sensei who left," he counted. "We have other friends, but you haven't met them yet."
"What about those two?" she asked, gesturing toward Blake and Hunter.
"I already counted them," he replied. "Blake and Hunter."
"And the other two?" she asked. "the ones behind them. The ones floating?"
"Floating?" Shane asked, tuning to look at the thunder rangers who, hearing this, looked over their shoulders.
"What do you see?" Shane asked slowly.
"A man and a woman," she explained. "They look like the two back there but they're in white and a little see-through."
"Our parents," Blake realized.
"They're here?" Hunter asked, turning around abruptly.
"You can't see them?" she asked the others.
"No, we can't," Tori answered for the others.
"Dude, you can see dead people?" Dustin asked.
"Your parents are ghosts and they followed you from the other dimension?" Tobi asked.
"They were spirits," Hunter replied, studying the empty air through squinted eyes.
"Can you talk to them?" Blake asked, turning to Skyla.
"Hello?" she offered. After a moment, she addressed the others, "They said they've never left your sides and…" she paused, listening, "they love you."
"I love you too," Hunter said to the air. "Can they hear me?"
"Yes, they hear you," Skyla replied.
The two brothers continued to look at the empty air until their morphers beeped.
"Go for Shane," Shane answered his first.
"I almost have the Zords ready," Cam's voice came on. "Our ancient Zord friend is currently stomping through the city and I need you guys to at least keep people out of its way until I'm ready."
"Right," Shane agreed. "Let's go."
"We can't leave them," Hunter said, still looking for something invisible hidden in the sulfur tinted air.
Tori walked up to the two brothers. "They're always with you, remember?" she reminded them.
"You're right, Tor," Hunter said, turning to her. They both had their visors open and something in his eyes made her hug him.
"Hey, do I get a hug?" Blake asked.
"There's always Tobi," Tori offered. "He kisses better than me. Maybe he hugs better too."
Blake frowned and Tori shrugged before giving him a hug.
Meanwhile, Shane put his hands on each of Skyla's arms. "We'll be back," he told her.
"That confident Karminion, you liked her a lot," Skyla commented before straitening her posture. "I'll find you." She grinned before vanishing.
Shane looked between his now empty hands, from where Skyla had been back to the others and nodded for them to follow.
The five rangers and Tobi streaked to a stop beneath a massive black and silver Dragon Zord. "Crowd control," Shane reminded them as they spread out in front of the stomping Zord.
Tori pulled out her Sonic Fin, which served the dual purpose of a megaphone and a wave of energy pushing humans, aliens and kelzacks back. "Stay out of the path of the Zord," she shouted. "It seems to be heading up Market Street toward the Blue Bay Harbor Shopping Plaza."
"If it doesn't change its mind," Blake offered to Tori.
"What's wrong?" Hunter asked Tobi, who was just standing, staring at the Zord and the chaos around it. "Tobi!" he yelled, shaking him. He had a horrified look in his eyes.
"I'm… I'm sorry," Tobi said, shaking his head. "I was just… remembering." He blinked hard. "I'm okay now."
Hunter opened his visor to give him a skeptical look. "You sure?"
"Yeah," Tobi gulped. "Go! They need you," he insisted.
Hunter gave him one last look before joining his brother.
Tobi looked around at the tall Zord above him down to the screaming people below it. It was exactly like before. But… no… it wasn't He had been helpless then and Tori had to save him, choosing to help him even though it ultimately meant their mother ended up dying. This time, he wasn't helpless. He could help and he would help.
Meanwhile, Dustin ran into a nearby coffee shop where everyone seemed to be on their cell phones and lap tops, apparently oblivious to the approaching Zord. "There's a freaking huge dragon about to stomp this place!" he yelled.
The crowed seemed to ignore him, causing him to frown. Then someone near a window stood up suddenly. "There are Power Rangers coming!" he shouted.
The rest of the customers immediately gathered around the window before screaming and running for the exit.
As everyone ran past him and out the doors, Dustin dusted off his hands. "Dude, that was easy."
