A/N: Here you all go! PRS but Jemily Style and with a major twist!
Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers. Mr. Saban does and always will.
"Day Off" has been skipped, because it's basically the same as the original.
~PRS~PRS~PRS~PRS~
"That was why Emily kept putting herself down: Compared to the others, she was dirt, nothing. And she knew that perfectly well."
Top of the World
Chapter 4: Sticks and Stones
February 10, 2012
Shiba House, Outdoors Dojo
Mike and Emily's kendo sticks clashed together. Mia and Kevin were training also, but Emily was only focused on Mike, her opponent. With a burst of strength, Emily threw him off of her and repeatedly struck his kendo stick, determined to win. She delivered the final strike, which resulted in him falling flat on his back.
When he didn't get up right away, she got worried and quickly knelt beside him, asking, "I'm so sorry, Mike! Are you okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine," he said, getting up, but keeping a hand on his back.
"Did you hurt yourself?"
"No, thanks, I'm fine," he said, getting up to a standing position.
"You need some ice for that, Mike," she couldn't help but say.
"Emily, seriously, I'm fine. Now, get off my back, please!" Mike said.
"Mike, you need to put some ice on that," Emily urged, not noticing that she and Mike were causing a scene.
Mike suddenly bolted into the house. Emily angrily groaned before chasing after him.
His injury was her fault and it was her responsibility to make it all better.
~~SAMURAI~~
Shiba House, Living Room
Emily marched up to Mike, holding a bag of frozen peas in her hands. She held it out to Mike.
"Here you go!" she said.
"Frozen peas?" he asked, looking fearfully at the bag of peas.
Emily nodded. "It's like an ice pack. I was accident prone as a kid, and it always healed me right up. Here, let me." She went to place it on his hurt back.
"No, thanks," Mike said, quickly getting up.
Mia and Kevin merely watched as Emily chased Mike around the room, that is, until Emily slipped on the other bag of frozen peas and fell flat on her face.
Jayden and Jii came in on time to see Emily's face split the bag of frozen peas open, right down the middle.
Those watching her and Mike only stared in shock and horror at what they had just seen.
"Emily, are you okay?" Mia asked, the only one being able to speak.
Emily merely lifted her face from the bag, spitting out a few peas before replying, "Oh, God, they're everywhere," referring to the peas all over the floor. She was on the verge of crying and when she saw Jii and Jayden out of the corner of her eye, well, that didn't help very much.
As Mia and Jayden rushed over to help her, she quietly said, "I'm so sorry, Jayden. It was my fault. I was being silly."
Kevin and Mia, however, knew it was Mike's fault and that Emily was putting the blame on herself, again. Both quietly motioned to Jayden that Emily was wrong and pointed the blame to Mike.
"It's okay, Emmy," Mia said, taking the towel around her own neck and using it to wipe all the peas stuck to Emily's face. "At least you beat Mike today. That alone deserves a good job."
Emily merely stared at the ground, ashamed at what had just happened, not aware that Jayden's grip on her shoulder tightened protectively as he glared at Mike.
~~SAMURAI~~
Mia had taken Emily to the kitchen to cool off. She took a glass of water and gargled.
Someone tapped her shoulder and she immediately turned and spit it all out, unfortunately, all over Mike, the one who tapped her shoulder.
She gasped, close to crying again. She reached for a towel and wiped his face. This time, surprisingly, he didn't fight back. Instead, he let her. When she was done, he smiled gently at her.
"I just wanted to say that I'm sorry, Em, for what I made you do. It was my fault, not yours," he said. "After seeing you break down like that, I felt guilty, and when Mia took you here, I told them the entire story. The truth. I told them that it was my fault and that I would be the one who cleaned it up," he finished, holding up a sweeping brush.
Emily reached out for it, saying, "No, it's my mess, I'll clean it up myself."
"Already done, Em." This made her stop. "That's why I chose to tell you after it was finished, so you wouldn't volunteer to clean it up yourself and embarrass yourself even more."
Emily's tense body loosened up. For the first time in a while, she felt content.
"Thanks, Mike," she said.
Mike smiled back. "Now, I believe my back still hurts. Would you mind, Emily Suzuki, putting some frozen peas on it?"
Emily's smile got wider and she reached in the fridge for another bag of frozen peas.
~~SAMURAI~~
Town Square, Panorama City
Negatron watched as the old man stumbled and ran away. "Yeah! You better run, Eagle Eyes! And go get some glasses!"
