Previously in Parallel Realities Ninja Storm:
Motodrone manages to prevent the bomb from destroying Lothor's ship, but the ship is still damaged and the core becomes unstable, causing more explosions. Meanwhile, the explosion prevents Tobi from using Dustin's body to free the others, so he leaves, promising he'll return once Dustin can morph. Down on earth, the rangers stare in horror at the destruction of Lothor's ship and Skyla borrows Vexacus' powers to scare him off, but this disturbs her and the actions are witnessed by Kelly, Ali and Maya, finally confirming that her employees and their friends are Power Rangers. The rangers return to Ninja Ops to find Tobi dead because he left his body, so Skyla retrieves the fragments of the Gem of Souls to save him, nearly losing to Zurgane because of her thoughts of losing Shane. Back at Ops, they save Tobi, but it finally uses up the gem fragments, so he can never leave his body again or he'll die permanently. Because of the energy drain, Sensei, Lia, Waldo and Skyla combine their powers to heal Tobi's body and sever his connection to Dustin. The effect gives Tobi strength, but causes him to figure out that the others are keeping something from him. They reveal that Dustin and all the others were killed. Since they are the last ninjas against an army, Sensei and Skyla travel to the Thunder Ninja Academy to enlist the help of Leanne while the others rest. Meanwhile, Tobi talks to Waldo about a way to see Dustin again and the two end up kissing. At the Thunder Ninja Academy, Sensei tells Leanne her father and the others are dead and they need her help, but then Sensei Omino appears and attacks Sensei...
Parallel Realities Ninja Storm: Chapter 47 (No One Can Be Replaced)
Just as lightning flew from Omino's hands, Skyla dove to roll Sensei out of the way, knocking the two to the dirt.
"Father," Leanne called. "What's going on?"
Sensei Omino continued to approach the others. "Sensei Watanabe pretended to be helping me by freeing me from Lothor's ship, but then he turned on me. He only released me to torture me, but I escaped." He stared at Sensei as the ninja master stood. "How did you get here first?"
"Raijin, this is just a misunderstanding," Sensei assured him.
"I will not fall for your deception again," Omino declared, sending out another arc of electricity. When Skyla slid Sensei out of the way, he sent a broader arc of electricity.
This time, even though Skyla anticipated the move, the electricity was over too broad an area and managed to electrocute the two, sending them to the ground, twitching in pain and unable to move.
"You betrayed not only me, but the oath we took," Omino continued, sending another jolt of electricity to keep them down.
"Father, we know Sensei Watanabe," Leanne began. "He couldn't have done what you think he did."
"I am sorry, Leanne," Omino apologized, "but—"
"She is right, you do know me," a voice interrupted and the others turned to see another Sensei emerging from the portal. In every way, this Sensei looked identical to the one next to Skyla on the ground.
"Kanoi?" Omino asked, looking between the two.
The new Sensei nodded. "It is I, Kanoi Watanabe," he replied. "I fear my imposter has been misleading you."
"You're the imposter," Skyla said through gritted teeth from the pain.
"Obviously she would say that," the new Sensei replied dismissively. "She is with the imposter."
Leanne glanced back at the Sensei on the ground and then back at her father. "He did say you were dead. So, if he was lying about that, I wonder if the others are alive."
The new Sensei again nodded. "They are indeed alive, but I fear for their safety. This imposter may have done to the others what he did to you."
Skyla gasped as the weight of these words settled on her. Could the others really be alive? She felt... relief? But she couldn't separate her feelings from what was real. Was Shane okay or was this a lie?
Omino's eyes darkened as he looked back at the Sensei still on the ground. "I should have known you could not be Kanoi Watanabe, not...after what you did."
"Please believe me," Sensei begged, still twitching from the shock.
The new Sensei approached, glancing between Omino and Leanne. "You two may kill his accomplice," he said, gesturing to Skyla. "I will personally deal with my imposter."
The four looked at him in shock.
That was when Skyla's emotions finally cleared enough to sense... "Lothor," she gasped.
"Ah, right," the new Sensei said with a shrug and a slight Southern accent. "My brother wouldn't be so quick to kill. I'll have to remember that."
Just as recognition began to dawn in the eyes of the others, the new Sensei's body flickered and transformed into... Lothor.
"Loth—" Omino began before two blasts of purple energy hit him and Leanne, throwing them back and knocking them out.
Skyla only had a moment to teleport herself and Sensei away, but the combination of repeated electrical shocks to her nervous system and the repeated emotional shocks to her heart made her lose that moment. And, as Lothor shot another pair of purple beams from each hand at her and Sensei, she too was knocked out.
Lothor then calmly approached his twin brother and the former Karminion by his side and casually removed each of their morphers. "I'll just be holding onto these." He then pulled out his PAM and pressed a series of buttons.
Instantly, an alien shaped roughly like a red mailbox but covered in tongues appeared. "How did I get here?" it slurred.
"Welcome back, Slob Goblin," Lothor greeted pleasantly. "I've recently gotten back into stamp collecting." He then gestured to the four unconscious ninjas.
Slob Goblin immediately shot a tongue out of his mouth, which trapped the four inside small postage stamps. "Who's next?" he asked.
"That's it for now," Lothor replied. "I can't risk anyone else finding out I'm alive for the next part of my plan to work." He then raised his arm. "Motodrone, turn on the incoming transport just long enough to get me and one alien back aboard."
"Yes, sir," came Motodrone's voice.
"And I want you to extract four souvenirs I've collected from their stamps and put them in stasis with the other ninjas," Lothor ordered. "I'll deal with them later. It's past my bedtime."
"Of course, sir," Motodrone agreed.
"And I assume you are finished with repairs?" Lothor continued.
"We lost half the upper deck," Motodrone explained, "but the ship's energy core and the ninja students are intact."
"I helped," came Shimazu's voice.
"Hardly," Motodrone argued before saying, "The transport is ready."
And then Lothor and Slob Goblin teleported away, leaving nothing behind but the remains of the ninja academy.
"TZT, I believe in you!" Dustin's voice called. "You can make it!"
"I'm trying!" Tobi called back as he tried to find footing to climb up the rope that he dangled from in the middle of space. He grit his teeth with the exertion as he pulled himself higher, hand over hand.
"The cord won't break," Dustin called. "Use it."
"That's what I'm doing," Tobi grunted as he climbed.
"See it," Dustin continued.
Tobi groaned under the strain. "I am!" he yelled "I'm trying to—"
And then suddenly he woke up.
His sister was standing over him, shaking him gently. "You were having a nightmare," she said. Her face looked exhausted even though it was obvious she had just woken up.
He sat up in his cot and wiped sweat from his forehead as he caught his breath.
She sat down beside him. "Do you want to talk about it?"
He rubbed sleep from his eyes. "It was about Dustin."
"Of course it was," she said quietly, wrapping an arm around his shoulder.
