Summary: When Serios takes his final stand against the rangers, it's up to Tori to save the day.
"But...Master...give me one more chance," Serios pleaded.
"No, you've failed me enough," Diabolos roared.
"But-" Serios began to protest.
"GET OUT OF MY SIGHT AND NEVER RETURN! If you do, then I will be forced to destroy you," Diabolos intervened.
"Y-yes, M-master," Serios cowered. The snake warrior slouched out of the throne room.
"I will have my revenge. And I know exactly who to get said revenge on. The power rangers," Serios growled, before disappearing in a shower of purple smoke.
Storm Chargers
Tori sat in the lounge, studying her books and sipping on a bottle of water. The normally cheery blue ranger had a gloomy look on her face.
Blake was at the front discussing business with Kelly, Dustin, and Sofia, while Hunter, Shane, and Jacob were doing repairs in the back.
"So, we need new motocross gloves, skateboard wheels, and wetsuits because, trust me, you do not want to surf without a wetsuit," Kelly listed. Sofia and Dustin nodded.
"We'll get right on it, Kel," Sofia said.
"What she said," Dustin agreed.
Blake glanced over at his girlfriend and noticed her pensive look.
"Uh, excuse me for a second," Blake interrupted.
"Sure," Kelly said.
Blake smiled and walked over to the lounge, while Kelly turned back to Dustin and Sofia.
"Hey, Tor. What's up?" Blake asked as he sat next to her.
"Nothing," Tori muttered.
"Tori, I know when something's bothering you," Blake drawled.
"No, seriously, I'm fine," Tori refuted.
"Tori," Blake urged.
"Okay, I guess I feel useless. And on top of that, I have a huge exam next Monday that I have to study for," Tori confessed.
"Tori, you are not useless. You're just as important as the rest of us," Blake chided.
"Shane's the leader, Dustin's the goofball, Hunter's the brooding bad boy, you're the cool ladies man, Cam's the tech guy, and Sofia and Jacob are aliens with amazing powers. What am I?" Tori replied dejectedly.
"You're the heart, Tor, you keep this team together. You're smart and beautiful. Don't take yourself for granted," Blake told her, as he cupped her cheek.
"He's right, Tori," Sofia chimed in, as she sat in front of them.
Blake slid his hand off Tori's cheek and they turned to see what the white ranger had to say.
"Tori, my element is ice, but ice isn't anything without water. Water is the most powerful force of nature, so in turn, you are quite possibly the most powerful member of our team," Sofia stated.
"No, that honor belongs to you and Jacob. You're the aliens," Tori denied.
"We are, but the power doesn't make the ranger. The heart of the person does. You have the power. You just have to believe in it and...yourself," Sofia countered, as she stood and walked away.
Blake kissed her cheek and followed the white ranger, leaving Tori to ponder what she had been told.
Later that night
Joseph Fernandez walked out of the front doors after a heckling day at Ciceros Corporation. His boss, Malachi Ciceros, among other high ranking officers, had been bugging him to set up security cameras all over Blue Bay Harbor to spy on the rangers.
"Is it really necessary to spy on the rangers?" he asked, speaking to Malachi on his phone.
"Because they're vigilantes that must be stopped," Malachi replied.
"But...they save us from the monsters," Joseph argued.
"And destroy the city in the process," Malachi pointed out.
"ENOUGH ARGUING! I WANT THOSE CAMERAS UP AND I WANT IT NOW," he roared, before hanging the phone up.
Joseph sighed and put the phone in the pocket of his jeans.
"What did those rangers ever do to him?" he muttered, before starting down the street.
He stopped in his tracks when glowing red eyes stepped out of the shadows. Joe barely had time to scream before a purple blast struck him and he was turned to stone.
"This will surely draw those brats out. And then...I will destroy them all," Serios cackled psychotically.
Ninja Ops
The next morning, seven of the eight rangers and Sensei stood in groups, discussing different subjects when Dustin ran in carrying a newspaper with him.
"Dudes, check it out," he called. Everybody gathered around the yellow ranger as he spoke.
"Man mysteriously turned to stone," he read.
"That doesn't sound good," Hunter commented.
"Joseph Fernandez, of Ciceros Corporation, was found frozen on Senderos Avenue. There were no witnesses around that can speak of this crime," Tori read.
"Serios," Jacob assumed.
