A/N: I'll be taking more than a few liberties with the storyline this time round, even though I loved the latest episode. Hope you all like it.
Legal: I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, places, events etc. Anything not covered by the above rights should be considered purely the creation of the author.
Mia was sitting with Antonio in her room of the Shiba House. Since the latest attack, the Rangers had been given a couple of very pointed and direct lessons, not least of which was a stark reminder that even the seemingly weakest of Master Xandred's Nighlock could present a real danger to them. Now, more than ever, they could only expect something. The atmosphere was already heavily charged, and they could feel something coming.
Mia's Turtle Zord was the last one needing to be programmed into the Black Box. It had taken Antonio a long time to figure out the secrets to programming it. He had always said it was the ultimate hack job, a challenge that eclipsed any he had undertaken but even he hadn't been prepared for it. It was like trying to decipher a computer, but one that had no components even remotely like any other, that operated in a different language, and with no instruction manual. Every inch of it was a trial and error voyage of discovery. However, he had finally figured out that the best results came when the Zords aligned with him, and they cooperated, acting as one with him.
However, that was also a difficulty. He had managed to programme in the Dragon Zord before he had figured out the real secret, but he understood that was largely down to Kevin's nature. The Zords spirits closely began to align with the Ranger they were assigned to, and their demeanour and mentality started to represent that. Kevin would do anything for the Samurai, regardless of the cost and without question. The Dragon Zord was just the same, it never resisted him as he transferred it. The others, he had a pretty good grasp of. He ended up in time figuring out just what emotions and thoughts worked best to coax them into trusting him. Mia though was a whole other story, which was why they were both excused from training. Mentor Ji had made finishing work on the box their only priority.
The room was bathed in pink light, as Mia held her power disk in her hands, as a beam between his morpher and the disk. He was struggling as he tried, feeling it resisting him. It always drained him when he used so much symbol power, but the fact that the Turtle Zord was still resisting him only made it worse.
Mia looked to Antonio, seeing him struggling, and it hurt her to see him in so much discomfort. She knew that the Turtle Zord had picked up on her own guarded nature, and withdrew into its shell so to speak. Antonio saw the beam starting to make its way to the Black Box, and got a little bit of a smile as he allowed himself to hope that it was working, but eventually he saw it start to fold.
"No, no no..." He began as the beam sparked, before disappearing. He threw down his morpher on the bed. "Damn it!"
He looked to Mia, and bit his lip in frustration, shaking his head, before lying back. Now that he knew about the pregnancy, he was a lot more understanding about why Mia kept so much of herself private. He could guess that there were a lot of genuinely painful memories in her past. He didn't want to fight with her, but it was frustrating that her own nature was preventing them from unlocking the power of the Black Box, something he was sure that they would need.
"You can say it." Mia told him. Antonio just sighed and lay on the bed, his hands over his eyes.
"Say what?" He asked her.
"It's my fault." She muttered. Antonio just shook his head.
"Mia, I didn't say that." He told her.
"You don't have to." She replied, gathering up a jacket. "I'm going out..."
"Mia, we have to..."
"We've been at this for three hours now!" She reminded him. "We're getting nowhere."
With that, she stormed out of the room. Antonio tried to go after her, but a major head rush forced him back down. He wasn't following her any time soon.
Meanwhile, over on Master Xandred's Junk, the Lord of the Nighlocks was in an even fouler mood than normal. It had taken him a while to recover from his exertion in the battle to retain authority over the Nighlock. Not only had Kenzo's move for the throne been costly to him in terms of power and resources, it had also left Dekker with Urumasa once more.
"What news do you have of Dekker?" Master Xandred asked Dayu. She stopped playing her Shamisen as she heard him say this. Although she had indeed seen him since he had reclaimed Urumasa, Master Xandred didn't know that. She had presumed that he would assume she was unaware of his where abouts as well. "You two were always able to run into each other."
"I have not seen him since the battle." She lied, hoping that Xandred would believe her.
"Well, I haven't seen too much progress on your mission to destroy him." Xandred said sarcastically. "After all, would it not be best to destroy him while he was weakened?"
"I can't very well destroy him if I don't know where he is now can I?" She asked him. She looked to the floor sadly. "I may have known him once, but he is not that man anymore. You saw to that."
Master Xandred fired a blast at her, which hit her Harmonium, setting it on fire. Dayu rushed to pat out the flames, but it was too late. The instrument was already ruined.
"My Harmonium!" She screamed, tears beginning to run down her face. "It's ruined!"
One of the things that few people were privy to was just how much the instrument truly meant to her. Although it had changed when she was turned into a Nighlock, it had been a Shamisen that Dekker had given her. It was the only thing he ever had given her. With its destruction, combined with the fact that the last time he had seen her, it was clear that he no longer recognised her, her heart broke. There truly was no hope for her.
