A/N: Is reviewing still a thing on this website? I mean, I guess I was just hoping to hear something from you guys reading this story. All I get are cricket noises every time I open my email. Do you guys still enjoy my writing anymore?
"What's up guys?" Mike came into the training area the next morning, dressed in his civilian clothes. His green tank top and ripped skinny jeans were paired with white tennis shoes. His skateboard was in one hand and his helmet was in the other. Mia had her back on the mat, Emily above her victoriously, though her curious expression was aimed at the green ranger. Kevin was busy warming up beside the training mat.
"You're late." Emily's soft voice was directed at him, even when Mia swiped her feet out from under her and she tumbled to the mat. "Ugh!" She groaned as her hip hit the floor, causing Kevin to cheer.
"Yeah! Mia!" Emily rolled over, though Mia blocked her opponent from getting up with her foot.
"Thanks Mike." Mia replied cheerfully, the minute distraction finally giving her an advantage over the yellow samurai ranger. Rolling backwards, Emily finally was back on her feet, narrowly avoiding a punch to the face. The blonde cartwheeled and kicked Mia in her chest, the pink ranger flying back onto the floor with a thud. "I give, I give." She wheezed, slightly annoyed. "One of these days I'll have you on the mat for real."
"In your dreams." Emily's teasing tone responded.
"Mentor's giving us a day off. Em, I was thinking, maybe I can teach you how to shred." Mike winked at the yellow ranger, her wide eyes quickly shifting to Mia's voice.
"Well maybe I wanted to take her shoppin-"
"Why can't we go to the park? It's beautiful outsi-" Kevin joined in, Emily's eyes moving between the three rangers.
"I know!" Mike shouted, carelessly discarding his skateboard aside along with his helmet. "Rainbow's End!"
"Rainbow's End?" Mia raised an eyebrow, challenging the green ranger's idea.
"Yeah. Em, have you ever been on a rollercoaster?"
"No but I-"
"Maybe she doesn't want t-" Mia stalked towards Mike. Emily quickly back-flipped and grabbed two swords from one of the training dummies.
"It'll be more fun than shopping."
"Oh, yeah, so much more fun."
"Enough. Both of you." Emily sliced the air between the two bickering rangers, causing the two to jump back from each other and kept at the swords' bay.
"You know, watching you and Kevin fight would be interesting-"
"Another time maybe." Kevin replied, taking Emily's side. "But I think Rainbow's End is a great idea. Em, you'll love it."
"I don't know-"
"C'mon, Blondie. Do something fun. You're acting like Jayden and Kevin." Kevin sighed.
"I'm not not fun you know." He mumbled beside Emily. "But Rainbow's End is a fun place."
"C'mon Em. Let's go change."
"Wha-" Before Emily could protest Mia began pushing her down the hall of the Shiba house.
"Where are you going?" Jayden raised an eyebrow at Kevin, seeing both him and Mike in their civilian clothes.
"We're taking Em and Mia to Rainbow's End." Mike shouted joyfully.
"And she's okay with this?" Jayden asked, his eyebrow still raised in confusion.
"Yeah, you should come with us."
"Uh, I don't think so. Not this time. I have training I gotta do."
"Right. Training." Mike scoffed. Jayden cleared his throat and Mike shrunk back. "I meant right, training. Training's very important." Mike gave Jayden a nervous smile, the red ranger simply rolling his eyes and shaking his head.
"Mike, training is very importan-"
"Not now Kevin." Jayden cut off the blue ranger. Kevin nodded, falling silent and following his leader's orders. "You guys have fun. Tell me about it later." He brushed by the blue ranger to get to the indoor training area.
"Does he ever take a break?" Mike asked the blue ranger, both of them watching as Jayden began his warm-up routine.
"Samurai shouldn't take breaks, but he trains more excessively than I do." They both fell silent.
"Hi boys. Ready to go?" Mia's voice caused the two male rangers to break their gaze away from their leader and onto their female companions. Emily's expression was the equivalent of boredom as she waited for someone to reply.
"Of course." Mike shouted. "Follow me!" He sprinted out the door, excited to spend some fun in the sun. The other three sighed, walking behind him. It was going to be a long day.
"So, what should we do first?" Mike's excitement was slowly becoming contagious; Mia was bouncing on her heels and Kevin was smiling for once. The only ranger still somewhat uneasy about this idea was Emily, but for a good reason. She was actually outside of the Shiba gate without her helmet and out in the open.
"Cotton Candy!" Mia exclaimed, the pink ranger eying the sugary treat from across the fairground.
"Cotton Candy isn't compatible with our samurai diets." Kevin immediately retorted, his diet and training already at its balance.