"What? You sure?" Shane interrogated.
"Yes, that snake has an amulet that can turn people to stone. He did it to me once before Diabolos ordered him to turn me back," Jacob recalled bitterly.
"If that's true then we must stop him before he has a chance to turn any others into stone," Sensei announced.
"What if he aims his amulet thing at us?" Dustin asked.
"Then duck! It's really rather simple," Cam drawled.
"Oh, right," Dustin mumbled.
"Hey, you can do this," Blake assured Tori, who had a gloomy look on her face again.
"I hope so. Serios is powerful, even more so than Zurgane and you remember how nasty he was," Tori replied.
"Don't remind me," Blake lamented.
"Look, believe in your abilities Tor," he added.
"Thanks, Blake, for believing in me," Tori said with gratitude.
"Anytime," Blake replied. Tori smiled and placed a soft but heartfelt kiss on Blake's lips, leaving him with a dazed look on his handsome face.
"Hey, Tori, if you're done kissing on Blakey bear over there, we just got an attack alarm," Shane called.
"Don't ever call me Blakey bear," Blake warned.
"Touchy are we? Blakey bear," Hunter teased.
"Oh, it's on," Blake taunted.
"If you're quite done, we've got a monster attacking Angel Grove," Cam mentioned.
"Did you say Angel Grove?" Sofia inquired.
"Yes," Cam replied.
"Mom...Dad...Chloe," Sofia fretted.
"We'll save them," Hunter assured her.
"We better get going," Shane stated.
"Rangers, be cautious," Sensei warned.
"We will, Sensei," Tori answered. The eight rangers streaked out of Ninja Ops to their destination.
Angel Grove
A brunette woman and an equally brunette girl backed up against an Angel Grove skyscraper to avoid Serios.
"Hmm...who should I get first? How about you?" the snake warrior cackled, pointing to Chloe.
"You won't touch her. My other daughter is a ranger and she'll stop you," Kimberly spat, as she tucked Chloe into her side protectively.
"So...you're close to the rangers. I'll enjoy tossing your stone bodies at her feet and watching her suffer," Serios hissed.
He fired the beam to turn them to stone, but a crimson and white blur snatched Kim and Chloe up before it struck. To the side, Hunter and Sofia set Kim and Chloe [respectively] on the ground.
"Sophie!" Chloe cheered.
"Yeah, I'm here. Now, I want you to take Mommy and get to safety, alright? We'll take care of the big meanie and meet you later," Sofia ordered, crouching down and speaking in a voice similar to one in a teacher-child interaction.
"Okay," Chloe complied.
"Mommy, let's go," she added.
"Right...thank you," Kim said as she hurried off with Chloe in tow.
"You'll pay for that, Power Rangers," Serios spat.
"No...you will...for threatening my family," Sofia spat in return.
"Let's get him, guys," Shane called.
"Yeah," they called. The rangers filed around the snake warrior, who simply looked around and chuckled.
"You're weak. You don't think you can beat me," Serios laughed.
"Dude, there's eight of us and one of you," Dustin pointed out.
"Yeah, there's strength in numbers," Cam added.
"And that strength will help us defeat you," Shane finished.
"Touching...but futile," Serios cackled. He raised his hand and snapped his fingers.
"Revolters," he summoned. Dozens of lizards appeared all around.
"Ugh, not these guys again," Tori groaned.
"Let's go," Shane ordered.
The rangers parted and went to battle with the Revolters.
Shane punched one in the stomach, but the lizard gargled at the impact and whipped the red ranger with its tail, leaving red scrapes on his chest where it pierced the leather.
"You bastard! This is fine leather. You break it...you pay for it," Shane hissed. He twisted his body into a spin side kick and sent the reptile sprawling into a building, the impact killing it instantly.
"You have to hit them really hard," Shane called.
"Easier said than done, bro," Dustin called back as he dodged a tailwhip to his head.
"Yeah," Hunter agreed.
"I'll make it easier...for me," Serios cackled, he fired two blasts from his amulet, hitting Shane and Dustin head-on, turning them to stone.
"And you," he added, firing the same blast at Cam, turning him to stone as well.
"Gaze into my amulet," he drawled, aiming and firing at Blake.
"BLAKE!" Hunter yelled, pushing his brother out of the blast's path and being turned to stone in his place.