"I keep trying to get to him, but I can't," he continued.
She hugged him. "I know you miss him, but remember your promise."
He just nodded as he returned the hug.
She brushed his hair back. "Let's see if Sensei and Skyla are back. At least we can talk to them through Skyla." She pulled back from the hug to look at him and tried to force a smile. "Okay?"
"Okay," he replied. It wasn't the same, but at least he could talk to Dustin's spirit through her. "But let me shower first."
"I'm next, so don't use up all the hot water," she told him.
"Cam said the hot water won't run out for millions of years," he recalled.
"Yeah," she mumbled, wiping her eyes.
When he entered the bathroom, he saw a pair of scissors with blood on their sharp blades. He gasped before franticly checking the bathtub first.
He ran out of the bathroom and into his sister.
"What's wrong?" she asked, sensing his panic.
"I think Waldo might have done something... drastic," he explained.
She groaned. "He's becoming as impulsive as you."
He looked at her sharply, but she wasn't angry, just worried.
"Waldo!" she began calling.
"Waldo!" he called too as they searched.
"What's wrong?" a voice asked as Waldo stepped into the hall, his hair shorter and a bandage on one ear.
"Waldo!" Tobi yelled, hugging him.
"What did you do to your hair?" Lia was the first to ask.
Waldo ran a hand through his hair. "Yeah, I, uh, cut it. I was just getting a bandage because I nicked my ear."
"Oh," Tobi said, pulling back.
"You had us worried," Lia added. "So, you liked my short hair so much you had to try it?"
Waldo looked at Tobi. "I, uh..." he began.
Tobi's eyes widened with realization. "It's because of last night, isn't it?" he asked.
Waldo's gaze fell as he nodded.
"Wait, what happened last night?" she asked, eyeing the two suspiciously.
"We kissed," Tobi confessed.
"I kissed him," Waldo immediately corrected. "We were just... emotionally vulnerable."
She again looked between the two. "So what does that have to do with cutting your hair?"
Tobi looked at Waldo. "It's because I was thinking of Dustin when we kissed. But you said to pretend you were him and I told you that you didn't have to pretend to be someone else."
The earth ninja sighed, again running a hand through his now shorter hair. "I thought about pretending to him for you, but I knew that would only hurt you more. Every time you see me, you'd see him."
"And now I'll never see him again," Tobi whispered.
"You never really would have anyway," he replied. "I'm not him."
The blond looked up at the brunette. "Yeah, I know."
"I'm sorry, Tobs," he said quietly. "I want you to see me. Hunter made me like myself and I owe him that much."
"No, I get it," Tobi said, shaking his head. "I tried to pretend with Cyber Dustin, but it wasn't him. No one can be replaced." He took a breath. "I'll talk to Dustin through Skyla. It won't be the same, but..."
"But at least it'll be the Dustin you love," Waldo finished.
"I do love you," Tobi insisted, "but as a friend."
"He's got a lot of love to go around," Lia added, patting the earth ninja's shoulder. "Now let's go see if Sensei and Skyla are done. I have people I want to talk to too..." She sighed.
"They haven't come back yet," Waldo said, "so I guess it got late and they slept over there. You think it's too early to call?"
"My brother's up," Lia replied. "It can't be that early."
Tobi rolled his eyes as the three entered the main room of Ninja Ops.
Waldo raised his wrist and called, "Waldo to Sensei. Sorry to disturb you, but we're just kinda hoping you're ready to come back with Leanne and Skyla now." He waited for a moment, but there was no response.
"What's a moth doing in here?" Lia asked as a small moth hovered around Cam's laptop. She tried waving it off.
"It's Goldwinger," Tobi realized, holding back his sister's arm and opening the laptop. The moth immediately began typing away on the keys.
"He's not responding," Waldo said, approaching the twins. "What's going on?"
Just then, the moth finished typing and then began hovering over the laptop as an image of a big gay butterfly appeared on the screen.
"Goldwinger, how did you—" Waldo began.
"I have my ways," the alien interrupted with a dismissive wave of his winged arm. "I was just going to call and ask your Cam something, but I couldn't send a signal through Circuit. So, I thought I'd peak in and—Oh my! What happened to your secret clubhouse?"
"We were attached by Lothor," Lia explained.
"Then it's a good thing I checked in, you know," Goldwinger replied.
"Are our dimension's rangers there?" Tobi asked tentatively. A part of him had been relieved when the rangers he grew up knowing left a month ago. He stayed behind with this dimension's rangers, with his friends. This may not have been his dimension, but it became his home. Most of that was Dustin, but not all. Dustin's friends were his friends too, the real friends he'd always wanted.
"They're around here somewhere," Goldwinger answered. "Should I send them over?"
"Please," Waldo said earnestly.
"Will do, buckaroo," Goldwinger replied. Before stepping off screen, he leaned forward and whispered. "So, first can I ask your Cam a little question? It's just a minor favor, really."
Lia turned away from the screen as Waldo said, "That won't be possible."
"Oh," Goldwinger mumbled. "I wasn't going to make him strip or anything, but I guess later then." He then left as the screen went black.
Waldo turned to the others. "I can't reach Sensei or Skyla."
Tobi raised his wrist. "Sensei? Skyla?" He waited a moment. "Sensei? Skyla?" he repeated.
"Just great," Lia groaned.
"We'll get the others here and find them," Waldo said, trying to calm her. "It'll be just like old times."
"Yeah," Tobi mumbled and the earth ninja watched him walk away.
Even Lia frowned at the "old times" reference. None of them really wanted to go back. It could never be the same as it was because they all changed, they all fell in love, and they all lost someone. They weren't who they were so the past couldn't be what it once was.
The three stood on the surface above Ninja Ops as the sky sparkled gold and Goldwinger's Moth Zord materialized before landing roughly on the same set of trees it had knocked over when it last arrived a month ago.
Goldwinger started to climb out of his zord but the other dimension's Shane pushed him aside and the other rangers followed him out, including space ninjas Marah and Kapri as well as grumpy Sensei on his wife's shoulder.
As Goldwinger finally managed to exit, he looked around in an obvious sense of disappointment. "Where are the rest of your studly friends? Surely they're not too busy for your old friend, yours truly?"
"Yeah, where's the loser versions of us?" Shane asked.
"Dudes, maybe it's like a surprise party!" Cam cheered, exchanging a high five with Hunter. "And cool new haircut, D-Man!"
Lia looked at her brother. Neither of them wanted to be the one to say it, so Waldo did for them.
"They're dead," he announced to the new arrivals.
The others were silent for a moment, obviously in shock.
"What the hell?" Shane was the first to say. "Are you serious?"
That seemed to break everyone from their trance and the questions began to flood out.
"Dustin is dead?" Marah gasped.
"How do you know?" grumpy Sensei asked.
Goldwinger just began crying into his winged arm.
