Chapter 1
It had been a rather ordinary day, though one would not describe fighting monsters to be part of any normal day, but to Emma it certainly added a kick. The monster they'd fought was another toxic mutant, which looked like a combination of a Venus flytrap and a type of weed, but she couldn't be certain. She just knew being hit by those leaves and thistles had stung even through her suit. The powder it emitted had caused her mild discomfort, like she'd just been thrown off her bike and her head was being taken for a spin.
Still, she'd been able to shake it off long to help her team defeat the monster when it grew supersize, but she'd been struck by a wave of tiredness when she'd de-morphed and it took all she had to keep from passing out as she brushed the remaining yellow pollen from her hair. Apparently it was a rather stubborn substance to get rid of as it wouldn't come off easily and she had to use what little energy she had getting rid of it on her way home, telling her friends she needed a quick change of clothes.
Her friends had given her some good-natured ribbing about the pollen ruining her clothing, but she'd just rolled her eyes and was on her way. She could still feel her muscles beginning to ache like every step was zapping away more and more of her energy, but she did make it home, standing long enough to walk up the stairs to her room and collapsed onto her bed, her eyes drooping shut.
When she'd awoken, it felt like only a few minutes, but the clock by her bed had told her it'd been hours and she was left momentarily dazed by the fact she felt better than she had ever been before. Then again, with the recent business of monster fighting, a few hours of solid sleep would be refreshing.
Emma blinked, and she looked down at her clothing, but she swore that there had still been pollen spores stuck to her clothes and skin. She checked the sheets for any signs, but there was nothing. Had she been freaking out over nothing? She frowned; no, she hadn't, so where did the spores go?
Emma got to her feet, still intending to change her clothing, and when she moved to take her shoes off, she stopped short, a flash of horror overtaking her. Beneath her skin she saw dark green lines along her leg, as if her veins had suddenly been taken over by some foreign substance. She took off her denim jacket with urgency, her dread rising as she checked her arms for the same veins, but while it was on her shoulders and upper arms, it had not yet moved past her elbows.
Thinking it couldn't be a coincidence with the spores disappearing and how in the fight, she was the only one who got sprayed with them. Taking out her morpher, Emma called headquarters and hurriedly told Tensou to teleport her in. She landed in front of the giant metal face, Tensou scurrying around her as soon as he saw the dark green veins, the ones on her arms slowly continuing to make their way down her arms.
"Pink Ranger, Pink Ranger! Your skin is green!"
Emma held back a sigh, too worried to bother with correcting the robot. "Gosei, I was sprayed with these spores while fighting a mutant with the others. I thought it was nothing, but…" she trailed off and looked at her arms again. "Have you ever seen anything like this?"
"Unfortunately my knowledge of these mutants is limited to Bigs and Bluefur from your fights; were any of the other rangers affected?" Gosei questioned in his booming voice.
Emma shook her head. "I was the only one. What should I do?"
Gosei was silent for a moment, as if he too was unsure of what was happening to her. "Please step up to your podium, it may help me determine if this infection is…severe."
Emma knew he was trying to lessen the blow of whether she could die or not, but since she put her life on the line with her friends, she could handle it. "I understand." She said and walked over to her stand, placing her hands on the surface, feeling a surge go through her and after a brief flash, Emma pulled her hands away.
"Until I have made my conclusions, I would suggest avoiding the other rangers."
Emma looked down at her still clear hands, but realized that even if her friends knew about her potential illness and any contagiousness it possessed, they still wouldn't stay away from her. Whether they had to wear breathing masks around her, or had to avoid touching her, Emma knew they'd still want to know what was wrong and be there for her.
She appreciated this, but she'd have to agree with Gosei on this. It was simply too dangerous to put her friends in danger because of the unknown origin of her condition. If her father wasn't away, she'd be worried she'd likely have already infected him. "Please tell the others I'll be at my home sick until this is sorted out." She decided, as this would give her time to prepare a more concrete reasoning to tell her friends if any of them tried to stop by.
"Get well soon, Ping Ranger!" Tensou shouted.
Emma felt a smiled quirk at the corner of her lips, hoping that these words would ring true.
Gia marched down the sidewalk toward Emma's home, her expression threatening to crack under the strain of the worry and anger she was feeling. How could Emma not tell them herself that she was sick from fighting that plant monster; while another part of her could understand not wanting to cause any infections towards the rest of them, the worried part of her was hurt that Emma was willing to avoid them and not even speak to them.
She could hear the boys rushing to keep up with her, having been shocked themselves that Emma had apparently been infected by that plant mutant, but she'd left immediately to get answers from Emma herself before Gosei had even finished explaining the situation. She couldn't have stayed behind to hear anymore, not without saying some things that would get her a severe reprimanding from either Gosei or Troy, and it would just leave her feeling guilty no matter how justified she felt. 'Why didn't Emma's suit protect her? How come we weren't infected but she was? If we can get sick even with the suits, then can we die in them?'