"Hunter...no!" Blake cried as he landed on the sidewalk.
"Don't worry. You'll join big brother soon," Serios laughed. He launched a blast at Blake who shut his eyes. But the blast never struck. Blake opened his eyes and saw an ice wall shielding him.
"We'll get them back," Sofia assured him as she let down her shield and knelt next to him.
"You can't do much if you're turned to stone," Serios sneered. He powered up his amulet and fired it at Sofia. She braced herself for the blast that never came, for Jacob leaped in front of her and took the attack instead.
"Jacob!" Sofia cried as her brother became stone.
"Leave them alone," Tori yelled.
"Or what? You're not even worth my power or effort. You're useless," Serios spat.
Tori lowered her head dejectedly. She didn't notice the thunderbolt coming at her until it hit her square in the chest and knocked her down.
"TOR!" Blake cried as they rushed over to her.
"Leave us be," Sofia yelled, throwing an icicle from her hand that sliced Serios' knee.
"I'll be back to finish you off, Rangers," Serios threatened. He limped away before disappearing.
"Tori, are you okay?" Sofia asked.
"I'm fine," Tori replied as Blake pulled her to her feet.
"You sure?" Blake inquired.
"Yeah," Tori answered.
"Let's get our friends to Ops," she added.
"Right," Sofia and Blake voiced.
Ninja Ops
"That's all," Blake announced, as he set down the last of the statues...Shane's.
"We've got to figure out a way to turn them back," Sofia said.
"The only to do that...is if you destroy the amulet. Then our friends shall be returned to normal," Sensei replied.
"We just have to do it without being turned to stone ourselves," Tori mentioned.
"You should do it, Tori," Blake told her.
"Me? No, no, no," Tori refuted.
"Why not? Even with our upgraded powers, Blake and I have melee weapons and we can't get near him without being turned to stone. You're the only one of us three with a long-range weapon. My aim's not that good with my rifle and Blake only has his antlers, so yeah, it's gotta be you," Sofia countered.
"I'm just gonna mess it up. You heard Serios. I'm not even worth being turned to stone. I'm useless," Tori said sadly.
Blake took her hands in his and looked into her shimmering blue eyes.
"You are just as useful as the rest of us," Blake told her sternly.
"But-" Tori started to protest, but Blake stopped her with a finger against her lips.
"No buts. You're perfect just the way you are," the navy ranger interrupted.
Tori looked over Blake's shoulder at Sofia and Sensei who simply nodded. Their moment was ended by the attack alarm sounding.
"Well, here's your chance. He's back at the beach," Sofia declared.
"Let's do this," Tori breathed.
"Ninja Storm," she started.
"Thunderstorm," Blake added.
"Blizzard Storm," Sofia finished.
"Ranger form, ha!"
Blue Bay Beach
The trio landed on the beach where Serios turned some unfortunate beachgoers to stone, including Marah and Kapri.
"Oh, no. Marah and Kapri got turned to stone," Sofia worried.
"Hey, snake breath. What do you think you're doing?" Blake called.
"Ridding this planet of you filthy humans," Serios spat.
"Blake and I will distract him, Tori, you prepare to attack," Sofia ordered.
"Right," Tori responded.
"Ready?" Sofia asked Blake.
"Oh, yeah," Blake drawled. They drew their weapons and charged at Serios. A purple light engulfed them as Serios fired his amulet and turned both to stone.
"NO! BLAKE! SOFIA!" Tori cried.
"Your little friends are stone now. It's the little mermaid all by her lonesome," Serios taunted.
Tori tilted her head as she remembered what Sofia had told her earlier.
"The power doesn't make the ranger. The heart of the person does. You have the power. You just have to believe in it and...yourself."
"I have the power and the heart. Nothing you say scares me anymore. I believe in the power and...in myself," Tori announced passionately.
"Mere words can't help you, little dolphin," Serios cackled.
"They'll do a lot more than you think," Tori spat.
"We'll see what you can do when you're turned to stone," Serios growled. He launched the purple beam at Tori. Sand flew up in a cloud as it struck its target.
"Haha, now I'll have nobody to stop me," Serios cackled, turning around and walking away.
"That's what you think," Tori called. Serios stopped in his tracks and turned around. The sand cloud dissipated to reveal Tori clad in her Ancient Spirit mode armor.
"What?!" Serios exclaimed.