As the group descended down into Ninja Ops, Waldo explained about Lothor destroying Ops, capturing the others and Vexacus killing Lothor and the rangers by destroying Lothor's ship.
"Your Cam should have killed that fish that night at the party," Shane said as the others looked around at the damaged base.
"He was a good kid," Cam's mom said, mostly to herself.
"They all were," grumpy Sensei mumbled, the sentiment even surprising his wife.
"Don't worry, we'll dish out some serious payback," Blake said.
"It won't bring them back," Tobi said softly.
"You can't..." Hunter began, gesturing with his arms. "...you know, bring them back? Like you did with your Dustin that time?"
Tobi shook his head. Oh how he wished he could. He'd sacrifice anything for that opportunity.
"So our uncle's dead too?" Marah asked, tears in her eyes.
"Why are you crying?" Kapri asked. "He was a dick."
"But he was family," Marah pointed out.
"Barely," Kapri retorted. "I for one don't care."
"Liar," Marah accused.
"Crybaby," Kapri replied.
"I can't contact this dimension's Sensei," Waldo interrupted. "Could you guys give me a hand repairing the morpher tracker?"
"Whatcha need, D-Man?" Cam asked.
"I need to clean out all the debris and remove the entire wall that collapsed," he explained. "Then I'll see how much damage there is."
"I should have brought Perry and his fine ass to help," Goldwinger lamented, still crying.
"What about the sensor grid?" Kapri asked.
Waldo gave her a surprised look.
"She did fix your computer, D-Man," Cam explained.
The earth ninja shook off his surprise. "Lothor permanently destroyed the sensor grid."
"Then move it," Shane ordered.
As the others helped move debris and heave the wall from off the remains of the computer, Lia turned to her brother. "Are you gonna be okay with us all together again like... before?"
Tobi sighed, watching Waldo dig out a set of cables. "I thought about how it was before I even knew about this dimension. Maybe it would be easier if I'd never come here and never met this dimension's Dustin. It wouldn't have hurt so much."
"I know what you mean," she whispered.
"But, even though it hurts to have lost him," he continued, "I wouldn't want to have stayed like things were."
"You hated it that much?" she asked, frowning. "I guess it's no secret we were major jerks. Even I hate how much this reminds me of back there. I don't even like who I used to be. How can you stand it?"
"It's not just that," he corrected. "I was miserable but I didn't know any better, so I made it through. But, even though I lost everything, I had everything." He held a hand to his chest. "If this pain is the cost for what I had with Dustin, I'll take it. He gave me so much. He gave me so much love. He was—he is my everything." But, despite his words, he was crying and she held him in silence until Goldwinger blew his nose quite loudly into a rainbow handkerchief.
"Why must true love be so tragic?" the alien complained.
"You've got to connect the two lateral panels," Kapri told Waldo.
"They need to be separately realigned first," he argued.
"No they don't," she insisted.
"I know how my—how Cam's computer works," he continued.
"Fine, if you want to blow yourself up," she huffed.
He groaned.
"Miko, take the girls outside," grumpy Sensei told his wife. "And take Goldwinger and his snot with you."
"Someone's bossy," Cam's mom replied.
"You have my permission to kick them if you need to," he added.
"In that case," she said, calling to the space ninjas and alien, "Kapri, Marah, Goldwinger, let's go get some fresh air."
"The air is kinda stale in here," Marah agreed.
"That's probably because you forgot to bathe, like, ever," Kapri commented as the four exited.
Once they were gone, grumpy Sensei hopped over to the remaining ninjas. "I know we parted ways," he began, his tone almost reminiscent of this dimension's Sensei. He gestured to Waldo. "You wouldn't be able to morph in our dimension." Then to Lia. "You were always stubborn." And finally to Tobi. "And we never made you feel welcome." He turned back toward the others. "But we're a team now, like it or not, maybe the team we should have been before."
"Yeah, welcome back," Hunter said.
"And, since Cam and Hunter went fag, you won't be the only one anymore," Shane added.
Tobi just sighed. Maybe this is what it would have been like if he'd stayed in his old dimension and his sister had somehow managed to convince the others to stop being jerks. But, even though he grew up with them and now they were all he had, he still had trouble thinking of them as his friends. They may look the same, but the friends from this dimension were so very different and he missed them, especially Dustin. At that thought, he approached Waldo, who was working on fixing the computer. "We need to find Skyla. Only she can talk to Dustin and the others."
"I know," Waldo said as he worked.
When he didn't say more, Tobi mumbled, "Just like old times," and began to walk away.
"Tobs," Waldo called. "I'm sorry. I just... I need to stay busy."
Tobi nodded, his eyes moist. "I just don't want things to go back to how they used to be."
"You mean, me trying to hide my feelings for you while you obsessed over me?" he asked. "Believe me, things can't go back to that. And I won't let the others treat you like they did before. …Like I did before."
Tobi offered him a weak smile.
"And I know Lia's got my back on that too," he added.
"Thanks," Tobi whispered before returning to his sister and letting the earth ninja work.
"That's sick, man," Shane complained as Hunter kissed Cam and the green ranger bust out laughing.
"The only guy I'd go gay for would be me," Blake commented.
"Figures," Lia mumbled.
"What's that supposed to mean?" Blake asked.
"Some things never change," she replied.
"Can't mess with perfection," he said with a shrug.
She turned and leaned to whisper to her brother. "I can't believe I used to have a crush on him."
Tobi looked at Waldo as he worked. "Crushes come and go, but once you find your true love, that's forever."
"Is that what Cam was?" she asked. "My true love?"
"Yeah, just like me and Dustin," he agreed.
"So now I have no true love and never will again," she said bitterly.
He turned to look at her intensely. "No, both of us will always have our true loves." He gestured to his heart. "Dustin will always be here, and Cam," he continued, pointing to her heart, "will always be here. We may make new memories, but what we had—that's for keeps."
She hugged him. "You know I love you, little brother."
"I love you too," he replied.
Shane made a gagging noise and turned away.
"I've got something," Waldo announced.
The others gathered around a small screen attached to a series of wires connecting it to what was left of the main computer. For a moment, seeing the cords connecting the screen to the computer reminded him of his dream, but he shook off the feeling.
"Both Skyla and Sensei's morphers must be damaged because I can't get an exact lock," Waldo explained, "but I have a general area."
"Good enough," grumpy Sensei said. "I'll stay with Miko and the brats."
"I'll realign your morphers," Waldo continued. "Without sensors, we won't know what we're up against and I've been charging and realigning the morphing matrix."
The four gave the earth ninja their morphers and he realigned each.
"I hope we get to beat up aliens again," Hunter commented.
"Yeah, dude, I missed that too," Cam added.
"Be careful what you wish for," Waldo muttered as he handed them back their morphers.
"Let's go," Shane ordered and the others began to leave.
When Tobi didn't move, Lia turned back to him. "You're a ninja and a ranger like us now," she reminded him.