Outside, the Dragon Zord knocked a chunk off a tall building. Hunter and Blake streaked over to get a mother and her child out of the way just as the chunk of roof crashed onto the sidewalk and a parked car, smashing both.
The mom screamed, "Power Rangers!" and clutched her child close to her chest as she ran away quickly.
"Don't everybody thank us at once," Blake commented, moving on to help a couple out of a car that had become stuck in an unmoving traffic jam.
"Heads up!" Shane yelled as the Dragon Zord's tail swung forward, drilling through the coffee shop that Dustin had just evacuated.
Tobi had just helped a family of clockwork aliens out of the next building over when the destruction destabilized the entire building and it began to tilt forward.
Blake and Hunter had streaked to the building's roof, where some people and aliens had fled during the attack. They streaked them from one roof to another as the building tilted further, its support beams snapping.
Meanwhile, Shane was helping Tori rescue a couple kelzacks that had been trapped under falling debris.
Tobi looked over to see Dustin rescuing a small dog that was left tied to a fire hydrant directly in front of the falling building. Not being morphed, he knew Dustin would be crushed. Tobi only had enough time to streak over to Dustin and move them a short distance before he knew they weren't going to make it. So, concentrating, he created a continuous wave of energy around them as the entire building smashed all around. Giant chunks of wall and upper floors tumbled into a large mess in the street, smoke rising from the destruction.
"TZT, dude, you can let go now," Dustin told him.
Tobi hadn't realized how tightly he had been holding Dustin to him until he released his grip, the force of energy he had been projecting facing. With it gone, smoke from the rubble immediately flew into their untouched circle.
"That was awesome, dude!" Dustin told him, grabbing his arms.
Tobi started to lean up toward Dustin's smiling face as their eyes met and he felt his own face flush.
"Thanks," Dustin continued, producing a small brown haired dog, "and this little dude thanks you too!"
"No problem," Tobi mumbled, lowering himself.
"Guys, I'm sending you the Hawk Zord, Dolphin Zord and Lion Zord," Cam's voice came from Dustin's morpher. "I don't have the Megazord sequenced yet, but I'm hoping three on one will give you guys an advantage."
Dustin and Tobi ran over to Shane and Tori as the four spotted a giant red hawk flying toward them. It was followed by a blue dolphin and huge yellow lion. The three Power Rangers, only two morphed, nodded at each other before jumping high into the air and landing in their respective Zords. The animal Zords immediately began attacking the black Dragon Zord.
Meanwhile, Tobi went to find Hunter and Blake. After some searching, he spotted them crawling their way out of rubble near where the coffee shop had been. "Are you guys okay?" he asked, running over to them.
"We're, ugh, fine," Hunter grunted, lifting a piece of roof off himself. Had he not been morphed, he would have been crushed.
"The force from that building falling must have pulled this one down too," Blake commented, dusting himself off and helping his brother up.
Tobi looked around at the buildings surrounding the coffee shop's rubble and saw that they had all been destroyed in a perfect circle around where he and Dustin had stood. "Uh, that's probably my fault," Tobi confessed, adding, "Hey, the others are in their Zords taking on the Dragon Zord. We should make sure everyone's out of the way."
"Right!" the brothers agreed, running out into the rubble covered street and looking up at the three animal Zords take on the single Dragon Zord. The three Zords seemed to be managing to at least keep the Dragon Zord in one spot as they fought it. That was definitely progress.
"This ends here!" a voice shouted from behind the brothers and Tobi. They turned to see Mayor Lothor and his allies.
"The Power Rangers are helping!" Tobi yelled back.
One of the aliens fired at the three. "I don't think they're convinced," Hunter commented as they dodged the blast.
Smash! Suddenly Tori's Dolphin Zord was thrown by the Dragon Zord against a nearby building, where it completely obliterated the structure, sending chunks of walls flying everywhere. Before Lothor and his allies could react, Hunter and Blake had caught a falling side of a nearby building before it crushed the mayor and his allies.
Just then, a series of black and gold helicopters flew in, dropping members of the Golden Guardians from ropes. "We'll take it from here," Frax said, dropping to the ground.