"You made the mistake of doubting me and you're going to pay for it, snake breath," Tori hissed as she summoned her trident.
"No matter. You're still no match for me. Even with your fancy armor," Serios declared.
"Never underestimate the power of water," Tori yelled, aiming her trident at him and firing three hydro blasts from the sapphire tips.
While he was distracted, she rushed at him with her ninja sword in gold mode. Tori swiped at him as golden flails of energy weakened his armor. She then stabbed her blade through his amulet, shattering it and reversing its effects.
Across Blue Bay Harbor, the victims of the amulet were returned to normal, including the rangers.
"Whoa!" Sofia and Blake cried as they were released from their stone prisons.
"Tori? What's going on?" Blake asked.
"I'll handle this," Tori replied. Serios swiped his blade at her, but she used her phasing power to allow it to go straight through her body.
"What?" Serios exclaimed angrily. Tori laughed as his extra furious slashes passed through her body harmlessly.
"What's gotten into Tori?" Blake asked.
"She believes," Sofia replied simply.
"Huh?" Blake asked.
Sofia laughed and shook her head.
Tori tapped the hilt of her trident on the sand and the blue ranger and the snake warrior found themselves being submerged into an ocean.
"NO! I can't swim," Serios cried as he flailed his arms.
"Better for me," Tori spat. She clicked her feet together and formed her mermaid tail, using the enhanced swimming speed to slash Serios multiple times over.
"Ninja water blast," she called, throwing out her hand and shooting Serios out of the fake ocean with a torrent of water and following suit.
"Is that the best you can do? Pathetic," Serios taunted.
"You haven't seen the worst yet, snake breath," Tori hissed.
"Ocean Trident, tidal attack," she commanded. Her trident ignited with blue energy as she slashed through the air, aqua flails of power piercing through Serios' armor until he began to spark madly. Tori turned away and spun her weapon upon her shoulder as Serios exploded.
"Awesome, Tori! You did it," Blake cheered, running towards her and tackling her in a hug.
"Easy, Thunder Boy. I still have a sharp point here," Tori warned playfully, returning his embrace.
"Look who believes now," Sofia teased.
"Sofia," Jacob called.
"Blake," Hunter added.
"Tori," Shane finished as the remaining rangers ran to the trio.
"You guys did it. You finished old snake breath off," Shane praised.
"Actually Tori did," Sofia mentioned.
"Really?" Dustin asked.
"Yeah, she blasted him to bits after we were turned to stone," Blake confirmed, wrapping an arm around Tori's shoulders.
"Talk about the power of water. Looks like the spirit of the water nymph is alive in you," Cam stated.
"Dude, I'm lost," Dustin commented.
"Big shocker," Cam drawled as the other boys chuckled.
"You don't have to be mean about it," Dustin whined.
"Long story short, the spirit of the water nymph grants a lucky wielder of water great power only when the person believes in their abilities. Which is why Tori was able to defeat snake breath so easily," Cam explained.
"Cam's right you know," Sofia agreed.
"I know, but you call that easy," Tori teasingly complained.
"Huh?" Hunter grunted, looking into the sky.
The others followed his gaze and saw a gold arrow descending upon them. It struck Serios' remains and he grew to Megazord size.
"I"ll crush you like the bugs you are," Serios boomed, raising his massive foot and bringing down. The eight rangers managed to somersault away before they were crushed.
"We should handle this," Jacob said.
"Wait, we'll do it," Tori announced.
"We will?" Dustin questioned. Shane slapped him upside the head.
"I guess we will," Dustin muttered.
"Ready?" Shane asked.
"Ready," Dustin answered.
"Ninja Storm, ranger form, ha!" they called.
Their suits were summoned.
"Ancient spirit mode," they added, calling upon their armor.
"Ninja zords," Tori called, snapping her fingers.
The sentient hawk, lion, and dolphin zords were summoned.
"Super Storm Megazord," Tori called as the zords combined into the powerful formation.
"You really think that a hunk of scrap metal can defeat me?" Serios rumbled as the two giants circled each other.
"Oh, you'll see what this hunk of scrap metal can do...snake breath," Shane spat.
"Tori?" he asked.
"Right, Dolphin Riptide," Tori commended, waving her hands over the blue orbs on her panel. The ripcord around the dolphin zord's neck began to spin as a powerful torrent of water ripped forth and soaked Serios thoroughly.
