A/N: This is not my first time writing Samurai, but it is my first time writing Megaforce. So forgive me if I'm off.
Well, enjoy!
If you know of Linkin Park's song "New Divide", you'll notice I took a line from that song and made it into this story's title.
This story takes place after the Samurai series, but during the Megaforce series, right after the episode "Prince Takes Knight." What is with the Megaforce hiatus?! Show your new episode already!
Disclaimer: I own nothing from Power Rangers. Not Samurai. Not Megaforce. Not even half the plot, believe it or not. Only just a small section of it.
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Power Rangers: Across This New Divide
By: DreamStar14
Chapter One: A Ranger Mystery
Gia Moran turns back to direction of the school, arms linked with Emma Goodall, who is saying, "Let's go to Ernie's for a smoothie." Gia smiles, agreeing.
The two girls turn to walk away, but Gia turns back around. "Oh, Jake," she says sweetly, causing said male Ranger to melt. "You're buying."
Jake's Holling's smile immediately disappears. "Oh, come on…" he groaned, but he could still hear Troy Burrows and Noah Carver's laughter in sync with the girls'.
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Jake tries really hard to balance all the items in both arms. All five of them had ordered not only smoothies, but also ice cream sundaes on top of that. All Ernie could do was send him a sympathetic smile and wish him "good luck" and continue with his work, muttering about the power drainage earlier that same day.
Jake feels a twinge of guilt, as that was Psychotick who had caused that power drain. No wonder it took Ernie a long time to make the smoothies and the sundaes.
When Jake gets back to the table, he is very happy to set all of the items in his tired arms down. The other four glance up at him and smile.
"Thank you, Jake," Noah says, a smirk that was never there on his face. Okay, he definitely knew something that Jake didn't. Now the Black Ranger is curious.
"Okay, what's up?" Jake asks his four friends as he sits down at the empty seat at the table.
"What do you mean?" Troy replies, taking a sip of his smoothie.
"You guys obviously know something that I don't," Jake answers back. "What is it? Spill."
"We're all just so happy about our lives right now," Emma tells him. "That's what we're happy about."
Since Emma never really lies, Jake buys it, and everyone continues to eat their sundaes and drink their smoothies. As they eat, Troy speaks up and says, "Yesterday, the principal asked me to show a new student around today."
"That's great," Emma is the first to congratulate him. "But why you?"
Troy shrugs. "The principal said that I understand people in general better than anyone else in this school, so he chose me to show her around."
"Wait, wait, wait," Jake interrupts. "She? The new student is a girl?"
"Yeah," Troy responds. "That's what the principal said."
"Do you know her name?" Jake asks, avoiding the slap he gets from Gia and Emma and ignoring Noah's, "Leave her alone, Jake."
"Yes," Troy says, a little smirk on his face. Jake looks at him expectantly, waiting for an answer, "But I'm not going to tell you." Jake's face falls for the second time that day.
"Why not?"
"I don't want you getting near her and influencing her, Jake," Troy replies. Jake groans. Emma then announces an unexpected guest.
"Mr. Johnson," she says, her way of telling the others that the principle has arrived. The other four turn to the man standing Noah. Mr. Johnson nods. "How are you today?"
"Very well, Emma, thank you," he replies. "Troy, the new student is now in my office and ready for her tour guide."
"Oh, sure. I'm on it," Troy responds, standing up. He turns to his four friends and says, "I'll be back, okay, guys? Don't bother waiting up for me."
"Bye, Troy!"
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Troy walks down the school hallways, which is crowded, unfortunately, ten minutes later, with the new girl.
"Sorry the hallways are so congested," Troy says.
"Is it always like this?" she asks. Her voice is quiet, soft, yet firm, strong, and conveys her message with clarity and confidence. It's an unusual voice tone, Troy notes, and he's intrigued. She's wearing jean shorts, a white blouse, and a yellow sweater over that, the sleeves rolled up at the elbows, her white and yellow school bag draped over her shoulders. Her hazel eyes and yellow and gold flower hair band in her golden-blonde hair complete her look, but it reminds Troy immediately of Gia.