"Master Xandred please!" Octoroo called out, interjecting himself between Dayu and Master Xandred. She knew though that his attempt to protect her had less to do with altruism, and more to do with his fear that she would reveal his part in creating Kenzo. "We can still use her..."
"Just go ahead and destroy me if you must!" Dayu sobbed. "Since I became a Nighlock, my life has been nothing but misery!"
"I tire of you." Master Xandred told her. "But I do not tire of your misery."
Dayu just got up and left, disappearing into a gap, taking her ruined Harmonuim with her.
"Let her go!" Master Xandred stated, reaching for more of his medicine. "She'll be back. You know she has no choice in the matter. Besides, the perfect Nighlock..."
"Arachteor?" Octoroo asked. Master Xandred just shook his head.
"No, you know as well as I do he's disappeared somewhere." He interrupted him. "No, I have someone else in mind."
Jayden came into the house, finding Antonio sitting on the couch, a cup of coffee in his hands. Jayden just smiled seeing this.
"Wow, you and coffee, that can't be good." Jayden chuckled. "Mia said you were working hard."
"Yeah, that Turtle Zord's really kicking my ass." Antonio told him. "She's still resisting."
Jayden furrowed his brows as he heard him saying this. He knew that Mia's nature made it harder to programme the Black Box. It was the reason he hadn't managed it before now.
"I thought she was helping you." Jayden commented. "She said she was going into town for stuff to make dinner because you were working so hard."
"More like she stormed out." Antonio said, shaking his head. "I didn't mean anything..."
"What happened?" Jayden asked him.
"She thinks I blame her." He answered. "I know it's frustrating for me, but what Mia's going through...I can't possibly imagine. I really don't want to push her."
"It's hard; I know you don't want to harm your friendship." Jayden agreed, sitting with him.
"You want to know what I think?" Antonio asked him. "I think Mia's not being straight with us about what that Nighlock made her face. I think there's more to the story."
"I think you're probably right." Jayden agreed. Just then, a Gap Sensor sounded.
"Alright, time to...whoa..." Antonio said, trying to stand up.
"Maybe you should just catch up to us." Jayden suggested as he left the room.
In the city, Mia was taking a walk to try and clear her mind. She knew how important it was that they programme the Black Box. She didn't want to hold the team back, but it was just so hard. Although as a result of the latest attack, the others now knew about her pregnancy, only Kevin knew the full story. It was just too hard for her to face.
She knew she could trust the other Rangers; she placed her life in their hands on a daily basis. It was her heart she didn't like trusting others with. She hated being vulnerable, even with her best friends, her family.
As she rounded a corner, she heard a few screams, and her attention was taken to Dayu, who was holding a busker. She didn't know why the Nighlock wanted him, all she knew was that given her past experiences with Dayu, she was not the most stable of individuals, and if she didn't act, then the man would likely be destroyed.
"Let him go!" Mia screamed as she ran to the attack, morphing as she went. Dayu saw the Pink Ranger coming and deflected her first attack.
"This is none of your business Pink Ranger!" Dayu snapped. "I need this man!"
"Sorry, but I'm making it my business." Mia responded. "I'm just rude that way."
Just as they started to get going, another Nighlock showed up. He looked to Dayu, who seemed to be just as surprised as Mia was to see him.
"Rhinosnore, what are you doing here?" Dayu screamed.
"I'm here on Master Xandred's orders." He told her. "Nighty night!"
He fired a kind of mist towards them, which Mia avoided. Given the spell the last Nighlock had used, she didn't want to take any chances with this one. Dayu also seemed keen to avoid the spell, shoving the busker in the way. He caught the mist full in the face, and just slumped to the ground. Mia looked to him, seeing that oddly, he was actually smiling, and snoring.
"This is Master Xandred's wake up call." Dayu replied. "I'm not coming back!"
She picked up the human busker as Rhinosnore started to battle with the Rangers. Mia noticed this and took off in hot pursuit.
"Mia!" Emily called out. She just looked to where the guys were fighting.
"We'll be fine." Jayden assured her. "Go help Mia."
Emily just nodded and ran off after the Pink Ranger.
Jayden smashed the Nighlock away with his spin sword, creating to the distance the Rangers needed to regroup.
"Time to turn out the lights!" Rhinosnore stated. Just then, he was sent staggering by a hail of flying fish.
"Antonio, are you sure you're up to this?" Jayden asked as the Gold Ranger arrived. He was deeply worried about how much programming the Black Box had taken out of him. Antonio just smiled at him.
"I'll be fine." He replied. Just as he turned back though, he caught a faceful of Rhinosnore's mist. He slumped to the ground, grinning inanely.
"Aw now." Kevin muttered, seeing this.
"Not a good time to take a nap buddy." Mike chipped in.
