Tony
"Yo, J. Whit. Over here!"
I looked over to see Chris Mackey motioning me over to a crowd of kids. Emily was over there dressed in red. Chris was in blue and some other kids in green, yellow, and pink. I calmly walked over to them. Emily's face was full of disgust, but I let it go.
"Sup' Chris."
"J. Whit. I'd like you to meet Austin Mullen, David Keaton, and Sarah Anderson."
I nodded to them and they nodded back at me. Austin was dressed in green, David in yellow, and Sarah in pink. They seemed so official. David had a scar that started underneath his right eye, crossed over his nose, and ended to the left side of his mouth.
All of a sudden the room fell silent. I looked up to see five elderly people appeared in front of the room. The one in red stepped up in front of the group. Her hair was a combination of silver and a chocolate brown. She had deep worry lines etched into her forehead. Her gaze seemed to affect everyone in the room.
"I am looking for the one known as James Whitman."
Chris nudged me and I stepped forward. "That's me."
Everyone turned and stared at me. The woman's full attention was on me. I felt like a bug under a microscope.
"You are a new student enrolled at this camp. You are now bonded by the rules and regulations at this camp. You will be known as Gunny until you rise up on the pole of greatness. Hunter step forward."
A guy with a military buzz cut and a blue uniform stepped forward. I knew right away that this was Chris's father. They had the same mischievous facial features. He held out his hands. In them was a white uniform.
"Come forward Gunny."
I walked up to the woman. She signaled Hunter to give me the uniform. I took it from him and then looked back at her.
"Gunny, after the meal come find me. You must consult the chancellor. He will assign you to a color tent. There you will stay. Once you start the road to greatness you will eventually earn your colors. Do you understand?"
I nodded to her. I turned around and headed back to Chris. He gave me an assuring look. I looked at Emily and she turned away. Chris showed me to a bathroom to change in. Once I came out we went to the food line then sat at a table in the back of the room.
"That went better than I thought J Whit. I was afraid she was ganna kill you." He laughed loudly.
"Why did she call me Gunny?"
"Who knows why she chose Gunny. That is what all the teachers will call you."
"Great… It sounds like an old man name."
Chris got a real big kick out of that one. He almost choked on some organic french-fries he shoved into his mouth. After he recovered from his choking fit he punched me playfully.
"Come on J. Whit. You don't want to be late finding Emily's mom. Trust me on that."
Tony
Chris led me to the huge red tent. I stepped inside but Chris didn't follow. The lady up on stage was sitting in a chair. She looked up with the same eyes as Emily only they were fiercer.
"So you're the one Willows sent… You don't seem like much. It's hard to believe you would be the one she sent."
"Why does your family keep cutting me down? I am the grandson of Dr. Willows. I didn't know about all this S.P.D. stuff until about three weeks ago. Give me a break!"
"Ha ha ha you are Karissa's grandchild alright. Always ready to prove someone wrong!"
"Wha—"
"It's settled. I need to keep a close eye on you. You will be in the red camp. One day you will lead us to victory but until then you must learn the ways of a ninja, then eventually you will join the ranger path. Good luck and give this slip to Chris and he will take you to your own tent."
Tony
"So how did it go J. Whit?"
"Freaky. She told me to give this to you."
"Holy crap man! She must think a lot of you! Red tent man is like amazing! Emily is totally ganna kill you!"
"Great…"
"Come on I'll take ya to your tent."
I followed Chris to the back of the giant red tent I met older Emily at. We walked around a couple of tents and finally stopped at a decent, red, tent. Chris held the door and we went inside. The tent looked tiny but on the inside it was huge! There was an entertainment center on one side and a wooden man on the other. There were different swords and such by the wooden man. In the back was a quilted bed. It was a lot better than the hammock I slept in while living with grandma.
I forgot to mention that I live with my grandma. My mom died when I was young. I don't know why, all I know is that you don't ask. Grandma gets upset about it, which is understandable. My mom was her only child. I guess that's why she likes having me around. I'm the spitting image of my mom. We both miss her so I guess that's why we look out for each other. We only have each other. Grandpa died years ago in some sort of car accident. Ever since, Grandma hasn't been the same.
"Come on J. Whit. Let's go see Emily."
"Which one?"
"The young and the furious bro'"
"Do you like her Chris?"
Chris stopped for a moment while walking up a steep path. He looked down at his shoes, and then turned and faced me.
"I'm dating her dude…"
I just felt like an asteroid just nailed me in the chest. I looked right into his eyes to see any hint of joke. There was nothing but the truth. I just shook my head and kept on walking. Chris reached out and grabbed my shoulder. I turned around in time for a fist to smash right into my face. I felt my jaw give and I went down. The next thing I remembered was someone kicking the absolute shit out of me. Then I just blacked out.
CC Chat
Dr. Willows: How is he?
Ninja School: Not so good. He really got beat up.
Dr. Willows: Who did it?
Ninja School: I really don't know…
Dr. Willows: Emily how the hell do you not know!