"Yeah," he whispered as he turned to join them. It almost felt like before, but he had to remember it wasn't and it never would be again.
Vexacus exited his ship, which was still sitting in a forest on the outskirts of Blue Bay Harbor. He began to stretch, but winced at the pain in his side where the pink ranger had somehow shot him with his own energy beam.
"I scoped out the area like you said," Choobo called as he approached.
"It's all that fool Shimazu's fault," the bounty hunter grumbled to himself. "He stole the pink morpher and she must have found it after I destroyed him and Condortron."
"But, if he was on Lothor's ship, isn't he dead permanently now?" Choobo asked.
"You're right," Vexacus agreed, his mood improving.
"Marah and Kapri were on the ship too," Choobo continued in a somber tone.
"The versions of his nieces Lothor had you capture were from the other dimension," Vexacus pointed out, "just like that pink ranger must be the other dimension's version of the Karminion I once hunted."
"Oh, okay, that's good," Choobo replied, relieved.
"I don't know what you see in those two," Vexacus grumbled.
"We were friends," Choobo explained.
"Ha," Vexacus laughed. "That's rich."
"I have friends," Choobo defended.
"With Lothor dead, no one in this dimension," Vexacus challenged.
"Um," Choobo thought. "Sensei?"
"Lothor's enemy?" Vexacus asked. "Why would—" But that was when he noticed what the obnoxious alien was looking at.
Sensei approached the aliens calmly, showing no signs of apprehension at all. "Oh, no," he said, waving a gray robed arm, "I had better escape before you try to capture me."
Vexacus and Choobo exchanged looks before stepping toward him.
Sensei paused and reached for his morpher, pressing the communicator button on it, but it just sparked. He frowned for a moment before easily jumping away from Vexacus' sword without even looking up.
"So the rangers' Sensei is also their new red ranger," Vexacus realized. "Prepare to meet the same fate at your other rangers, old man."
Sensei flipped sideways and rolled his eyes. "It's a good thing you moro—you villains are trying to kill me and not take me hostage to lure out the remaining Power Rangers."
Vexacus slashed again with his sword.
"Wait," Choobo paused. "That sorta makes sense."
"What are you babbling about?" Vexacus snapped.
"We could use him as..." Choobo began, struggling for a word.
"Bait," Sensei finished for him.
"Right," Choobo nodded along.
At this, even Vexacus paused before grinning. In an instant, he had an arm around Sensei and a sword to his throat.
"Oh no," Sensei declared. "I sure hope the rangers do not try to rescue me."
"Does he seem different to you?" Choobo asked the bounty hunter.
"Shut up and keep a lookout for the rangers," Vexacus ordered. "I doubt he's here alone."
"Um, okay," Choobo agreed, beginning to circle Vexacus' ship.
"Maybe I'll let you say goodbye to your rangers before I kill you," Vexacus whispered to his captive.
"Or they may kill you first," Sensei whispered back.
"We'll see about that," Vexacus scoffed.
"Yes we will," Sensei agreed and, despite the sword to his throat, he was smiling.
The seven rangers landed their ninja streak in a forest and looked around.
"This is the area," Waldo called.
"Be ready to morph," Shane added.
"Is this what it was like when you guys would go out and trash the city?" Tobi asked.
"Nah, that was more fun," Hunter disagreed.
"But we never guessed the real reason Dustin—Waldo led us to all those abandoned factories," Blake added.
"Shh," Shane hissed, pointing ahead.
Just then, Choobo walked into view. The moment the alien saw the rangers, though, he instantly spun in his tracks and ran.
"After him!" Shane ordered. "And everyone morph!"
The seven activated their morphers and sprang into action, that is until they came to Vexacus holding Sensei with a sword to the ninja master's throat.
"Sensei," Tobi gasped as the rangers skidded to a stop.
"He's human," Hunter realized.
Both Sensei and the aliens looked at the rangers in surprise.
"How is this possible?" Vexacus asked, looking at the array of colored rangers.
"They came from our old dimension," Waldo explained, looking around. "Sensei, where's Skyla? And you said you found Leanne."
"I am sorry, rangers," Sensei replied, "but Vexacus killed them just as he did the others and Lothor. There was… nothing left."
As the others gasped in shock, the weight of these words nearly knocked Tobi over. Not only could he never be with or even see Dustin again, but he couldn't even hear from him through Skyla. His last ounce of hope was gone and he felt like collapsing then and there.
"What are you—" Vexacus began to ask his hostage.
"This time, no mercy," Shane growled. "For the others."
"This'll be fun," Hunter chimed in.
"Rangers," Sensei called, "we should not be hasty with the use of violence, but perhaps it is warranted this time."
"Finally you come around," Lia muttered, "but too late." No one could see, but she was crying behind her helmet. Only her twin heard it in her voice.
"One step closer and your master dies," Vexacus warned.
"We played this game before and you lost," Blake reminded the alien, nodding to Tobi.
The gold ranger waved a hand and Vexacus' sword dissolved into dust.
The moment Waldo streaked forward and grabbed Sensei, the other rangers sprang into action and began attacking the two aliens. Shane, Blake and Lia pulled out swords and focused their attacks on Vexacus while Hunter and Cam attacked Choobo.
"Are you alright?" Tobi asked, approaching Sensei.
"I am fine, Tobi," Sensei replied. There was a hint of something in his eyes. Confusion? Anger? "I see you are... well also."
"Physically, yes," he agreed, "but I... Maybe you can help me meditate without leaving my body?"
Sensei nodded. "Later. For now, you may be the only one who can end this."
"Are you sure?" Tobi asked.
"It pains me to say this," he began, "but yes." Oddly enough, it almost looked like he was fighting a smile.
Tobi took a breath and turned back to the fight. The rangers had the aliens cornered against the side of Vexacus' ship, but the bounty hunter shot out a blast of yellow energy that sent Lia and Shane skidding across the dirt, where they sparked before demorphing.
Vexacus raised his hands again and called, "Now, Choobo," but the moment the compartment on Choobo's back opened and a blast of yellow energy came from the bounty hunter, Tobi had already deflected the energy back and it hit Choobo in the chest, causing him to fall over, his body smoking.
"It's time to end this," Tobi growled.
Just then, Hunter, Blake and Waldo demorphed.
"We've exhausted the energy," the earth ninja pointed out.
"I'll keep Choobo down, fairy elf dude," Cam called, still morphed.
Tobi raised his hands and began to focus on the bounty hunter's life force, but, as Vexacus collapsed and began coughing, Tobi couldn't help but remember that day when he had tried to do the same to Condortron but Dustin stopped him. He could almost feel Dustin's thoughts in his mind begging for him not to be a killer.
"What are you waiting for?" Shane called.