"Pretty much," Troy replies. "And we also have bullies, people who like to pick on others who don't deserve it, so watch out."
She giggles. "Don't worry. I can take care of myself."
"If you're certain," Troy dismisses it, but he takes her for her word. Normally, people would do just the opposite, but Troy knows it's true, that she's not lying. How can he tell? They say eyes are windows to the soul. He can read her eyes and he can tell that she's a good person who holds the same values as he does. "Oh, sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. I'm Troy Burrows."
"Emily Suzuki…" she pauses, and that worries him.
"Are you okay, Miss Suzuki?" he asks.
She snaps out of her reverie and replies, "Yeah, I'm fine. You just remind me of one of my best friends."
"Really?"
"Yeah. His name is Jayden, Jayden Shiba." Another Japanese last name. Suzuki, Shiba…oh, come on, Troy, it could just be a coincidence. "He had a brown hair like yours, blue eyes too…and he also wore red like you…not to mention, you and he are both fairly quiet and serious, and you look like you need to get out and have some fun also." He can hear Gia and Emma's voices in his head, telling him exactly that.
Oh, wait…he really can hear their voices, literally.
"Hey, Troy," Emma walks up with the others and greets them. "Is this the new girl?" Troy nods and Emma continues, "Hi, I'm Emma Goodall, one of Troy's friends. Actually, we all are."
"Noah Carver, the one and only genius in this school," Noah steps up next, causing the new girl to laugh.
"Jake Holling, the coolest guy here. You need help, just call me." Gia rolls her eyes and steps forward. As soon as Gia lays her eyes on the new girl, Troy sees a spark of familiarity in his friend's eyes and immediately knows that something is up. Gia and this girl met somewhere before. But Gia gets over it and continues like nothing ever happened.
"I'm Gia Moran. Ignore Jake. He's a total idiot."
"I can see that," the new girl replies. "It's nice to meet you all. I'm Emily Suzuki."
Troy is not looking the new girl, Emily, he will call her now, but rather, at Gia. That look in her eyes called familiarity is back. Now, he's worried. Where did they meet before? But his thoughts are interrupted by Emma.
"Emma, Emily," she mutters. "Our names sound a lot alike."
"It could just be a coincidence," Emily replies.
"Could be," Troy interrupts. "I'm sorry, but I'm not finished showing her around yet. Could you guys just sit tight for a couple more minutes?"
As he and Emily continue walking and stroll past his friends, they both hear Noah say, "Sure, man." There is a short pause, before the genius says, "Jake, stop looking at her like that."
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When Troy and Emily are at a safe distance, near the cafeteria and by the lockers, he finishes the tour by saying, "And this is the cafeteria. Most of the students, though, go to Ernie's."
"Ernie's?" She repeats. She has not heard this name before and it confuses her, but also interests her too.
"The smoothie shop, and also ice cream parlor," Troy clears up her confusion.
"Oh," Emily responds, her confusion gone, "is it good?"
"Very," he sends her a gentle smile.
His smile sends a pang of sadness down her spine and straight into her heart. This Troy really does remind her of Jayden, one of her best friends. The last time she saw him was when they all left the Shiba House. She hasn't seen anyone besides Mike since then.
But two weeks later, she and Mike had come to an agreement. They thought the feelings they both felt for the other were mutual, but after two weeks of being together at Emily's house, Emily just didn't feel the same way. Serena told her that it could be just because she missed the others, but Emily wasn't convinced. After another week of serious thinking and pondering, Emily realized what was going through her heart and mind: she only liked Mike as a brother.
When she told Mike, he was devastated, but despite that, he understood and decided to put her feelings first. Then, he left for his own family, the last words he spoke to her being the same words she last told the others, "Ranger together, Samurai forever."
