Cam turned to face the person who was trying to help him save his friends. He smiled brightly when he saw his father beside him.
"Dad?"
"No time, son," Sensei said, "on my count. Ready? One, two, three!"
Cam and Sensei pulled as hard as they could. Their combined strength was just enough to lift both Blake and Hunter over the ledge and back to safety. Hunter grabbed his brother's shirt, afraid if he let go Blake would fall again.
"Sensei," Blake smiled, dusting himself off, "boy, am I glad to see you."
"Father, what happened to you?" Cam asked. Sensei's smile fell.
"You may already know this, but Lothor has escaped."
"Yeah, we kinda got that part," Hunter frowned. "Are you okay, Sensei?"
"My well being does not matter," Sensei said. "Lothor has assumed my identity and has taken your friends."
"Isn't this deception game getting a little old?" Cam grunted. He moved closer to the Samurai Amulet, reaching over the pit of darkness. His fingers brushed against it as he tried to stretch further, hoping to reach it without falling.
"How did you get away from Lothor?" Blake asked the Sensei. "We thought he took you with the others."
"He left me on a cliff," Sensei explained. "Fortunately for me, he's forgotten just how useful all this training has been."
"Fortunately for all of us," Hunter said.
"Got it!" Cam called, clasping the Samurai Amulet in his hands. The moment the Samurai was back in its rightful owner's hands, five power disks emerged from it. Cam handed the Navy and Crimson ones to the brothers and kept the others securely in his possession. He was going to need it to free his friends.
Blake looked up. The opening to the Abyss was a long way up. It seemed impossible to get back.
Hunter had been thinking ahead. He jumped from one ledge to the other until he reached the harnesses that were still attached to the railing back on the surface. He attached himself to one harness before tossing the other two over to Cam and Blake. They both caught it and tightened themselves in. Cam grabbed hold of his father as the four began climbing up from the depths of the underworld.
-Reefside-
"Conner!" Kelly shouted, watching the fight from a distance. Conner and Shane were up on the railing, suspended rather high off the ground, and Shane had pushed Conner over the railing. Conner grabbed on, just in time to keep himself from falling, but now he was hanging over the edge.
Leanne was too tied up helping Ethan and Kira in their own battles to help. As Conner hung on for dear life, Shane chuckled. Victory was so close, he could almost smell it.
Kelly needed to think quickly. She could challenge Shane to a fight and give Conner some time to pull himself up and catch his breath, but she had only taken a few lessons from Hunter. Enough to hold her own for a moment, but if she got involved in a battle such as this one, she wouldn't last more than a few minutes.
Conner grunted loudly as he tried to pull himself up. Kelly needed to help him.
In the corner of her eye she spotted one of the clumps of dirt that Dustin had thrown Ethan's way. She looked back at Conner. He didn't have much time.
She rushed over to the clump of dirt and picked it up. If she threw it, it wasn't going to hold enough power to distract Shane from Conner. She tossed the clump of dirt up in the air and as it fell, she jumped and kicked it towards Shane.
The Red Ranger grabbed the railing and lifted his foot, pressing it against Conner's chest as he readied himself to push Conner off and watch him plummet. Just as he prepared himself he was nailed in the chest by an exploding clump of dirt. He staggered backwards as the dirt fell into his eyes. With Shane distracted, Conner pulled himself back up.
Shane rubbed his eyes, trying to rid them of the dirt. Conner screamed loudly as he shoved the red Ranger over the railing. Shane wasn't quick enough to catch himself and he was sent plummeting to the ground.
Just when Conner thought he had won, the wind picked up and a cloud of air caught Shane before he hit the ground. The Ninja straightened himself out as his feet touched the ground. He examined his surroundings before his eyes fell onto Kelly.
"Big mistake," he told her.
From up high, Conner watched as Shane rushed Kelly. He clenched his fists and hopped over the railing before disappearing in a flash of light. In a matter of seconds he was on the ground, standing before Kelly as Shane hurried closer. Conner kicked his legs up, hitting Shane on the side of the face and sending him sprawling onto the ground.
Kelly hid behind Conner, "Thanks."
"You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours," he told her.
Dark blue lightning struck the ground, causing Kelly and Conner to cover their eyes and ears as Tori was thrown across the battle field and landed beside Shane. Her body sparked slightly as she pulled herself to her feet.