"He won't wake up until I say so!" Rhinosnore told them. "The longer he dreams, the tastier he'll be."
"That's not going to happen!" Jayden snapped, rushing forward. Rhinosnore dodged the attack though, and leapt into the air, before disappearing into a portal that opened up in Antonio's chest. Jayden de-morphed, coming to Antonio's side.
"Come back here!" Jayden screamed. Mike came to his side.
"Wait, what just happened?" Mike asked him.
"That was Rhinosnore, I've read about him." Kevin told them. "He seals people into a dream world, and he...he devours their life force in the dream world."
"He traps people in their dreams?" Mike asked him. Jayden nodded.
"The ancient Samurai said the dreams he conjured were so wonderful people would never want to wake up." Kevin continued. "Once they're in there, they're helpless."
"I don't buy that, not for one moment!" He answered, pulling out his samuraiser. "Don't worry, Antonio, we're coming for you."
In the forest on the edge of town, Mia had caught up with Dayu and managed to knock the busker off her shoulder. Dayu had no choice but to fight her.
"You have an annoying habit of meddling in my business Pink Ranger." Dayu told her.
"Keep hurting people, and I'll keep stopping you!" Mia called out. Just then, Rhinosnore leapt out of a portal and landed beside them both.
"Two for the price of one, now that's a deal!" Rhinosnore stated. "Nighty night ladies!"
With that, he blasted them both. Mia couldn't keep her eyes open, and they both fell to the ground.
Mia woke up, finding herself on the ground, and looked around, finding no one around. There was no sign of Dayu, or Rhinosnore. She started to rub her eyes as she tried to get her bearings.
"I guess our suits protect us." She commented. Just then, she heard something a little way off. She furrowed her brows as she heard it. Following the noise, she happened upon a pram a little way from her in the shade of some trees.
She approached it, coming to the side of the pram, feeling her heart racing. Her hands trembled as she came to the side of the pram, and pulled down the awning. Inside, she saw a baby starting to stir and cry.
It was a tiny thing, possibly only days old, and wrapped in some blue blankets. She could see the skin tone, and her heart melted. She couldn't help smiling looking into his tiny face. She put her trembling hands into the pram and lifted the baby out, cooing to it as she held the baby to her chest. She couldn't believe what she was experiencing; she couldn't remember how many times she had wished for this.
"Shoosh Evan, it's alright." Mia told her son in a comforting whisper as she started to rock the baby gently to settle him. "Mommy's here."
Back at the site of the original battle, Jayden concentrated on his symbol power as he prepared to summon a portal to the dream world. He knew that the portal would not be open for long, so he knew that he wouldn't be able to follow. Mike and Kevin prepared for the mission ahead, knowing how important it was.
"Symbol Power!" He called out "Portal!"
Casting the symbol over Antonio's unconscious form, Jayden created the portal.
"Now!" Kevin shouted, at which he and Mike jumped through the portal, going into the dream world. Jayden felt himself weakening, and he fell to his knees, the portal vanishing.
"You're on your own guys." Jayden whispered. "Please hurry."
In the dream world, Kevin and Mike looked around, finding it completely unlike anything they expected. If anything, with the exception of the people around them playing out some of their fantasies, it was kind of like the real world.
As they wandered around, looking for Antonio, they finally saw him sitting by the edge of a lake. Mike called out.
"Hey Antonio, amigo!" He said, smiling as they started to come over. He didn't seem to be paying attention though. The Blue and Green Rangers started to run over, but Kevin slowed down as he saw someone else coming.
"Jayden?" He asked. "I didn't think he had come through."
Jayden handed a cup to Antonio as he looked out over the lake. Antonio smiled.
"I love the sunset." Antonio told him. Jayden sat down beside him and put his arm around him.
"Just the sunset?" He asked. Mike could see what was happening and looked to Kevin, who seemed more than a little taken aback. He knew that both Antonio and Jayden were gay, but he didn't think they were in a relationship. Jayden leant in closely as Antonio smiled.
"I love you." He said to the Red Ranger. Jayden just leaned in more closely.
"I love you too." Jayden told him. "And I don't care who knows."
With that, they kissed. Kevin just shook his head as he saw this.
"Wait, this is what Antonio's dreaming about?" Kevin asked. Mike just put a hand on Kevin's shoulder.
This is private, we shouldn't say anything." Mike told him. "But we need to convince him that this is a dream."
Just then, Kevin saw Rhinosnore a little way from them. He recognised Bulk from the time they had saved him and Spike from Dekker. It seemed that even in his dreams Bulk was deluded into believing he was a Samurai. He was in full armour, and appeared to be trying to take on the monster, but he couldn't get his sword out of his scabbard because of his...build.
"That'll have to wait." Kevin told him. "We have bigger problems."