That was three months ago, in June. Now, it was August, and with Serena's and her mother's help, she finally realized who she really liked: Jayden.
And Troy Burrows reminded her of Jayden.
She is snapped out of her reverie by a beeping sound. She glances at Troy, who is looking into is backpack. He closes it back up when she asks, "What is that sound?"
"Oh, I have no idea," he quickly says. "Uh, listen. I have to go somewhere real quick." He is fast walking toward the door. "You can handle your locker by yourself, right?" She nods and he leaves the building.
Only until Troy is halfway to the site Tensou reported, his morpher in his hand, does he remember Gosei's once said words, 'No ordinary human can hear your morphers.'
Emily, the new girl, seemed like an ordinary student, but she had heard his morpher.
Now, Troy really is intrigued.
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Troy meets his team on the way and together they morph while they run, later joined by Robo Knight. Now, in the city square, they see no one in sight. Neither one of them see anything out of the ordinary.
Emma is the first to speak, "Where is he?"
Robo Knight speaks in a quiet robotic voice, "Quiet. I hear something."
A deep rumble is heard by them all, not just their robotic friend. But then, it disappears. After a couple more minutes, Noah breaks out his Morpher.
"Tensou," he says, "Are you sure the monster is here?"
"Yes, I'm absolutely positive. Gosei and I would never mislead you," returns the little robot's voice. "But…you should all be careful. This monster is not from the Warstar Alien Ship. It's from another place, but it's just as bad."
"If it's different, then how were you able to track it?" Troy cuts in.
Gosei is the one who replies, "We can detect any threat to the earth and its environment. The Warstar Aliens are the ones we find familiar, that's all. But, be careful, Rangers. This one is very different but it carries the same threat."
"We understand," Noah says, "Thank you," and he hangs up. He turns to his five teammates. "According to Gosei and Tensou, the monster should be here."
"But where is it?" Jake asks, Gia wondering the same thing.
There is a deep, yet short rumble again and this time, out of nowhere, Jake is punched hard in the jaw by the monster.
Emma runs over to Jake and kneels by him. "Jake, are you okay?" Jake only grunts in pain. "Where did that thing come from?" She turns to face the monster.
It's an ugly-looking thing, its brown and looks like it's covered in nothing but rocks, but the monster says nothing and he disappears again, by spinning and by doing that, creating a hole in the ground, a tunnel.
"I see," Gia exclaims. "He's using the earth underneath us. That's why we couldn't see him and that's where the rumbles came from. The rumbles were the result of him moving around underneath us."
"I don't understand," Robo Knight says. "How could you tell?"
"It's called observing," Gia said, kindly. "You need to observe before you can adapt and beat the bad guy."
"I see now, Yellow Ranger," Robo Knight replies. "Thank you."
Gia nods. Robo Knight has just been taught something else that could be useful. 'The bad guy…' Gia shakes her head, but suddenly regrets being off guard, as she is hit in the chest multiple times and is forced to the ground and de-morphs, next to Jake, who is in the same position.
"Battle Gear: Phoenix Shot!" Emma attempts to use her weapon as a shield, but she too is knocked back. She lands in Noah's arms, who sets her back on her feet and summons his Shark Bowgun. He hears the earth rumble again and sends a few shots where he thinks he heard the sound, but they, unfortunately, backfire, and strike both Noah and Emma in the chest. The two fall on the ground, next to Jake and Gia, as they too de-morph.
Troy glances at his fallen friends, on the ground, withering in pain. He winces. He can practically feel the pain they're in, and something strikes him in the shoulder.
Troy doesn't de-morph, but he is immediately worried when Robo Knight falls beside him. If not even Robo Knight can't defeat him, then who can?
"Hey, Nighlock!" a voice sounds. The monster stops in its tracks and glances over at the carrier of the voice.