"You bitch," Tori bit as Leanne and Kira joined Conner and Kelly.
"Sorry, Tor. Hopefully when you come to your senses you'll thank me," Leanne said.
Dustin rolled on the ground until he reached Shane and Tori's feet. He clutched his injured hand as he pulled himself up, glaring hatefully at Ethan.
"That was a lucky shot," he hissed.
Shane looked at his enemies. Enough was enough.
"Let's finish them," he whispered to Dustin and Tori.
Kira stepped forward as the Ninja trio did. Now it was her time to shine. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Conner and Ethan placed their hands over their ears and advised Kelly and Leanne to do the same.
Suddenly, from Kira's small body emerged a scream so loud the ground shook, and the Wind Ninjas were knocked off their feet and thrown backwards.
"Ow…" Kelly muttered as the ringing in her ears started up.
Shane screamed in frustration and pounded the ground with his fists as he jumped up.
"I've had it!" he shouted.
"No, wait!" a voice called from the distance. The eight turned their heads to the side as three figured hopped over the side railing and onto the battlefield. Kelly and Leanne smiled. Kira looked confused.
"Wait a minute… Blake?" she asked, recognising the man who went to stand before Tori. "That's how I know you! You're a Power Ranger!"
"Does that mean help is here?" Ethan asked, turning to the two girls.
"We're not here to help you guys out," Blake frowned, crossing his arms over his chest. "We stick with our own kind."
"Lothor has shown us the error of our ways," Hunter said. Kelly's heart fell as she heard this. Had Lothor really gotten to Cam, Blake and Hunter as well?
"Whoever doesn't follow us we'll destroy," Cam finished. Leanne turned to Kelly with a look of pure terror. Kelly reached out, taking her sister's hand gently.
"This is going to be great!" Dustin grinned, clapping his hands together. Cam held up his hand, silencing the earth Ninja.
"Wait!" he called before turning around. Hunter and Blake did the same, and the navy Thunder Ranger couldn't help but notice navy sparks coming from Tori's body at different intervals. He could only assume Leanne had shocked Tori and the effects hadn't completely worn off yet because of Tori's water powers. He worried for a moment that maybe this plan wasn't going to work. Cam continued, "First, you have to take these."
He held out the three power disks for the Rangers to take. Shane looked at them curiously.
"We already have our powers," he stated.
"It's a power boost, direct from the Abyss of Evil," Cam explained.
Shane took his power disk, "You better be right about this," he said. Dustin and Tori followed suit.
"Believe me, you won't be sorry," Cam nodded.
Tori, Shane and Dustin popped their old disks out and replaced them with the ones Cam had just given them. With one final look at their friends, they activated their morphers. They all felt a surge of energy running through them as they bodies began to spark.
Suddenly, they were thrown off their feet, a move which worried everyone watching. A small whimper could be heard from Tori before the surge of energy stopped.
Cam, Hunter and Blake jumped forward, holding their hands out to help their friends to their feet. Shane gratefully accepted Cam's help as he shook his head. Now not only were his ears ringing from when Kira screamed, but his head was buzzing as well.
"Never do that again," he told Cam.
Tori slapped Blake's hand away as she pushed herself to her feet. She held her head in her hands as her world spun.
"Tor…" Blake called.
"Get away from me," Tori hissed. Her voice was still slightly lower than usual, but it seemed Dustin was the only one who picked up on it.
Tori ripped the power disk from her morpher and threw it to the ground, "You lied!"
"What happened?" Blake asked worriedly as he turned to Cam.
Dustin suddenly shoved Hunter away as he went to stand by Tori. He grabbed her arms and pulled her away.
"C'mon," he whispered. "Lothor's going to want to hear about this."
Hunter stared, his eyes wide. The plan hadn't worked.
The Dinos, Kelly and Leanne watched for a moment as Tori and Dustin ran off. Unsure of what was going on, they stayed back. Leanne wasn't going to wait, though. She pushed her way past Conner and Ethan and ran over to her friends. Cam held his arm out and wrapped it around her lovingly as she approached him. Leanne let out a breath of relief as she hugged him.
Kelly saw this display and trusted everything was safe. She rushed over to Hunter who grabbed her in his arms and lifted her gently, happy she was safe. The same went for Kelly as well, who had been worried she lost Hunter for good, either in the Abyss, or to Lothor.
