"That Nighlock is a heartbreaker." Mentor announced back at the Shiba House. "He takes whatever objects or people that his victims love most in the world and makes he or she hate them ten times as powerfully. And when there is nothing left for the person to care about, their heart breaks and they enter, The State of Hopelessness."
I shuddered thinking about that woman once again, clinging on to the ground sobbing hysterically as if the very fabric of her world was being ripped apart. I pictured Mike. The boy that was always there to make me laugh and pick me up and dust me off when I fell. He was a smiling face and an ever-present source of warmth and laughter. He had been with me from the beginning. I remembered how he high fived me in battle, how he would always make jokes to cheer me up how he carried me home after…
I snapped myself out of it shaking my head furiously. "We can NOT let that happen to Mike!" I shouted. "We- we- we just CAN'T!" I was shaking like a leaf barely holding back the tears that were burning my eyes like liquid fire. I blinked them back surprised at how my chest hurt at the thought of losing him. Why did he have such an affect on me? All the rangers were looking at me seeming concerned.
"We locked him in his room." Mia whispered quietly. " Jayden put a symbol on it so he can't leave unless someone releases him. You can try talking to him if you want." All the rangers were looking at me expectantly. I looked down and blushed.
"Why me?" I whispered. I felt their eyes on me, and my face grew hot with their stares. Wordlessly I got up and left the room and headed straight for where Mike was being kept. I barged in not even bothering to knock, terrified of what I might find. When I opened the door I saw Mike standing there, breaking all of his video games and tossing them in the trash with a vicious snarl still perched upon his face.
I squealed in disbelief. "MIKE? What are you doing? Stop!
He looked up from a fraction of a second. When he caught my eyes he looked away as if I repulsed him. He groaned. "Ugh. It's you. Couldn't they have sent someone else?" My bottom lip quivered but I took in a long slow breath trying to remember what my sister said about letting their words roll off of me like raindrops roll off of a rock. But this was not just any bully who had decided to make fun of me. This was MIKE. My best friend. My comrade. The one who was always there for me.
"I-I brought you pizza." I stuttered. "M-Mia wanted to make you soup but I talked her out of it. I said that it you loved it so much it would just upset you more." He stared at me a moment in disbelief not moving. Then in one fluid and graceful motion he knocked the entire box off the table and sent it sprawling into a wall.
"Get this crap away from me!" he shouted. I jumped back a little bit, slightly startled. Mike glared at me a moment as if waiting to see what I would do. My bottom lip quivered slightly and my hands started shaking. Then I sighed and went over to where the ruined pizza lay on the floor and got on my hands and knees to start picking it up. Mike stared at me with a frightening indifference that terrified me even more than his rage did. Eventually he pulled his gaze away form me.
"So sickeningly sweet." He sneered. And then he went back to destroying his videogames. I refused to make eye contact with him and tried to focus on cleaning the mess. I looked down in shock to see my hands trembling and my vision blurring in tears. The colors of the ground seemed to blur together and I felt the tears burning at my eyes like liquid fire, fighting to get out. I blinked several times fast to force them back. I reminded myself that each tear shed was another step closer to Nighlock victory. I could not let that happen, no matter how much I worried about Mike.