"Surprise!" Negatron turned and successfully managed to dodge a blow from the Red Ranger.
"Woah! Samurai Rangers! Why are you here?!" he asked.
"What else? To defeat you!" Kevin said.
"Now, now, I've been saying all the wrong things, right?" Negatron asked.
"Well, that's a given," Mia said.
"You know, talking smack about people is not cool!" Mike said before charging at the Nighlock.
"I know something about you, Green Bean! You're bike had training wheels until you were ten! That just proves how immature you are!"
"What?!" Black and purple energy surrounded Mike before it sent him flying into the stadium walls behind them. He dropped to the ground, rocks and stones falling around him.
Emily ran to him as he grunted with pain. "Mike, are you okay?" She kneeled beside him. He couldn't answer.
Was he really that immature? Is that what his friends thought about him?
Kevin and Mia turned back to the Nighlock, furious. "What did you say to him?" Mia demanded.
"And you, Blue Ranger, you're just boring!"
"Huh?"
Kevin flew backwards into a solid brick wall.
"Kevin!" Mia growled and turned and swung at Negatron with all her might. "You're gonna pay for that!"
"Oh, really?" Negatron asked. "How can you do that, you lousy cook?"
"What?" and she was helpless as the Nighlock's words sent her flying into the air.
"Mia!" Emily screamed. She turned back to the Nighlock, getting up and raising her sword in the process. "I don't get how he's sending everyone flying! All he's doing is saying mean things!"
Jayden stood in front of her, hooking the Red Lion Disk up to his Spin Sword, "Keep your guard up. This one's tricky."
And Emily felt…safe.
"Come on, what tricks?" Negatron shot back. "I'm just telling the truth. My motto is 'if the truth hurts, excellent!'"
Jayden spun the Lion Disk, but Negatron sped up and knocked it out of his hand. "You're a red faced liar, liar pants on fire." Jayden tensed up. "You've got a secret. You wanna share it with the girl behind you?" Underneath his helmet, Jayden's facial expression read pure shock.
Emily could only watch in horror as Jayden was smashed into a garage door behind him.
"Oh, no! Jayden!" Emily raced to Jayden, placing a gentle, yet worried hand on his shoulder, feeling tears in her eyes.
"And now it's all down to you, Yellow Ranger."
Emily got up, turning to face Negatron, tears of anger filling her eyes. He will pay for hurting her friends. "You're words won't faze me. Jayden's got nothing to hide! You're just a mean-mouthed monster spouting nothing but nonsense!"
And Emily charged.
"This is too easy!" Negatron said, enjoying his moment of glory. "Airhead!"
And Emily struck him.
"Huh?! Impossible!"
Emily get striking him with her Spin Sword.
"Everyone loves to tease you!"
That didn't matter to her.
"Clumsy fool!"
She spun her black power disk.
"Baby!"
"Earth Slicer!"
This did not look good for Negatron.
"You'll pay for what you did to my friends!" Emily yelled, throwing her giant shuriken. Negatorn got hit with it three times before he gave up.
"What is her deal?! I'd better go vent somewhere else!"
As he retreated back into the Netherworld, Emily yelled back, her Earth Slicer in her hand, "Yeah, you better run, you dirty coward!"
Her four friends could only stare in complete awe.
~~SAMURAI~~
Shiba House, Living Room
Jii paced around them. "That Nighlock is a bully. He channels mental pain and turns it into physical pain."
"He caught me off guard. It won't happen again," Mia said.
There was a short, yet very awkward silence.
Mike broke it. "I may have had training wheels, but…I didn't need them. Do you guys think I'm immature?"
"No, Mike. You're just energetic," Kevin said, being very truthful when he said this. "That's all."
Mike snuck a small smile at Kevin, who smiled back.
"Am I boring to you guys?"
"No," it was Jayden who spoke this time. "You're extremely disciplined and orderly, Kevin. It's a great quality for a Samurai."
Kevin smiled wider, thankful that Jayden was being truthful.
"And, do you guys think I'm a bad cook?" This was the hard part.
Emily spoke up, "It could use some work, but at least you have the heart and soul of even thinking about making us dinner, Mia. That alone is enough."
Instead of bringing Mia down even more, this brought her up considerably. "Thank you, Emily. I'll try my hardest to get it right for you guys from now on."
The others, Jii included, faced her with such warm and grateful smiles.
"And is Jayden really hiding something from us?" Kevin asked.