"This is my town," Mayor Lothor pointed out, "but I do appreciate the help." Shimazu ran up to Lothor and handed him an old fashioned looking phone. "Yes?" he asked the phone. "Mr. President! Of course." He paused, a surprised look forming on his face. "Thank you, Mr. President." He then hung up. "It seems we may not even need your help after all."
While the Dolphin Zord rejoined the fight and Hunter and Blake threw the debris out of the way of Lothor and the Golden Guardians, the ground shook like something big was stomping its way closer.
"It figures," Hunter commented as the three looked up to see a giant monster with large teeth and long claws approaching.
"So, whose side is it on?" Blake asked.
"It's just going to attack all the Zords," Tobi answered. "The president must have authorized the use of Project Alien Enlargement."
"Project Alien Enlargement?" Blake repeated.
"It's how the Zords were defeated before," Tobi explained. "An alien with mutant DNA can be made to grow big enough to take on the Zords while keeping the powers many aliens naturally possess."
"Then we're toast," Hunter said, raising his morpher. "Shane, Dustin and Tori," he said. "Big and nasty wants your Zords scrap metal, but he's not that particular. Try to keep the Dragon Zord between you and the monster."
"Good idea," Shane's voice told him through his morpher.
"Hunter to Cam," he called, keeping his arm raised. "Any word on our Zords?"
"The other dimension's Dustin wasn't working on your Zords," Cam's voice replied, "but since you two got them from your Sensei, I'm guessing he still has them. And, you don't need to tell me to hurry up with the Megazord configuration. Dustin and Shane have done that enough and I'm still working on it."
"We know you're doing your best," Hunter offered.
"Thanks," Cam replied, surprise in his voice.
"Don't look now, bro, but we're in trouble," Blake said, getting his brother's attention. The three looked around to see that they were now surrounded by the combined forces of Lothor and the Golden Guardians.
"Surrender or be destroyed," Frax stated bluntly.
Tobi noticed that Marah and Kapri were among those helping the mayor. The look in Marah's eyes appeared to be a mixture of hurt and anger, a dangerous combination.
Just then, the enlarged monster stumbled backward, grabbing at a nearby building for support and causing it to crumble under his weight. Hunter and Blake were quick to blast the larger pieces of falling building with lightning, causing them to explode into harmless powder. This gave Tobi an idea and he focused on burning the remaining chunks of collapsing building. They exploded into black ash and he was forced to look away as soot ended up hitting his face.
The surrounding humans, aliens and kelzacks were quick to wipe themselves off and point their weapons at Hunter, Blake and Tobi.
"Come on!" Blake insisted. "We're trying to help here!"
"This is your last chance to surrender," Frax stated.
"We're trying to stop the Dragon Zord," Tobi chimed in. "We're on the same side here."
"They could be telling the truth," Eric offered from the crowd of Golden Guardians.
"You're too trusting, Eric," Wes warned.
Scratch! The crowd looked up to see the monster's large claws tear into the Lion Zord while it sent the massive yellow Zord tumbling end over end.
"Look out!" Kapri yelled as the spinning Zord smashed through the surrounding buildings straight for them.
Tobi only had enough time to raise his hands and focus all his energy on pushing the oversized Lion Zord away. He grunted as he only managed to hold it in the air. This gave the others a chance to run, but not for long. The wave of energy collapsed, throwing Tobi backward and allowing Dustin's Lion Zord to crash into the street.
"Thanks, TZT," Dustin's voice came from Tobi's communicator before the Lion Zord rolled back toward the battle.
"Eric!" a voice yelled and the others looked over to see that a couple humans and a few kelzacks had been caught by flying debris. While Hunter and Blake ran to help where they could, Tobi approached Wes.
"Stay back!" Wes growled, raising his laser pistol and pointing it at Tobi.
"I'm here to help," Tobi insisted, raising his arms.
Wes frowned, but agreed. "Alright, but I'm warning you," he said as Tobi reached for the chunk of debris covering Eric and it burned into ash under his touch.
"Eric," Wes gasped out, seeing that the other Golden Guardian wasn't moving.
"Wes?" Eric grunted in pain.
"Where does it hurt?" Wes asked.
"I think I broke my leg," Eric said painfully. "I can't walk."