While these questions plagued her, everything seemed to disappear when she found herself standing in front of Emma's door. She knocked while the boys caught up with her, but even as there was no answer on the other side, she wasn't fooled. "Emma, I know you're there."
There was a pause before Emma's muffled voice rang through the door. "You really shouldn't have come here, didn't Gosei explained to you what was going on?"
"He said you were sick, because of that plant monster." Troy said, his tone expressing the same guilt that was mirrored on his features. Whether he was feeling guilty about Emma getting infected on his watch, or the fact none of them saw it earlier, Gia couldn't tell.
"Why didn't you tell us yourself something was wrong?" Gia demanded.
"Gia!" Noah said and Gia winced at how her own tone sounded. She hadn't meant for it to be so harsh, but her anger was starting to melt through her restraint.
"I freaked when I saw myself, and I went immediately to Gosei to see if he knew anything about what was going on." Emma explained. "He didn't, but he's trying to find out if this could be contagious or not, and that it was better to avoid you guys for now."
"We get that part, you're worried about our own health, but why all the secrecy?" Jake questioned in confusion.
"Because I thought you all deserved a real reason for me avoiding you." Emma admitted. "I felt terrible after getting done with the fight, and those spores were on me. I should have told you all that I didn't feel well then, but I didn't want you to worry about me. It's crossed my mind since I've been in here thinking that this could just be some kind of distraction, that getting one ranger out of the game might throw the rest of you off."
The look on Jake's face said his confusion hadn't lessened. "If anyone was going to get infected, shouldn't it have been Troy? Take out the leader and all that?"
Troy's expression tightened, looking even guiltier than before. "If that monster did miss…Emma, I'm sorry that you're suffering for something that I should be going through."
There was a long pause on the other side of the door. "I'm not suffering, Troy." Emma said in placation. "Not conventionally anyway. I felt terrible during that first little while, but then I got all my energy back and felt better than I had in months."
"Since we don't know what kind of disease this is, it could be a type of infection that lets you think everything's fine." Noah pointed out, and Gia sent a menacing glance his way, to which he raised his hands in surrender. "I'm just pointing out another factor here, don't shoot the messenger."
Gia sighed in irritation, knowing what she'd like to do. "When I see those two mutants again, I'm gonna-"
"You won't be doing anything." Emma cut her off sternly. "This could be their plan, luring you into seeking out revenge."
"Plus there's the chance Bigs and Bluefur aren't behind this; those two don't seem like the types to come up with a plan like this." Troy pointed out.
"Then what are we supposed to do, just sit around and wait to know if Emma's going to get better?" Gia demanded once more. "Whoever did this, and regardless of what reason, intentionally set out to tear us apart, and they're gonna pay!"
"I won't let you do that, that's what they'd want." Emma repeated. "Please, if only for my sake, don't do anything you'll regret."
Gia felt her flare of anger temper back to worry at hearing the pleading in her best friend's voice. Emma had snapped her out of Beezara's spell, and had saved them all with their fight against Dizcord; she could reign in her need to seek revenge after all they'd been through together; as power rangers and long before that. "Just…how bad is it, really?"
"Like I said, I freaked at first," Emma repeated, "but now that I've had time to think, I realize this could be a lot worse. Whether or not I'm slowly being eaten alive or if it's harmless, as long as I don't look at myself I can at least pretend there's no green veins over my arms and legs."
"Green veins?" Noah repeated. "Don't people have veins like that anyway?"
"They're real green, really dark green-almost black." Emma explained and paused before continuing in a rather strangled way. "They've already spread down to my hands."
"Emma-" Gia tried, but her friend cut her off.
"No, you cannot see me; I'm being serious about that." Emma said firmly. "I don't want you catching this."
Catching the undercurrents of weariness in Emma's voice, Gia knew her friend was too polite to tell them to leave. "I'll call you later." She said and the guys caught on quickly before they said their farewells and well-wishes before departing.
Emma peered out from behind the current on the window of the door, catching sight of her friends disappearing from sight down the street. She could see in her reflection that the veins had almost reached her hairline, causing her to turn away from the ugly lines, knowing she couldn't do anything to stop this.
As she walked away from the door, Emma grabbed her temples, feeling a searing burst of pain and the skin of her skull rippling under her fingers. Horrified, she made her way toward the door to shout for her friends, but stopped short, the pain in her head causing her to collapse to the floor.
Emma could feel her entire body being engulfed in pain, the feeling of her skin rippling all over making her stomach turn, but even that cause her pain. She opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. As the pain she was feeling finally became too unbearable for her too handle, the last thing she saw was nothing but green all around her.