Dayu woke up, finding herself in a deep, dark place. It was nothing but blackness all around her. She could remember Rhinosnore interrupting her battle with the Pink Ranger, but then, the next thing she remembered was turning up here.
Looking around, she tried to imagine what had happened. She knew about Rhinosnore, and what he could do. He was a particularly cruel and sadistic Nighlock, likely the reason Master Xandred had sent him after her, not once, but twice now.
Just then, she saw the ground before her starting to change. Lush, green grass formed beneath her and a little dust path formed beneath her. Following it up with her eyes, she saw a little cottage, surrounded by a simple wooden fence. She could see some pigs in the yard, happily grazing, and there were a few simple crops around.
The cottage itself was a simple thatched cottage, made out of wood. As she shifted to her knees, a hand was offered to her. She followed the arm up, and found Dekker looking down to her, wearing a brightly coloured kimono.
"I think that's why the groom is meant to carry his bride across the threshold." He told her. Dayu looked down, seeing that she was back in her human form, and wearing a beautiful, pure white wedding gown, just like the one she had always dreamed she would wear one day. On her hand was a simple, though elegant wedding ring. She took his hand and he helped her up, before scooping her up into his arms. He nodded in the direction of the little cottage. "It's not much, but I wanted to make the most of the land. I hope you like it."
Some thoughts occurred to her, appearing in her mind as the image completed itself. Despite his father's wishes, a local shogun had been desperately short of forces, and had put out a request for several local soldiers. His father couldn't refuse when a shogun specifically requested Dekker.
It seemed like years, but the campaign went quickly, and in the end, the shogun was victorious. Dekker in particular had distinguished himself on the battlefield, and had been gifted this land and a title as a military honour. It wasn't much, only a couple of acres, but it was more than enough for Dekker to build a farm that would suit their modest needs. Most of the money he had made already had another purpose. He had bought Dayu out of her father's service only days before the wedding and released her.
"It's perfect." She whispered, caressing his cheek softly with her hand, kissing him softly. "It's all we need."
As they went along the path though, Mia wandered out of some nearby woods, carrying Evan in her arms, singing to him happily; completely oblivious to what was going on around her. She stopped as she realised she was in completely unfamiliar surroundings. She had never seen this place before. Evan started to fuss in her arms.
"It's alright." She whispered, before starting to sing to him again. "Rock a bye baby on the tree top..."
Her words tailed off a little as she saw Dekker. She recognised him from the many times she had seen him. Although she feared for her son, she was curious. She had to know why he was here, especially since unlike any other time she had seen him, he didn't seem to be ready to fight. In fact, he was carrying a woman to a cottage, a woman wearing a wedding dress.
As she followed them, watching them go inside, she bobbed Evan gently, trying to keep him quiet.
In another part of the dream world, Bulk fumbled frantically with his sword as the Nighlock started to approach. He didn't know what was wrong. He had been training for longer than he could remember for this. He had practiced with a sword, sword on it to defend the innocent in times of need, but on this occasion, when he finally had the chance to use his skills in battle; his girth prevented him from even drawing his sword.
"Spike!" Bulk called out as he struggled with his sword, his eyes getting wider in his panic. "Spike, run!"
Just then, the Green and Blue Rangers leapt onto the scene, Kevin firing off a storm of blasts from his Hydro Bow, staggering the Nighlock. They landed between Bulk and Rhinosnore, standing in his defence.
"What happened? No one fights me in this world!" Rhinosnore screamed. "How?"
"We weren't brought here by your dreams." Kevin told him. "We're not trapped by them."
"That means we already know this is just a dream." Mike told him. "Which...I guess kind of explains him."
Bulk had been knocked onto his butt by their arrival, and was sitting staring at the scene in horror. He was completely helpless, his training was for nothing.
"I'm no samurai." He breathed. "I'm...I'm nothing. I'm a joke!"
"Say, what?" Kevin asked, finding himself momentarily distracted as Bulk grabbed his leg.
"I only wanted to help!" He said quietly, his lip quivering and his eyes starting to sparkle. "I worked hard, I really did!"
"Well, you're all in my world now." Rhinosnore yelled, stomping on the ground, smashing up the concrete. "Here you all play by my rules!"
They all flew up in the air, before crashing down on the ground, being buried by a hail of rubble.
"Alright, that was just harsh." Kevin wheezed as he struggled out of the rubble. "He didn't show that kind of power before."
"If you think that's power, wait till you see this!" He called out, sending a boulder the size of a small truck rolling their way. Mike and Kevin grabbed Bulk, and all three of them started running, but as they turned the corner, the boulder continued to follow them.
"OK, this is gonna suck!" Mike yelled as they ran for all they were worth.
On a plane on a trans-Atlantic flight, Peter was working on a laptop while Serena slept on the seat next to him. As she shifted a little on the seat, continuing to snore, he could see her smiling a little. He figured she had to be dreaming about something, and whatever it was seemed to please her. He didn't know what she was thinking about, but he presumed it was something to do with the fact that her quest seemed to be fast approaching its end, and that it would lead her almost right back home.