"Maybe not for you, but I could go for something sweet." Mike nodded in agreement. "C'mon Mia. We'll be right back." The pink and green rangers took off, eager for a sugary sweet treat. Leaving Kevin and Emily standing in the middle of the amusement park.
"Well..." Kevin trailed off, unsure how to react around the youngest ranger on the team. "Do you...uh...like this place so far?"
"Yes. It's pretty cool." They both lapsed into silence, standing beside one another. Kevin crossed his arms over his chest, shifting his weight left and right, his nerves making it hard for him to make small talk. Emily's posture seemed relaxed, though her hazel eyes constantly surveyed the area, searching for something that apparently wasn't there.
"You're very dedicated."
"As are you." She easily complimented, her hazel orbs still focused on things he couldn't see. Again, back to silence. Suddenly screams came from behind them, both blue and yellow slowly turning on their heels to face the danger. "Ready?" She asked, both of them taking out their samuraizers.
"Ready."
"Go go samurai!" They shouted in unison, morphing in seconds. Running towards the screams of terror, a Nighlock covered in green and red dreadlocks pointed its gun at civilians.
"I'm Dreadhead, and I'm here to ruin your day." The Nighlock cackled, firing blasts at innocent people.
"Stop right there Nighlock." Kevin's voice rang out into the pavilion.
"Ooooh, it's the pesky power brats. I'm so scared." He fired his gun at the blue and yellow rangers, the blast easily deflected by Mia's sky fan.
"We're gonna take you down Nighlock." Mike's confident voice assured the civilians still in the plaza of the amusement park. He charged, however his spin sword went right around the Nighlock, Mike unable to get a direct hit. The Nighlock named Dreadhead swiped his arm to the left, knocking Mike's feet out from under him and causing the green ranger to fly through the air, only to land with a thud on the ground. 'Ow." He said as he sat up.
"Not today rangers." Mia threw her sky fan but it rebounded off of the evil creature, unable to damage him.
"Huh?" Mia breathed out in shock.
"What?" Kevin questioned in wonder. Mia's weapon did not hurt the Nighlock.
"How is that possible?" Emily whispered from her spot next to Kevin. Dreadhead aimed his gun at the three remaining rangers and fired, however Emilypushed Mia away and Kevin jumped to the side, all three avoiding the narrow blast. Getting up, Kevin and Emily attacked at the same time, both unable to harm the creature. The Nighlock blasted Kevin back against a cement wall of the admissions building, an audible groan escaping the blue ranger as he slid down to the floor. Mia watched in horror as Emily blocked, herself unable to injure Master Xandred's latest creation. All the yellow ranger could do was block.
"I'm getting real tired of you, Yellow." The Nighlock snarled, attacking much harder. Emily blocked the gun from firing at herself, instead the blast was directed above them and to the right, the blast creating a hole in the admissions building. Kevin barely rolled out of the way of the falling debris.
"Watch it Em!" He shouted.
"Sorry." She responded, deflecting the blast upwards again, in the same spot. The Nighlock hit her to the side, her body flipping in the air and landing on the tiled floor of the amusement park entrance near Mia. She groaned, gripping her side. Mike tried attacking again, the Nighlock easily blasting him back over by Emily. Kevin had appeared by Mia's side as the Nighlock advanced towards them. He raised the gun in his hand.
"Fire Smasher." All four rangers heard before a huge red shield blocked the blast. "Are you guys alright?" He asked, the Nighlock momentarily distracted.
"We're fine." Kevin responded for the team.
"We can't get a hit on him." Mia said softly, unable to figure out a solution.
"We need to attack at the same time. Maybe that will work." Jayden muttered, quickly opening his fire smasher. He took out his red disk from his belt and set his disk in the slot, the other four repeating his actions. He geared it up and shot the power disks, the explosion unable to signal if it was a direct hit or not. The Nighlock was indeed hit back a few steps, cradling his side.
"Ouch! What in tarnation?" He shouted. Suddenly, cracks appeared in his injury and the Nighlock waved his gun at the ranger team. "I'm drying out." He disappeared into the GAP crack in the concrete. Jayden looked around, seeing the hole in the admissions building and the debris on the floor.
"The city is so going to enjoy cleaning that up." Mike's sarcasm spoke before the red ranger could.
"Let's just get back to the Shiba house." Kevin mumbled, demorphing after. He winced, placing his hand on his lower back. "We need a game plan."
"I agree with Kevin." Mia demorphed, her expression showing her apparent frustration. "The only hit we could get on that creep was when we combined powers." Mike demorphed, his hand gripping his shoulder. Jayden powered down as well, Emily seconds behind him.
"We'll figure a way out to defeat him. We just need to think."