"TZT." The voice sounded so real that his eyes flew open. But, as he looked around, there were only the others staring at him. For a moment, Dustin's presence had felt so close, but it must have been his imagination. Or... maybe it was Dustin's spirit there with him. Rather than encouraging him, this thought caused a fresh sense of loss to wash over him.
"I will finish this for you," a voice announced and the others turned to see Zurgane approaching, swords already drawn.
"Tobi, you can take them both out," Lia called as Cam turned toward the new arrival.
"It is you who are going down," Zurgane called, throwing one sword toward Vexacus and the other toward Tobi.
The gold ranger managed to deflect the sword, but Vexacus was not so lucky due to his weakened state. The sword punctured his armor and he coughed, his gills filling with yellow fluid.
As the swords flew back into Zurgane's hands, Cam began attacking the alien general.
"Rangers," Sensei called, an earnestness in his voice. "Now is the time to exercise restraint."
"What?" Lia snapped.
Tobi was looking at Vexacus as he lay bleeding on the ground next to his ship, but turned back to Sensei as he said this. There was a sense of relief that washed over him. He didn't really want to have to kill them, even though they deserved it. "Okay," he relented easily.
"We need to finish this," Shane argued.
"Tobi, you killed my—you killed Zurgane once before," Sensei spoke up as he approached the fallen Vexacus. He stared at the bounty hunter as he said his last words. "Consider us even."
As Vexacus stared back at Sensei and coughed, he saw an all too familiar smirk on the ninja master's lips and his eyes dawned in realization. But, before he could speak, Sensei leaned forward and touched the bounty hunter's chest, a small purple spark shocking Vexacus, who promptly fell forward, dead.
Sensei then stepped away from his now lifeless form and turned back to the others, none of whom had seen the spark. "Zurgane killed Vexacus. We should not become that which we fight against. Let us go."
"Only two of us are still morphed," Waldo added as Cam was knocked to the ground by Zurgane.
"Fine," Shane grumbled, signaling the others before the eight streaked away and back to Ninja Ops.
After they left, Zurgane approached Vexacus' body and stood over it. "At least my master has been avenged today." He then turned to notice Choobo trying to pull himself up, his body still smoking.
As Choobo looked from Vexacus to Zurgane, he waved his arms frantically. "I didn't want to work with Vexacus," he insisted. "Don't kill me!"
"I was at the abyss when Lothor ordered you to help him," Zurgane replied. "I know it wasn't your idea, but if I ever have any reason to doubt your loyalty to me, I will destroy you too."
"Of—of course," Choobo stuttered.
The two aliens then left, not even giving the bounty hunter's body a second glance.
Tobi and Cam demorphed as they descended down into Ninja Ops with the others. At least now the blond could definitely say this felt nothing like "old times."
"Where's your more adorable guinea pig Sensei?" Goldwinger asked.
"Um, this is him," Waldo replied, eyeing the butterfly.
"What about Skyla?" Cam's mom asked, looking around at the group.
"Vexacus killed her too," Lia said bitterly.
"But now Vexacus is finally dead," Waldo added. "And, with the abyss opened, it's permanent."
"Oh, so..." grumpy Sensei began.
"I didn't kill him," Tobi admitted. "Zurgane showed up and he killed him. Sensei... he said to leave and not become killers like them."
"Sounds like the other me alright," grumpy Sensei grumbled. "Though why Lothor's attack made him human I will never know." He folded his little arms in frustration.
"Maybe Choobo and Zurgane will kill each other," Blake suggested.
Lia noticed the look in her brother's eyes and approached him. "What's wrong? I know it feels unfinished, but Sensei said—"
"It's jut that," he replied, taking a breath. "When I was out there, I thought I heard Dustin's voice. Maybe his spirit was trying to communicate with me."
"And say what?" she asked.
"I don't know," he said, shaking his head. "But I need to find a way to communicate with him. Maybe Sensei can help."
She put a hand on his shoulder. "Remember your promise and be careful. Do not leave your body, okay?" She stared more intensely when he didn't immediately reply. "Okay?"
"Okay," he agreed.
"Sensei, can I see your morpher?" Waldo asked.
"Of course, Dustin," Sensei replied, moving his arm toward the earth ninja.
"Waldo," he corrected, giving him an odd look.
"Of course," Sensei replied. "The stress of today has been too much for me."
"Yeah, me too," Waldo agreed, examining the morpher. "It's been electrocuted and shorted out. Here, I'll need you to take it off."
Sensei hesitated for a moment. "I would prefer to keep it."
"I'll give it back as soon as it's fixed," Waldo promised.
Sensei nodded and removed the morpher.
As the earth ninja worked, Tobi approached the ninja master. "Sensei, do you think you could teach me how to meditate without leaving my body but still be able to communicate with Dustin's spirit?"
A small grin curled up on Sensei's lips before he forced a stoic expression. "I will see how I can help. We will go alone to... another room to talk as soon as Waldo is done fixing my morpher."
"Thanks," the blond offered, smiling.
Sensei nodded, this time smiling freely.
"How did your morpher get electrocuted?" Waldo asked, looking up from his work. "Thunder ninjas have the power of electricity, not Vexacus or Choobo."
"True," Sensei replied, thinking. "You'll have to forgive me, because it all happened so fast. Ah, I remember now. Leanne Omino accidentally electrocuted it while trying to fight off Vexacus."
"And so he killed her," Blake said, looking down. "Now both Leannes are dead."
"Why didn't Skyla sense Vexacus ahead of time?" Waldo asked.
"Oh, she did," Sensei replied, "but it happened too fast even for the pink ranger. It is why I agreed to allowing Vexacus' death. Normally, I would be against all killing."
"Yeah, we know," Lia sighed.
Tobi thought he saw Sensei smile at this.
"There, all fixed," Waldo said, handing the morpher back to Sensei. "Now I'll get back to repairs."
"Allowing the others to morph should be your first priority," Sensei reminded him.
"Yeah, I know," Waldo nodded, getting to work.
Then Sensei turned back to Tobi. "Tobi, shall we go someplace private now?"
"Yeah," he agreed, leading the way to the training room he had slept in and past the cot he had dreamed of Dustin on.
Once the two were inside, Sensei closed the door behind them and gestured for them to sit. "Perhaps we should begin with why you are not being drained without Dustin."
"I thought you knew that," Tobi replied as he sat across from the ninja master.
"I do," Sensei replied, "but tell me in your own words."
Tobi sighed. "When Dustin died on Lothor's ship, I guess it severed our connection permanently and... and the energy drain stopped."
"When he died," Sensei repeated, thinking. "But how could that prevent the energy drain?"
Tobi shrugged. "I don't know. When you guys used the last of the Gem of Souls' energy to bring me back to life, the energy drain was gone."
"I see," Sensei replied, still thinking.
Tobi shook his head. "Anyway, how can I contact Dustin without leaving my body?"
"Would leaving your body be a problem?" Sensei asked.