"No." It wasn't Jayden or Jii who answered.
It was Emily.
"He may be mysterious, but he's not that kind of guy. Besides, if you start getting suspicious, that means that you don't trust him," Emily said, quietly. "That could jeopardize our friendship and team dynamic."
Jii was proud of his student for saying that last part, while Jayden was grateful that Emily had stuck up for him.
"Emily is right," Jii said. "You need to trust each other before anything else."
"I'm not saying that's not true, but what I'm wondering is why Emily was the only one unaffected. I mean, she can't be that strong."
"Perhaps, Emily has some special ability," Jii said, sticking up for his youngest student.
"No, it's nothing special like that," Emily said, looking down at her feet. "As a kid, I was always teased and called names and I'd always go home, crying. But Serena told me to just pretend like the one saying the insults didn't say anything at all. And it's always worked."
"Then why are you always putting yourself down?" Emily looked up at Mike. "Unless that's what you really think of yourself…"
Emily realized with a shocking start, as her stomach turned to ice, that he was so close at making her spill her secret.
"Well, no…" she stuttered. "I-I mean…" She felt the tears return.
"Mike!" Kevin groaned, noticing the look her face.
She gripped the edge of seat harder and she closed her eyes, trying to prevent the tears from falling. She softly muttered, "I'm sorry," before running out of the house and into the front yard, not noticing that Jayden stood up as well.
"The Nighlock can't hurt her feelings, Mike," Mia said, "But you can."
Mike looked down ashamed.
Emily sat down on her favorite bench outside, bringing her flute out of her jeans pocket. Putting the mouthpiece up to her lips, she played. It was a sad tune.
Mike was right. That was what she thought about herself. She was a klutz, a crybaby, a whiner, a dummy, etc. Why was she crying as she thought this? Because it was true and she knew it.
Because compared to the others, she was dirt, nothing, absolute zero.
They didn't have a horrible to secret to hide like she did. They didn't have the heavy burden of being Xandred's puppet, his portal, his assistance, his ally, the one who would enable him to take over the human world.
The one who would help the most evil Nighlock in existence destroy and flood the human world.
Her tears were flooding the Sanzu River the fastest as they spoke. Xandred had told her that in one of her nightmares once.
'Your misery from your heavy burden will make the river rise faster than any other human will!'
She heard soft footsteps behind her.
"Emily?" She stopped playing, recognizing the voice behind her. She turned, tears still flowing down her face. Jayden continued, "Whatever Mike said or did back there to offend you, I take full responsibility for it. You stuck up for me, and I didn't do a thing to defend you."
Emily softly smiled, feeling a little better. "It's okay, Jayden. Playing my flute always makes me feel better. It helps me clear my head."
"Really?" Emily nodded. "Honestly, it helps me clear my head too. I like hearing you play, Em. It relaxes me."
"I'm glad to hear that," Emily said. "This used to be my sister's, you know." Emily was referring to the flute. "She used to play for me every time I was sad or in a bad mood. When she got sick, she gave it to me, as a present to make me feel at ease more, as if telling me that I would do just fine with you guys."
"She's right," Jayden said, softly smiling at her. "You're doing great, Em."
Emily smiled before continuing, "Every time I play my flute, it reminds me of her." She looked back at Jayden. "You know, you're a really good listener. Maybe that's why I can count on you more than Mia."
Jayden shrugged, still smiling, just as the Gap Sensor buzzed. Jayden looked back at Emily. "Will you be okay?"
Emily stood up, saying, "Of course. Let's go."
~~SAMURAI~~
Of course, Negatron was found terrorizing with innocent civilians, like always.
"Nighlock!" Mia caught his attention. "Anyone ever tell you you're a bully?"
"Yep, nicest thing anyone's ever said about me," Negatron said, as the five flipped out their Samuraizers.
"Go, Go, Samurai!" They morphed. "Rangers Together, Samurai Forever!"
"Yeah, right, more like heartbroken forever! I know truth about you and I'm really gonna let you have it!"
"You should never underestimate a Samurai," Mia stated. "You're sneaky trick won't work on us again!"
"Yeah, we're onto you. We're ready for whatever you can throw at us!" Kevin said.
Negatron raced up to him and said, "Mentor's little pet!" Kevin was sent flying through the air, crashing onto the cold, hard ground.
"Kevin, don't let him get to you!" Mike said, as Negatron laughed and bathed in his glory.
Jayden face palmed. "This isn't good."