He had talked to her a little in their time together, and he knew how important her home and her family were to her. He knew that she had longed to go home for a long time, and that she was eager to complete her quest. Thinking it was best to let her continue to rest, knowing that she would have the difficult job once they got to the airport, he turned his attention back to his own work.
He had already hacked the EBay account that the sword had been sold from, and tracked down the shipping address and name. Now, he was looking for some information he could use to help them. After all, while they knew where the sword was, they still needed to get hold of it.
One fortunate fact about the situation was that he had an unusual name. Farquis Bulkmeyer wasn't exactly John Smith or James Jones that would appear a few thousand times in any phone book. That meant that he had found him referenced on websites. He compiled a few things about him into a document for easy reference, just as the stewardess arrived and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Sir, we're about to make final approach." She told him. "You'll have to shut down your computer."
Peter just nodded and started the shutdown procedure, looking out the laptop bag. He gently nudged Serena, rousing her.
"Leave me alone Em." She muttered, shifting a little in her seat. "It's not morning yet."
"Serena, we're about to land." He told her. She just groaned and tried to swat him away. He just laughed. "Serena, you need to fasten your seatbelt, the lights on."
"Alright." She sighed, straightening up in her chair and putting up the back. "How long?"
"It should only be about twenty minutes or so." He answered her, stowing his laptop away, before securing his seatbelt. "We're nearly there."
Back in the dream world, Dayu was waking up in her home, her husband by her side. She felt her heart racing as she saw him beside her, just looking at her lovingly. His touch was as gentle and warm as she had always remembered. He looked to her and smiled, and the light was starting to spill into their room from the nearby window.
"It's getting late." She told him.
"I didn't want to wake you." He answered her.
"Dekker, we can't just remain in here, we have a lot to do." She reminded him. "We can't just lie around all day."
"Are you saying you want to get up?" He asked her. She just smiled back at him as he started to stroke her back softly.
"I didn't say I wanted to." She replied. "I said we had to."
As she got up and started to get dressed, she couldn't believe how perfect her life was. They didn't have much, but they had enough. As she turned around though, her heart fell as Dekker looked to her, and there was no warmth in his expression. If anything, there was only confusion.
"Who are you?" He asked her. Her heart sank as she looked to him.
"Dekker?" She asked. "Dekker, it's me..."
Before she knew what was happening, he was on his feet, and fully dressed. In his hand, she could see a nodachi that filled her with a sense of dread, the aura of energy from it palpable.
"Dekker..."
"Urumasa is calling me." He told her, beginning to make his way to the door.
Mia made her way to the window on the other side, and saw Dayu and Dekker there. She could see the woman standing in his way, tearfully begging with him not to go.
"Dekker, it's me Dayu!" She shrieked. "You have to remember me, you have to!"
"Dayu?" Mia whispered, remembering the name. "No...it can't be!"
She looked around, snatching up a shamisen.
"You gave me this!" She continued. "You gave me this! Please, you have to remember!"
"Urumasa is hungry." He stated flatly. "Step aside."
With that, he brushed past her, making his way out the cottage. Dayu ran after him, falling to her knees and weeping uncontrollably.
"Dekker!" She screamed, turning into her Nighlock form, confirming her identity. Her Harmonium burst into flames, returning to its ruined state as the Nighlock wept. Mia just pulled back, crouching down by the rear wall of the house. She held onto Evan tightly.
"Dayu...she's in love with Dekker?" She asked herself. Evan started to fuss again, at which she turned her attention back to him. "It's alright Evan, mommy's still here. Just sleep like a good boy. Mommy's here."
Back at the battle in the dream world, Mike, Kevin and Bulk managed to get a little distance from the rolling boulder, and stopped to catch their breath. Kevin just looked to Mike.
"Okay, this is pointless." He commented. "How can we fight a whole world?"
"Why try?" Bulk asked him. "I'm pathetic; I never have been any good at this stuff, that's clear now..."
"Just stop with the pity party alright?" Mike snapped. "Okay, things look bad, but the thing we have to remember is..."
His words tailed off a little as he thought of something.
"What?" Kevin asked him. "What do we have to remember?"
"None of this is real." Mike said, a smile beginning to form as he thought about it. "Kevin, none of this is real!"
"Well it sure as hell felt real when he buried us before." Kevin muttered. Mike just shook his head.
"No, you don't get it!" Mike told him. Just then, the boulder reappeared and started to roll towards them. He could see Rhinosnore a little way off, laughing maniacally. Mike just ran, but instead of running away, he started to run towards the boulder.
"Mike, what the hell are you doing?" Kevin asked him.
"Something really brave or really stupid!" Mike called back. Just then, he concentrated hard. Everything around him started to shrink, or more accurately, he started to grow. He towered over the boulder as he reached it, and kicked it soccer style, smashing it into Rhinosnore. As Bulk and Kevin came back to his side, he shrank to normal size.
"OK, how did you do that?" He asked.
"This isn't the real world, it's the dream world!" He reminded Kevin. "That means the rules of the real world don't apply. This isn't reality, as long as we know that, we can shape it and bend the rules to suit ourselves. That's how Rhinosnore gets his power!"