"Without the Gem of Souls, I might die," Tobi explained. "That's why my sister made me promise not to leave my body again. I just... I want to see him, to hear his voice. I mean, today I thought I heard him say TZT."
"TZT?" Sensei repeated.
"You know, his nickname for me," Tobi reminded him. "It sounded so real. I feel like he's trying to reach me and I just want to reach back, but I can't because I can't leave my body." He groaned in frustration.
"I am certain Tori would understand," Sensei suggested.
"Lia," Tobi corrected.
"Of course," Sensei replied. "I am sorry. This morning has been quite stressful."
"Would you rather do this later?" Tobi asked.
"No, it is fine," Sensei said with a wave of his hand. "Perhaps I should try to communicate with Dustin for you."
"You can do that?" Tobi asked hopefully.
"I will certainly try," Sensei replied, patting the blond's leg, "for you." He grinned as he said this.
"Thank you, Sensei," Tobi said earnestly, leaning forward to hug the ninja master.
Sensei froze for a moment before awkwardly patting Tobi's back. It was obvious he, like his son, was not used to affection.
As the blond sat back down, Sensei took a moment to compose himself before gesturing toward Tobi's morpher. "May I borrow your morpher?"
"Why?" Tobi asked, confused.
"The Sun Amulet was once used by the Dawn Temple to aide in communication between the living and the dead," Sensei explained.
"Really?" Tobi asked, shocked. "Why didn't you tell me before?"
"It would be dangerous to try on your own," Sensei explained. "Only a powerful ninja could use it in that way. And, although I am not as powerful as my brother Kiya, I am up to the challenge."
"You mean Lothor," Tobi realized, sighing. "I really thought he could change and turn good, like the others, but obviously that wasn't his destiny. I thought..." He grinned slightly. "Maybe that's part of Dustin in me because he always wanted to see the good in others, to believe in the power of love over hate."
Sensei studied the blond for a moment, an uncertain expression on his face, before saying, "But you are correct. That was not Lothor's destiny. His destiny is—was very different. Very different indeed." His eyes narrowed as he said this.
"I know," Tobi sighed, removing his morpher and handing it to Sensei.
Sensei held the Sun Amulet on the morpher in one hand and closed his eyes, focusing. Tobi could do little more than wait until— "TZT," Sensei said, his eyes not opening.
"Dustin?" Tobi gasped.
"I'm here, TZT," Sensei continued. "I miss you."
Tears immediately began welling up in Tobi's eyes. "I've missed you too. Are you okay?"
"Not really," Sensei said. "I'm lonely without you."
"I'm here, Dustin," Tobi pleaded. "I'll never stop loving you. And you have the others too, right, the others who died?"
"But they're not you," Sensei begged. "Please join me."
"I—I can't," Tobi choked between tears. "I promised."
"Don't you want to be with me?" Sensei asked.
"I do," Tobi cried. "I do more than anything else. But—"
"Then come to me," Sensei said.
"I—" Tobi began, wiping tears and snot from his face.
"Please, TZT," Sense continued. "We're meant to be together."
Tobi cried into his arm. "I—I'm sorry." He then ran out of the room.
The moment he left, Sensei opened his eyes. He then casually put Tobi's morpher in his pocket before also leaving the room.
"What happened in there?" Lia asked Sensei as he approached the main room. "I saw him run out crying."
"He was able to speak with Dustin," the ninja master explained, "and it was difficult. He wants to be with him, but is held back by a promise."
She sighed. "Yeah, I made him promise. Without the Gem of Souls, if he dies, that's it."
"But what about what he wants?" Sensei asked.
"He can't have what he wants," she replied. "None of us really can."
Sensei thought for a moment. "He also believes that Dustin's death stopped his energy drain."
"So he doesn't know we combined our powers to heal his body and separate his link," she realized.
Sensei nodded.
"Maybe that's for the best," she said. "He might blame us. You know how stubborn he is."
"Stubborn, yes," Sensei agreed, his eyes growing cold.
At that moment, Marah and Kapri entered the main room.
"Why are you still crying over that loser yellow ranger?" Kapri complained. "I thought you have Blake now."
"It's not just him," Marah said between sobs. "I miss our uncle too."
"What, still?" Kapri groaned. "I get he's family and all, but you're my family and I hate you."
"Do not!" Marah insisted.
"Girls," Sensei called as he stepped away from Lia and toward the space ninjas.
"What do you want?" Kapri snapped.
Sensei's eyes flickered an emotion, but only for a moment. "Nothing." He then stepped away before spotting Cam talking to his mom.
"Cameron, may I have a word with you?" he asked. "If you will excuse us, Miko."
"Sure," Cam's mom replied, raising an eyebrow.
"What's up?" Cam asked.
"May we speak privately?" Sensei asked, gesturing toward the hallway.
"Cool," Cam replied, following him. "And it's kinda freaky having you look like my dad now and my real dad still being a guinea pig."
Sensei smiled. "That is actually what I wished to speak to you about."
"Sure, shoot," Cam replied.
"I understand that you are not my nep—my son," Sensei began, "but you are the closest I have to my son."
"Yeah, major bummer, I know," Cam agreed. "You want me to be your son too?"
Sensei's smile broadened. "I would like that very much," he said, gesturing to the amulet on Cam's neck. "I remember when your mother gave you that. Or, when the other her gave the other you that."
"Right, in this dimension," Cam realized.
"Would you mind letting me borrow it just for a short time?" Sensei asked politely, "to remember my son?"
"Um, sure, I guess," Cam agreed, removing the amulet from around his neck and handing it to Sensei.
"Excellent," Sensei said in an oddly southern accent as he took the amulet. "I mean, thank you, Cameron," he corrected.
"No problem," Cam said. "Sorry for your loss."
Sensei nodded as the samurai walked off. When he looked up, he saw Tobi approaching, his eyes red.
"What did Cam give you?" Tobi asked.
"Oh, just something to remember my son by," Sensei said, sliding the amulet into his pocket next to Tobi's morpher.
"I'm sorry for running out like that," the blond apologized. "I just... I couldn't handle it. I needed a moment alone to process everything."
"I understand," Sensei replied. "This is not easy. You must choose between the one you love more than anyone else and those you love less than him. It is a difficult choice. Or is it?"
Tobi groaned. "I can't make that choice."
"So, you will abandon your true love?" Sensei asked.
"No, I..." Tobi began, looking down. "I don't know."
Sensei grinned. "There is something you should know."
"What?" Tobi asked, looking up.
"Lia and Waldo are the reason your connection to Dustin is severed," Sensei explained.
"Wha—how?" Tobi gasped.
"I wanted to tell you," Sensei continued. "I believed you had the right to choose, but they were afraid you would choose Dustin over them, so they selfishly removed your choice. They betrayed you." He took a breath and continued in a gentler tone. "But you know Dustin would never do that to you. He loves you more than them and you deserve to be with someone who will not selfishly use you."