Shane cleared his throat, "Uh, guys… this is good and all, but what happened."
"Lothor's back," Cam explained as the Dinos walked over slowly.
"Yeah, I know, Sensei told us…"
"That wasn't Sensei," Hunter interrupted. Shane shook his head.
"No, I know Sensei when I see him…"
"It was Lothor," Blake argued.
Shane frowned; "Unless… it was Lothor dressed as Sensei!" it finally clicked for him. Sensei and Lothor had been twins before Lothor was exiled. It made sense that he could fool Shane and his friends into believing he was Sensei.
"Um, this is all highly amusing," Conner butt in, "but does someone want to tell me what's going on?"
"First I want to know what happened with Dustin and Tori," Cam frowned, turning to the spot where his two friends had left. "Dad told me the Power Disks should reverse Lothor's spell."
"And it did," Shane nodded, "For me at least."
"Why wouldn't it work for the other two?" Ethan asked.
Blake bent over, picking up Tori's power disk. He held it carefully in his hand as he turned to Cam.
"Dustin still has his, but Tori rejected hers," he said.
Cam nodded, "Hold onto it. Maybe we can figure out what went wrong."
"You can take it back to Hayley," Conner suggested. "She might be able to figure it out."
"In the meantime we can rest us," Kira nodded. "I don't think I've ever fought that hard."
-Reefside-
Blake handed his girlfriend's power disk to Hayley as he and the rest of the Rangers took a seat at various locations around the Dino base. Sensei had even joined them once Cam informed him of where they were headed.
"Now that Shane's back, I'll admit it," Conner started as he leaned against the wall, "It's a good thing you guys showed up when you did," he said to Blake, Hunter and Cam.
Shane chuckled as he played with his morpher, "A good thing for you guys."
"Whatever, dude," Conner laughed, pushing Shane playfully.
"I'm just playing, man. You guys fight like rock stars," Shane smiled.
Kira lifted her hand slightly, "I for one will take that as a compliment."
Tommy, who had been looking over Hayley's shoulder as she analysed the power disk, turned to face the Rangers. He stood beside Sensei, exchanging a brief glance with him.
"We're glad you're here," he stated to the Ninjas, "But it's time to get down to business."
"Yeah, Lothor's still got two of our friends under his control," Kelly said.
"Any reasons why, yet, Hayl?" Ethan called. Hayley turned around in her chair. She held the power disk in her hand.
"It should have worked," she said. "Unless there was some other energy interfering with the energy flow, Tori and Dustin should be with us."
Blake turned to his sister, "Didn't you shock them?" he asked.
Leanne shook her head, "I only shocked Tori. That doesn't explain why Dustin didn't turn back."
Hayley sighed loudly, "I'll keep working on it. There must be something I missed."
"You're doing great, Hayley," Tommy encouraged.
-Reefside-
Tori followed Dustin through the forest, unsure of where he was leading her. He promised to take her back to Lothor so they could report what happened, but she didn't remember the base being so far away.
"Dustin…" she grunted, swiping at a branch that got in her way. Dustin looked over his shoulder.
"We're almost there."
"No we're not," Tori stopped in her tracks and crossed her arms over her chest. "We're going the wrong way."
"I don't want to go back to Lothor," Dustin stated.
"Excuse me?" Tori huffed. Dustin had to think for a moment.
"Uh… Why should we go back there?" he asked. "You heard the others. Those power boosts were from Lothor and they almost killed us!"
"How do you know the others weren't lying?" Tori frowned. "We should go back…"
"I don't trust Lothor. Just like I don't trust the Rangers," Dustin interrupted. "Anyways, we don't need them anymore. You saw, those Dino Rangers were no match for us. Lothor's just using us."
"I guess you're right," Tori nodded, her arms falling back to her sides. She began walking forward, "C'mon, then. I can hear some water. We can rest there. Tomorrow we're taking the Rangers, and when we're done with them, we'll deal with Lothor."
Dustin let out a huge sigh of relief as he followed Tori. There was no way in hell he wanted to go back to Lothor, and there was no way he was leaving her alone when she was still like this. He touched the morpher on his wrist, where the proper power disk still rested. Subtly, he pressed a button on the side before chasing after his blue friend.
"Wait up," he called after her.