Emily Senior: I'm sorry Karissa. I just really don't know! I wasn't there. My daughter found him alone and half dead. Again, I'm so sorry!
Dr. Willows: … Just send him back… I want him home… He's all I have left after Sara and Anthony was murdered… I can't lose him too…
Emily Senior: I'll see what I can do… I was just starting to warm up to this boy. He's a lot like you. I'll be sad to see him go.
Dr. Willows: I don't have a choice. I can't lose the only family I have left.
Emily Senior: I got to go. They said he's awake. I will get to the bottom of this I promise.
Tony
My eyes fluttered open. My head was throbbing, especially my jaw. Then all of a sudden I felt my body start to shake and beeping noises. My heart began to race. I could feel my eyes slipping back into unconsciousness. Then I felt a pinch on my arm and all stopped. I opened my eyes and saw a very concerned face. It was Emily senior and her daughter to the right of her holding my hand. My heart started to race again. I saw their faces light up with worry. I quickly regained self-control.
"Hey, guys…" I coughed a little and started to relax as the meds kicked in. I saw a tear run down teenage Emily's face. She turned and left the room.
"Who did this to you Tony? Who?!"
"I don't remember exactly but there is no way who I think it is would do this to me."
"Your grandma wants me to send you home. So you better start giving me some names,"
"I was talking to Chris and—"
"Chris Mackey?"
"Yeah about—"
"There is no way he would do this!"
"But he did. We were going to find your daughter and I asked if he liked her. He told me that he was dating her. I started to walk off toward Emily when he grabbed my shoulder. Then he started working me over like a punching bag. I just don't understand."
"Tony that doesn't sound anything like what Chris would do."
I laid back into the bed and closed my eyes. I was sure that is what happened. Little did I know that I fell back into unconsciousness.
I awoke to a little girl about the age of 12 sitting at my bedside. She looked relieved to see me. She looked strangely familiar. In fact I knew I've met her before I just didn't know where. She smiled at me and I started to feel like I was healing faster. Then I realized I was. My jaw stopped hurting and my bruises and cuts were going away. I stared in amazement then the next thing I knew, she was gone.
I fell back to sleep and awoke the next morning. I felt back to normal and I had to get out of this damn hospital room. I got up and pulled all the plugs and stuff off of me. My uniform was next to me. Only it wasn't the same as I first got it. It had a red stripe around my right bicep. I hurried and put the uniform on and then sneaked out the window. I took off racing into the night. I was about to pass Emily Senior's tent when I heard voices inside. I hid behind some ferns outside the tent to listen in.
"Mom please I don't know!"
"You must know! You have to find out! Karissa wants me to send him home. I need answers!"
I heard Emily crying as she burst out the tent. She went to a different tent that I assumed was hers. I decided to go find out.
Tony
I knocked on the tent door and I heard a muffled come in. I went inside the tent to see Emily holding a picture frame and crying.
"Hey I'm a little lost, can you help me."
All of sudden she just stopped. She stopped crying, she stopped moving, hell she probably stopped breathing too. She turned and looked at me. Relief flooded her face, but then it was quickly replaced with anger and frustration.
"What are you doing here?! You are supposed to be resting!"
"I needed to talk to you. I knew you wouldn't come to me, so I had to come to you."
"Damn right I wouldn't come talk to you! You implicated that MY boyfriend had something to do with your beating!"
I saw a tear run down her face, but she quickly wiped it away. I felt really guilty. I went inside her tent and sat on her floor. I looked up a little bit to get a better view of the picture she was holding. The pictured showed Chris having her arms around her and kissing her forehead.
"Emily… I… I'm sorry okay? I don't know why Chris did this. I'm thinking you were right though. I shouldn't be here. I'm not as amazing as my grandma. Look I'll leave tomorrow and you won't ever have to see me again."
Then she started bawling again. I didn't know what to do. My instincts told me to hug her and let her cry on my shoulder. My gut told me as soon as I did that Chris would walk in and give me another beating. Well instincts kicked in first. As I started to move I heard her mumble something.
"You can't leave. You have a mission to do."
"You don't even like me. Why do you want me to stay?"
She looked at me and her eyes lost all the fierceness that I saw on my first day.
"James, if you leave, then we may never leave the Ninja School and the corrupted power rangers may never be defeated. Also, I don't hate you. I'm just jealous that you are the one to save the day when I've been training here since I could walk."
I felt like she just took my heart and threw it under a bus. I sat next to her on her bed and looked her straight into her eyes.
"You know I can't take them on all by myself. I'm going to need a team. Besides you are probably the best fighter. Scratch that, you are the best fighter and I'm going to need you. Let's put this rivalry behind us and work together. Then you can have the freedom you desire."
I stuck my hand out for her to shake it, but instead she hugged me. It was quick, but I then knew why Chris beat me up. He knew she liked me, and he wasn't about to lose her to me. Man I was in trouble. Little did I know that he was right outside Emily's tent and watching me this whole time. I was in for a rude of awakening tomorrow.