"OK, you figured that out?" Kevin said, a little disbelievingly. "How did...?"
"I've seen 'The Matrix' like a zillion times." Mike interrupted him. "The second and third movies sucked, but I figured the rules would be the same."
"Alright, whatever." Kevin sighed. "Now, let's take this guy out!"
The Green and Blue Rangers ran back to the attack, at which Rhinosnore sent a barrage of rocks heading their way. However, as they ran towards the attack, the rocks simply disappeared, the Green and Blue Rangers simply willing them to disappear aware that they didn't exist. They hammered into the Nighlock several times. Rhinosnore fell to his knees, weakened.
"Alright, now it's time to finish this guy!" Mike called out.
"Allow me!" Bulk announced. Both Kevin and Mike looked to him, finding that now, he looked completely different. He was six feet tall, and his build was much more muscular. His girth was gone, and he appeared a lot more confident. Drawing his katana, the blade started to glow white-hot.
"Uh...ok." Kevin remarked. Bulk ran forward, slicing through Rhinosnore with a single stroke, at which the creature was destroyed. Kevin and Mike approached Bulk as his armour disappeared, and he turned back into his normal self.
"Alright, what just happened?" Kevin asked him.
"It's like the Green Ranger said, as soon as I believed it was a dream, I could control it." Bulk told them.
"But why'd you change back?" Mike asked him. He just sighed.
"Unfortunately, I know it's a dream." He replied as he started to fade out. "All dreams come to an end."
"Well thanks." Kevin told him. Bulk just smiled.
"Hey, I'm honoured to help the Samurai." He replied. "Even if it was only a dream."
With that, he disappeared completely. They watched as Spike also disappeared, but no one else seemed to be disappearing. Kevin and Mike De-Morphed.
"Wait, he was destroyed." Kevin commented. "So why is no one else disappearing?"
"I think I just figured it out." Mike told him. "Nighlock fill the Sanzu River with tears right?"
"Yeah." Kevin stated. "So?"
"What could cause greater heartache than to give someone their deepest, most desperate desires, only to take them away again?" Mike asked him. "Bulk and Spike realised it was a dream, so when Rhinosnore was destroyed, his dream ended."
"No one else knows it's a dream!" Kevin said, catching on to what Mike was thinking. "But...everyone is given their greatest fantasy..."
"Yeah, exactly." Mike told him. "Who would want to believe that was just a dream?"
"All this is just theory though." Kevin told him.
"Maybe not." Mike suggested. He ran to the edge of the lake, finding Antonio and Jayden together. They parted as they saw him, both of them smiling as they saw their friend.
"Hey, Mike." Jayden said as he saw the Green Ranger. "Antonio and I were just enjoying the sunset."
"I can see that." Mike said, looking to Antonio. "Look dude, none of this is real."
"What are you talking about?" Antonio asked him. Mike just sighed.
"You know that I saw you that other night." Mike told him. "You know that I know about you and Jayden."
Antonio's smile slipped as he heard him say this. Something about that seemed to ring true somehow.
"Mike, we're not..."
"Antonio, I know you want this." Mike told him. "And you know you want this too. You know what you mean to each other."
"Mike..."
"I know what I have with Emily, and I love the fact that we can be open with it." He told him. "I get it, I know this is what you want, but he isn't ready yet."
Mike put a hand on Antonio's shoulder comfortingly.
"You know that." He told him.
"I just want to be able to have more than a few stolen moments." Antonio sighed, shaking his head, before looking to Mike. "I want to be able to tell him how I feel in public. To not have him worry who'll see us. Is that really too much to ask?"
"He'll be ready some day." Mike said in response. "Just, not today. It's time to go back to the real world."
"But, if I do..."
"You might have this for real pretty soon." Mike convinced him. "Doesn't that sound better?"
Antonio just nodded his head, at which he and Jayden disappeared. Mike looked to Kevin who was standing a little way from him.
"So...they really are...?"
"You're not meant to know." Mike reminded him. "Let them tell you in their own time when we get back."
"So, what do we do?" Kevin asked him.
"We convince everyone else it's a dream." He replied. "Come on, it's time for some wake up calls."
In another part of the dream world, Mia held her son as she watched Dayu crouched weeping over her Harmonium. After a little while, she looked up.
The Nighlock could no longer feel the presence of power she had before. Something about this had changed. Her Nighlock half could tell when another Nighlock was near, and could feel that power. Now though, it was gone. All of a sudden, she remembered the real way events had gone.
"This is the dream world." She muttered. "I swear when I find that Nighlock, I'm going to turn him into ivory!"
With that, she disappeared. Mia just stared open-mouthed as she saw Dayu disappearing. What had happened? What was going on?
As she heard Evan fussing again, starting to struggle, she looked to her son and smiled. What did it matter what was happening? Who cared what trick Dayu was up to now? Looking down into his little face, she leaned in, kissing his forehead.
"Don't worry Evan; you're safe here with mommy." She told him. "I'm here, and I promise you, I'm never going away."