"Now we just need to immobilize and weaken him," Tori stated.
"But how, dude?" Dustin wondered.
Tori thought for a moment and snapped her fingers. She raised her communicator to her lips while the boys looked on curiously.
Down on the beach, Sofia's wrist comm chimed. She lifted it to her mouth.
"Yeah," she answered.
"Sofia, we need you to distract Serios and then use your ice powers to immobilize him," Tori ordered.
"On it," Sofia confirmed, disconnecting the call and jogging to the shoreline. She pressed a button on her morpher and summoned her Blizzard Bow. She strung an arrow and fired it at the snake monster, hitting him in the leg.
Serios grunted and turned to face her.
"Down here, snake breath," Sofia taunted. She cartwheeled out of the way as his massive hand attempted to crush her.
"Let's see how you like this," she growled. Sofia loaded another arrow and fired into the sky.
"Ha! You missed," Serios jeered.
"That's what you think," Sofia countered, snapping her fingers.
"Huh?" Serios grunted as he looked up. Thousands of white arrows rained down on him.
"Now for the hard part," Sofia muttered, summoning her alien ice powers. Her arms glowed silver as she fired her ice beam at the enormous snake, which did nothing more than knock him off balance.
"That didn't do much," she grumbled into her morpher.
"That's alright. You gave us the opening we needed," Tori replied.
"What?" Sofia asked.
"You'll see," Tori replied.
"Dustin, now," she commanded.
"Right," Dustin replied.
"Lion landslide," he ordered, pressing the yellow orbs on his panel. The lion's mane began to rotate as it called upon the powers of earth and launched boulders bathed in yellow energy at Serios, weakening him more for the final strike.
"Is that all you got? Pathetic," Serios scoffed.
"Oh, we're not finished yet," Shane spat.
"Storm attack," he ordered as they all waved their hands over the colored orbs. The hawk's wings glowed red as they fired a massive beam of crackling red energy, destroying the snake warrior in one fell swoop.
"Adios, snake breath," Tori sighed.
On the ground, the remaining rangers cheered for the Wind Trio for finally defeating one of their greatest foes.
Doom Island
"That's the end of Serios," Xalkar jeered as he turning away from the viewing screen showing Serios' demise.
"I wouldn't miss him for too long," Diabolos told.
"Huh?" Xalkar asked, confused.
"I have an ally flying in. And with her power, the rangers will soon fall," Diabolos cackled.
His evil laughter boomed across the island.
Ciceros Corperation
"Excellent," Malachi Ciceros sneered.
When they had discovered Joseph's stone body outside, he had sent another worker, Robert, to set up the security cameras.
"Those stupid rangers didn't even help Joey out. I see your point about then being vigilantes," Robert spat over the phone.
"Now we can use the cameras to find out their identities and reveal them to the world," Malachi said.
"Good work," he praised.
"Thank you, sir," Robert replied.
With that, Malachi hung up the phone and smirked evilly, knowing that the rangers and their crimes would soon be revealed to the world and they'd have no choice but to leave.
Ninja Ops
"Look who saved the day," Shane teased.
"Yeah, yeah, no big deal," Tori replied.
"Except it is. You stepped up and got the job done," Cam countered.
"Yeah, you did amazing today, Tor," Blake complimented as he kissed her cheek.
"Thanks, guys," Tori responded.
"You've got anything to contribute, Mr. Over-Protective?" Sofia teased her brother.
"I wasn't about to let my sister get turned to stone," Jacob defended.
"Yeah, well what about you?" Blake asked Hunter.
"I'm responsible for you, Blake, I'm not putting you in harm's way," Hunter replied.
"Yeah, 'cause you're secretly a big softie under that tough exterior," Sofia poked fun, leaning against his chest while the Thunder Brothers rolled their eyes.
"You all did well today," Sensei complimented.
"Especially you, Tori," he added.
"Thank you," Tori answered.
"What's up with you, bro?" Hunter asked Dustin, who was rolling his neck and rubbing it.
"Dudes, I was a statue for so long. My neck hurts," Dustin complained.
Shane rolled his eyes and shoved the yellow ranger , causing them all to burst into laughter.
A/N: Sorry that took so long. It's been rough with high school. We're done with hybrid and going all five days. It's been hectic. Stay tuned for the next chapter.