"Go away, weaklings! I'm only interested in the Yellow Ranger!" Negatron said.
"Who, me?" Emily asked, surprised yet understanding why.
"My Moogers will keep you busy. Get them!"
Emily raced forward, the other four getting lost in the Mooger army that had appeared.
"You're turn, Mean Mouth!" Emily said, swinging her sword at him once more, but he dodged every single time.
"Dummy! Klutz! Crybaby!"
"Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me! Now, shut your mouth, you creep!" Emily landed another strike against him.
"You foolish girl…you think that you may be doing the right thing by being a Ranger, but you are evil and you know it!"
Emily stopped suddenly in her tracks.
"You also have a secret! And it's eating you alive, you big crybaby klutz!"
The other four turned to Emily when they heard this.
"And if you don't tell them, Lying Yellow, I will!" With this, he laughed, believing that he won this time. He had taken Xandred's advice about mentioning her destiny as the portal and Xandred was right. This Yellow Ranger girl had stopped in her tracks.
He did it. He won.
"You will do no such thing!" Emily, with a big burst of strength, raised her sword and struck him the hardest blow that she had ever dealt him.
"Eeouch!"
His plan had just backfired. He grabbed her sword, though, when she tried to attack again.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Jayden asked, finishing off his group of Moogers and racing to help Emily. "Did anyone ever hug you when you were a kid?!"
"Stay back, Red Ranger, or I'll let some zingers fly that'll really tear you up!"
"Emily, get back! Spin Sword: Blazing Strike!"
A blast of fire made Negatron let the Yellow Ranger's sword go and she dove out of the way as the flames consumed the Nighlock from the outside in. When Negatron gained his normal sight back, the Red Ranger had leapt behind him and had him in a choking hold from behind.
"That was a stupid move, Red!"
But Jayden paid no attention to him. "Emily, now!"
"With pleasure! Symbol Power: Stone!"
And Negatron's mouth was filled with stones, small, but effective. Now he could not speak.
Jayden landed beside Emily, proud of herself, and gave her a high-five.
"That's much better!"
"Yep!"
Negatron watched as the other three Rangers joined them.
"Now we're rocking!" Mike couldn't help but say.
"No, stop!" Negatron yelled, the stones in his mouth making his words seem like mumbling.
"Not this time, Nighlock!" Emily said, bringing out the Yellow Ape Disk. "Spin Sword: Earth Symbol Strike!"
Yellow lightning brought Negatron down with such force that he couldn't get up right away. Emily backtracked and placed the Yellow Ape Disk and placed it in its rightful "cannon blast mode" place.
Jayden fired the Beetle Cannon and Negatron's first form was defeated.
~~SAMURAI~~
Emily remembered passing out in the Megazord as she woke up. Apparently she was leaning against someone's back and that someone was carrying her. Before opening her eyes, though, she heard voices.
"You know, Emily's got guts," she heard Mike say. "She took that Nighlock down all by herself, or at least she tried."
"Yeah, but I guess Negatron's words hurt her after all," Kevin said. "I know the Nighlock said that she was hiding something, but after what Emily taught us and did for us today, I'm going to side with Emily. Suspecting that one of our teammates is hiding something seriously screws up our team dynamic."
"Yeah, I trust Emily 100 percent," Mike said. "Nothing is going to change that."
"Agreed," Mia said. "Serena would be proud of her today."
"Isn't she always?" Jayden replied, his voice being the closest to her. "All I know is that I am proud of her. She did very well today. And even if the Nighlock's words hurt her, she hid it well."
Emily couldn't help but smile.
A little bell went off in the distance.
Mia gasped happily. "I remember that sound! Ice cream trucks are my favorite!"
"Sounds better than the Gap Sensor, that's for sure!" Mike exclaimed.
"For sure," Kevin agreed.
Emily chose this time to "wake up". When she opened her eyes, it was Jayden giving her a piggy-back ride. "Did someone say ice cream?"
Jayden chuckled before responding, "You awake now?"
Emily nodded, smiling widely, as Kevin raced toward the ice cream truck, Mike and Mia on his tail. "Go on, Jayden. Hurry up!"
Jayden laughed as he picked up his pace.
~PRS~PRS~PRS~PRS~
A/N: Well? What do you think? Tell me how I did! Review! How do you like the Jemily twist I gave it? A preview:
Chapter 5: "There Go the Brides"
"For once in her life, Emily Suzuki…was jealous…but why? This was a fake wedding, wasn't it?"