Tobi was still reeling from the shock of Sensei's words. "How?" he asked.
"Ask them yourself if you don't believe me," Sensei offered, gesturing back to the main room of Ninja Ops, "but when they tell you what you already know, your choice should be clear: Join Dustin. Leave your body."
Tobi blinked, his eyes shiny. He didn't say a word as he walked around Sensei and toward Waldo.
"What's wrong, Tobs?" Waldo asked, looking up from the panel he was working on.
"He needs some time," Lia said, approaching her twin.
"Is it true?" Tobi asked.
"Is what true?" Waldo asked, putting down what he was working on.
Tobi looked back and forth between his sister and the earth ninja. "Are you the reason my energy drain stopped?"
"Oh," Waldo said, looking at Lia.
She looked down. "You would have died and we'd have no way to bring you back."
"You lied to me," Tobi accused.
"We didn't lie," she defended. "We just didn't tell you. That stupid connection—"
"That was my choice!" Tobi yelled. "Did you ever stop and think that connection was all I had left?"
"It was killing you," she argued.
"But he's been trying to reach me and—and I can't..." he said, breaking down to tears.
"It's for the best, Tobs," Waldo said. "We need you. I need you."
Tobi looked at him sharply even though his vision was blurry with tears. "You need? Sensei was right. You did it because you're selfish and thought I'd choose him over you. Dustin loves me and I need to be with him."
"Listen, you can't," Lia insisted, grabbing her brother and shaking him.
"Why, because you say so?" Tobi choked. "Dustin is lonely without me. He needs me and I need him."
"Calm down," Lia insisted.
"You don't know what it's like to—" he protested.
"To love someone?" she snapped. "Yes, Tobi, I do. And I thought you did too. You know what's selfish? Killing yourself to be with someone else when people right here love you."
He wiped his eyes and studied his twin's face. "I'm sorry. You're right. I just... Hearing him say he's lonely without me and not being able to be with him... I just... I don't know what to do."
She pulled him toward her. "We'll get through this together, little brother. I made you promise and that's my promise in return." She held him back to stare into his eyes, blue meeting blue. "Okay?"
He nodded and wiped his face just as Sensei approached.
"Why'd you tell him?" she asked, looking up.
"He deserves the truth," Sensei replied. "And the truth is he would be happier with Dustin."
"What happened to the good of the team?" Waldo asked.
"Yeah, it's almost like you want him to die," Lia added.
"That is not true," Sensei said with a wave of a hand. "I merely want him to be happy. Do you not want the same for him?"
"Not if he's dead," she replied.
"A selfish view," Sensei said dismissively.
"She loves me," Tobi defended. "They both do."
"Do they love you more than Dustin?" Sensei asked.
Tobi blinked back tears. "No, but—"
"Then join your true love," Sensei insisted.
"I know you're our leader, but I swear to god I'm gonna hit you," Lia growled.
"Such violence," Sensei complained, turning to Tobi. "I am sure you would be more than happy to leave this world behind."
Tobi stared at the ninja master. His sister was right. It sounded like Sensei wanted him to leave his body. He had to admit that leaving the violent world and joining Dustin forever was so tempting, but—
"Hey, Dad #2," Cam interrupted as he approached. "Mom wants to know how long you're gonna be holding onto my samurai amulet."
Tobi looked from Cam to Sensei. "You have his morpher too?"
"Too?" Lia asked.
"You gave him your morpher?" Waldo asked.
Tobi narrowed his eyes. "Sensei, I'll take my morpher back now." He held out his hand, palm up.
Sensei took a step back. "Let us not be hasty. There are things you do not understand."
Grumpy Sensei somersaulted onto Cam's shoulder. "What is going on over here?"
"Merely a misunderstanding," Sensei assured them.
Lia looked between her brother, Cam and Sensei. "Give Tobi and Cam back their morphers."
"I am afraid I can not do that, Tori," Sensei said quickly, taking another step backwards.
"Lia," she corrected, her eyes narrowing.
"What's wrong with your twin?" Cam's mom asked as she also joined the others.
"He's not my twin, Kiya is," grumpy Sensei corrected. "He's just my..." He paused, turning back to Sensei as realization dawned in his tiny eyes. "Twin..."
"You just said he's not your twin," Cam's mom groaned. "Make up your mind, Kanoi."
"Not my twin," grumpy Sensei explained.
"Oh..." she realized.
"What's going on, my friends?" Goldwinger asked, as the other rangers noticed the crowd forming around Sensei.
The ninja master looked between the others before asking Waldo, in a pleasant tone, "Did you manage to recharge the morphers?"
"Yes," Waldo replied, confused.
"Excellent," Sensei declared, reaching for his arm and activating his morpher.
His body immediately began to glow until the red ranger stood before them, but then something happened. A darkness began to creep over the suit, turning it black until—
The suit vanished and revealed someone underneath who most definitely was not Sensei.
It was Lothor.
"But—but you're dead," Waldo gasped.
"And they call you the smart one," Lothor scoffed.
"Uncle, you're alive!" Marah declared, approaching with Kapri.
"It was you the whole time..." Tobi realized. "The whole—That wasn't Dustin telling me to join him, it was you wanting me to die..."
"I don't care how you're alive, but you're going down," Shane declared.
"You said the morphers are charged?" Blake asked.
"Yeah," Waldo replied.
Shane then nodded to the others.
"You're outnumbered," Lia growled, reaching for her morpher.
Despite this, Lothor began laughing.
And, as Shane, Blake, Hunter, Cam, Lia and Waldo activated their morphers, each of their morphers sparked and the six promptly all fell to the ground unconscious.
This made Lothor laugh even harder.
"What happened?" Cam's mom gasped as she bent over to check on the unconscious rangers.
"Being my brother's twin, I was able to morph," Lothor explained. "But the dark ninja powers I trained to harness corrupted the morphing matrix just as I predicted."
"That's why you only needed our morphers," Tobi realized.
"So you aren't a dumb blond after all," Lothor said with a smirk. "And now, to make you watch as I kill everyone you care about. You'll wish you'd taken the easy way out."
"Everyone I—" Tobi realized. "If you're alive..." He took a sharp breath. "Dustin," he gasped.
Lothor shrugged noncommittally.
Grumpy Sensei looked up from where he had been checking on Shane. "This dimension's Cam," he realized, hopping onto Tobi's shoulder. "You are not going to be killing anyone," he warned the space ninja.
"Oh, you're right," Lothor said. "I give up. Here's your morpher back."
Tobi was so caught off guard by Lothor's change of tone that he opened his hand and accepted what the space ninja handed him. But, looking down, he saw it wasn't his morpher after all.
It was a bomb.
Boom! Grumpy Sensei was knocked off his shoulder as he was thrown backward and screamed in pain. He saw that he was missing his left hand and lower arm.