It is another Ranger, a female, one in yellow, just like Gia. But this one is different. Her helmet is different, and it carries the Japanese kanji for earth on it as the visor. The suit design is modeled after a Japanese style collar or kimono, a sword at her hip. The insignia on her suit, her chest, is a strange one. But once this is over, he and the team can go to headquarters and talk to Gosei about it.
The monster speaks for the first time since the Megaforce Rangers have met him. "Aww, just when I was having fun too."
The other Yellow Ranger unsheathes her sword and spins the black disk connected to its hilt. "Earth Slicer!"
Her voice, Troy notes, is very familiar, but where? Where has he heard it before?
She throws her giant shuriken, which strikes the monster, Nighlock as this Ranger has called it, not once, but three times.
After a very short pause, they all hear a crack and the Nighlock says, "You got lucky, Rangers. I'm drying out."
In a flash of red, the monster disappears.
Troy, still morphed, turns to the other Yellow Ranger, who has turned and is now walking away. "Wait!" She stops and turns back to face him. "Who are you?"
"Just a friend," she plainly says before walking away from their sight.
Jake makes way to stand up and go after her, but surprisingly, he is held back by Gia. "Just let her go, Jake. At least, she saved us. She could have chosen not to."
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Robo Knight has left, disappeared once again. But Troy leads the others to Headquarters.
"Gosei," Troy announces, in a firm, strong voice. "Who was that Ranger?"
"Hmm?" Gosei appears to have awoken from a nap, even though he does not look like it. "Oh, the Ranger who appeared today?"
"Yes," Noah cuts in. "Who was she and what was that monster?"
"What did the new Ranger call it?" Gosei asks.
"She called it a 'Nighlock'," Emma says.
"I see," Gosei says. "Nighlock are demons from the netherworld. That's why the one today did not look like a bug."
"How are we supposed to beat this thing?" Jake asks.
"The same way you defeat any other monster, but one word of caution," Gosei says. "These Nighlock naturally grow larger after you destroy their first life. So be ready to use your zords." The Rangers nod and Gosei continues. "Now, about that new Ranger. Jake turn around. On your left, you'll see a set of keys, one of which looks like the new Ranger you saw today."
Jake takes a look and says, "She is the Yellow Samurai Ranger."
"Are you sure?" Noah asks. Troy and Emma turn to Noah confused and Jake nods. Noah notices Troy and Emma's looks and immediately says, "In case we have to team up, I've been studying on the past ranger teams. Also, in case we ever need to refer to a piece of advice from them, you know, to continue the legacy. The Power Rangers Samurai is the team that fought before us."
"So, this Yellow Samurai is Gia's predecessor," Jake says aloud.
Emma interrupts, "Speaking of whom, where is Gia?"
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In the park, Gia taps Emily on the shoulder. The younger girl turns around and immediately smiles.
"Hi, G," Emily happily says. The latter smiles at the nickname and hugs Emily, wrapping her in a tight hug. "It's so good to see you again, G."
"Same here, Em. I was actually really worried about my youngest cousin. I wanted to write and see how she was doing. Nice save, by the way. You saved those Megaforce Rangers."
"It's my job, G. And don't worry. We won. No more Xandred," Emily says.
"Thank you, Lord," Gia replies.
"I know, right?" Emily responds. "So, you're a ranger now too, huh? You are the Yellow Megaforce Ranger. Good job. Can you explain to me who that robot guy was?"
"His name is Robo Knight. Gosei created him to be a protector of the earth, like us, but he lost his memory, and now we Rangers have to help him get it back."
"I see," Emily says. She pauses before continuing, "Oh, Gia? By the way, you can tell your Ranger friends about me. It's okay. If they were normal humans, then no, you could not. But since you guys are Rangers…well, no two Rangers should be enemies."
"I know, but…"
"But nothing."
To Be Continued…
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A/N: Well? How'd I do? Too obnoxious? Too weird? Any mistakes? Tell me, please. That lovely review box isn't down there for nothing.