"I'll help you and…" Wes paused. "Eric, I'm sorry. I… You mean…" He held Eric to him, still at a loss for words.
"I know," Eric said, forcing a smile before grunting in pain. "I'll have to dye my hair green sometime so I don't need to be hurt for you to—" He gasped in severe pain as he tried to move his leg.
Tobi looked down at the two and knew what he had to do. "Here," he said, kneeling and reaching for Eric's broken leg.
"What are you doing?" Wes snapped.
"Let him do his thing," Eric whispered, placing a hand on Wes' face to calm him.
Tobi focused on the bones and tried to figure out how to set them properly when a glowing flame blocked his view of the injury.
Eric cried out for a moment.
"Stop it!" Wes yelled.
It was too late. The process had begun. After a moment, Eric moved his leg around. Reaching down, he felt for an injury before having Wes help him up.
"How did you…?" Wes asked in disbelief.
"Nevermind, just get out of here," Tobi said, falling to his hands and knees in exhaustion. At least he hadn't passed out.
He reached for the amulet around his neck and held it. It immediately began to glow and he felt his strength returning. He stood up and walked over to Hunter and Blake, who were arguing with Mayor Lothor.
"Can't you see we're helping?" Hunter insisted.
When Tobi approached, Marah pointed to him. "He's with the Power Rangers too," she accused.
"These Power Rangers are from a different dimension and are here to help," Tobi explained. "Right now, the Power Rangers from this dimension are back in theirs probably destroying things there. Over there, Lothor is an evil space ninja and the Power Rangers—these Power Rangers are good. I mean, right now, they could be trying to get back to their dimension to save it, but instead they're helping because they can… Because they care. Dustin would never hurt or use you, Marah," he told her. "He cares about you."
"Hey, it like makes sense to me," Kapri offered, "the whole opposite dimension thing. You think we're evil there?"
Marah frowned, looking lost in thought.
"That's the most absurd thing I've ever heard," Lothor stated.
"Well, we tried," Blake told Tobi.
"Marah!' a kid's voice called. She looked over to see Geo running up to her.
"What are you doing here?" she asked in surprise.
"I followed you and Kapri," he replied, stopping in front of her.
"You shouldn't be here," she scolded.
Suddenly a loud mechanical whine filled the air. The others looked up to see the black Dragon Zord suddenly stopping in place, its lights turning off.
Hunter raised his morpher. "Hunter to Cam. What happened? The Zord just stopped."
"I'm getting zero energy output from it," Cam's voice replied. "It's like it just ran out of power."
Just then, four figures hopped out of the top of the Dragon Zord's head. Dr. Oliver stood in the center with Kimberly and Billy on one side and a red, yellow and gold robot that must have been Alpha 6 on the other. "It appears we will have to finish this later," Dr. Oliver stated, turning to smoke and circling the Zord.
A streak of black swirled around the Zord faster and faster until… Poof! The entire Zord and its four occupants vanished into thin air.
This left just Shane, Tori and Dustin's Zords versus the giant alien.
"Call off your big ugly monster," Blake told Lothor. "We don't' want to fight you."
"I can't do that," Lothor told him as the monster continued to strike at the three Zords.
"This doesn't have to go this way," Tobi told Marah specifically. "If you believe in destiny and fate and all that, you have to believe that the Power Rangers are good."
"Dustin's friends are Power Rangers," Geo offered. "So they're not bad guys."
"I'm recalling the Zords," Cam's voice came from Hunter and Blake's morphers. "Everyone return to Ninja Ops to regroup."
"Understood," Shane's voice answered before the Zords retreated.
"That's our cue," Tobi told the others before saying one last thing to Marah. "You don't have to trust us. Trust Dustin."
"You three aren't going—" Lothor began, but they just streaked away in a blur.
Marah watched them go, furrowing her brown in concentration.
To be continued...
Author's Notes: So, no one died! The poll is too close, so… And, I wonder where I got the idea of the Sun from? Anyway, let me know what you think about this chapter and what you'd like to see in future chapters! Remember, you can review anonymously! Just click "Review This Chapter!" Thanks!