"It looks like you won't be needing your morpher now," Lothor gloated, gesturing to the arm that would have worn his morpher.
Just then, grumpy Sensei sprang toward Lothor and Cam joined his mom as they attacked the space ninja.
As Lothor easily kicked them off, Goldwinger flew over to Tobi and placed his healing device on the injured blond. Immediately, Tobi's arm and hand regrew, though he still felt exhausted from his body's initial attempt to heal itself.
Lothor spun, kicking Cam into his mom and sending both crashing against an already damaged wall that then collapsed on them, before raising his arms toward Goldwinger.
Grumpy Sensei shot a barrage of fireballs toward Lothor, but the space ninja just shook them off.
But, as Lothor shot a blast of purple energy out of his palms, Goldwinger vanished in a sparkle of gold just as the beam passed through where he had been only moments before.
Looking around for his wife and son, grumpy Sensei hopped over to the fallen chunk of wall.
Tobi looked down at his newly regrown hand and moved the fingers. He could feel every nerve and muscle, all the connections still... The connections. Dustin. Dustin was alive. "Dustin," he whispered.
"Girls," Lothor called, turning toward Marah and Kapri, "I understand why you betrayed Vexacus. That traitorous fish had it coming. But we are family."
Marah turned toward her sister. "He's right."
Lothor grinned. "Now help your uncle finish these rangers while they are still vulnerable, starting with the ones closest to you."
Marah looked down at Blake while Kapri looked at Shane, both of whom were laying in awkward positions on the debris-covered floor.
"But, uncle, we like them," Marah protested. "And they actually like us."
"Which never happens," Kapri added.
"Girls, remember who took you in when no one else would," Lothor said.
"What if we don't want to?" Kapri asked.
Lothor growled. "Do not betray—"
"Dustin," Tobi said, this time much louder as his strength returned. He stood suddenly and Lothor turned to him, surprised, before the blond sent a wave of energy that threw Lothor against the far wall.
Grumpy Sensei quickly hopped over to Lothor and grabbed something from his outfit and tossed it Tobi's way.
The blond looked down and saw his gold morpher.
Lothor sprang up and sent a blast of purple energy toward grumpy Sensei, sending him crashing to near where his wife and son were buried.
But that had given Tobi enough time to attach his morpher and activate it. "Power of Sunlight!"
"No!" Lothor cried, turning toward the gold ranger and sending out a blast of purple energy from both hands at the same time.
Tobi easily deflected the beams and began approaching the space ninja. "You knew how much I love Dustin and you used that against me," Tobi said as his eyes began to glow, causing light to shine out from behind his visor. "And you used my trust of Sensei against me. If you did anything to Dustin or the others, you'll regret it."
"No, it's you who'll regret this," Lothor warned with a sneer. "Oh how you'll regret this. Girls," he then called, although he never took his eyes off the gold ranger, "are you with me? This is your last chance."
Marah looked at her sister and then down at the scattered unconscious bodies.
"No," Kapri said for her.
Lothor cringed, blinking away something in his eyes. "Fine." He then raised his wrist and simply said, "Plan E."
Then he vanished, teleported away.
Tobi looked around in frustration before demorphing. He blinked for a moment until the glow in his eyes subsided.
"Tobi, can you help them?" Marah asked as she kneeled over Blake.
The blond immediately got to work healing everyone one at a time, the amulet on his morpher recharging him as he went.
"What happened?" Shane asked, clutching his head.
"I saved you," Kapri replied.
"Not from having to look at you, you didn't," he replied.
"Where's Lothor?" Waldo asked, looking around.
"He teleported away," Tobi replied as he continued healing the others.
"Teleported," Waldo repeated. "So, his ship—"
"Must not have been destroyed," Tobi finished for him. "That might mean Dustin and the others are okay, but Lothor said I'll regret this. I need to go to his ship before he has a chance to hurt them—or worse."
"I still haven't managed to summon Hunter and Blake's zords and neither the dolphin or hawk zord were designed for space travel," Waldo explained, "but Cam's Dragonforce vehicle is. Unfortunately none of us have flown it." He gestured around. "I don't know about your zord, but do you know where his ship is? Earth's orbit is a large area to search in a short time."
Tobi thought for a moment. "I think I might have a direction." He closed his eyes and focused.
"Tobi, don't," Lia warned.
"I'm not leaving my body," he assured her. "I'm trying what Skyla taught me. It's how I saw that Dustin's spirit wasn't fully in Waldo's body back when they shared a body. In the kitchen at Dustin's, it's how I saw we were connected by... There it is!"
"What?" she asked.
"We're still connected by the cord," he realized, opening his eyes. "In my dream, I was trying to get to Dustin by climbing some rope."
"But I thought we broke your connection to him," she said, confused.
"No one can do that," he replied, standing as the last of the rangers and grumpy Sensei were healed, "but I need to know how you stopped my energy drain."
"We combined the powers of air, earth, water and sunlight," Waldo explained. "There were always meant to be four elements at the Wind Ninja Academy."
Tobi nodded before heading toward the exit.
"Where are you going?" Lia called.
"There may not be much time," he explained. "I can't try a zord or scanning or whatever. I need to see our connection and follow it."
"And how are you going to do that?" she asked as she followed her brother to the surface, Waldo trailing behind.
"Ninja Storm, Ranger Form!" Tobi called, morphing. "Power of Sunlight!" He then turned back to his sister. "I'm going to follow our unbreakable bond. I'm going to follow my heart."
She gave him a confused look as the others emerged on the surface to join them.
He concentrated on seeing the connection. He'd been able to control it before by narrowing and expanding the cord. This time he just needed to pull it. That's what Dustin had been trying to tell him in his dream, to use the cord, that it wouldn't break. It couldn't break. He and Dustin were one.
"Waldo," he called, opening his eyes, "see if you can fix whatever Lothor did to the morphers with his dark ninja powers and send reinforcements after me if you can."
"I'll see what I can do," Waldo replied.
"Lothor still has Cam's amulet," Tobi continued. "Ask this Sensei what he can do with it." He then went back to concentrating. "I'm sorry, but I'm out of time." His body then began to glow and levitate off the ground.
"I hope you know what you're doing, little brother," Lia groaned.
He nodded once before his body, covered in a brightly glowing gold ranger uniform, shot up into the sky and straight into space.
"What's fairy elf dude doing?" Cam asked.
"Saving the day," his mom answered. "Saving the day."
To Be Continued...
Author's Note: That's right, more action coming up! It's Tobi's chance to again be the hero we all know by now he can be. And, yes, an epic final battle is approaching. :) I'm sorry for the delay, but a lot has happened in my life and much of it has not been good. If you have a chance, please vote in the latest poll on my profile, check out my chapter posters on my DeviantART account linked from my profile, and comment with feedback and suggestions. I'm always open to new ideas! And thank you to those who have already offered suggestions!