Emma couldn't keep up with Gia and so she had to find her own path to wherever the boys had taken the alien. She had some knowledge of how to track people and animals from her years of photographing animals in their natural habit and used that to her advantage. She hoped she could get to the monster before Gia did – if anything, to prove she was right.
She found a spot that was hidden away from sight by trees, branches, and leaves. Very quietly, she ducked down and pushed the branches out of sight. A grin appeared on her face when she saw the alien, her friends, and a few other civilians.
"I was right," she whispered and stepped out of the bushes. The alien had snapped with the boys, ordering them around once more. Emma wouldn't stand for it.
"Stop!" she cried out. The alien, Beezara, turned when she heard a female voice. The boys turned as well, happy to see one of the girls had come to help them, but curious as to why she was all alone.
Emma morphed, knowing there was no way she would stand a chance against the alien without her Ranger suit, especially with her ribs still in pain. She jumped into action but when she landed, Beezara attacked the ground. Vines popped up from under Emma and wrapped themselves tightly around her chest, pinning her arms to her side and holding her completely still. As Emma struggled to get free and to breathe, Beezara approached her. A look in her eye told Emma this was where she wanted to end the fight, and Emma knew she was helpless to stop her.
"Stop!" she cried and sunk to her knees, too weak and in too much pain to stand. The boys tried to run forward but stopped as soon as Jake ran into what seemed to be a force field. They were trapped inside a shield, unable to help.
"EMMA!" Troy shouted and his heart jumped in his throat. This wasn't how his dream had played it out, but Troy wasn't sure how much he could trust his dreams. It was possible they meant that before the end of the great battle, he would lose all his friends. In which case, this would be exactly what his dreams had been trying to tell him.
"Pathetic," Beezara laughed. She lifted her stinger arm and just as she was about to strike she was kicked away by a yellow blur. She took a couple of hits as the yellow Ranger attacked, but eventually found an opening and sliced at the yellow Ranger, knocking her down.
"Gia! Get up!"
"Shut up!" Gia shouted to Emma as she pushed herself up to her feet, letting out a little cough, "Just focus on breathing!"
Emma looked over to Gia a little startled. She had been expecting a rude comeback. They were angry with each other.
Gia jumped up to her feet and pulled out the Land Brothers card from her belt. She snapped it into the mouth of her morpher and summed her Zords. They attacked Beezara, distracting her long enough so Gia could pull out her blaster. She grabbed the first head, the beetle, and snapped it on. Beezara tried to hit her with extended stinger beams, but Gia blasted them away. Unfortunately, the beetle wouldn't be enough, so she traded it for the rhino. She was positive it would have enough strength to not only stop Beezara's attacks, but also stop her.
Emma watched on, still struggling with the vines that kept her down. She had to break free and show Gia she was just as good. The rhino blast was enough to knock Beezara back and Emma watched Gia run into action. She was now fighting Beezara with hand to hand combat, which made Emma's stomach turn. She couldn't say why, but it did.
"Gia, break me free! I can help!"
"No!" Gia called back, momentarily taking her eyes off the fight to look at Emma, "You're too hurt! You're only going to slow me down!"
"GIA!"
"NO!" Gia turned around, "I'm not letting you get hurt! No matter how mad am I with you, I never want to see you hurt!"
Emma stopped struggling for a moment and smiled behind her helmet. It was true. They had fought before, especially as children, but no matter how much they did hate each other in the moment, they always took care of each other. They always put their differences aside when the other was in need. It was why they were best friends.
"Gia… GIA!" Emma cried loudly as a whip-like beam of energy shot out from the alien's hand and wrapped itself around Gia. The yellow Ranger was lifted high into the air, then smashed into the ground, only to be lifted again.
"C'mon, girls!" Jake cried, bouncing a little from anxiety as he watched what looked to be a helpless battle. "You're best friends!"
"Fight the monster, not each other!"
"Shut your mouths!" Beezara ordered them and the boys, still under her spell were forced to place their hands tightly over their mouths. They couldn't say another word.
Emma looked to the boys and then up at Gia. They were fighting, and Emma could feel a lot of anger burning inside of her… but she had no idea why. Nothing had come between them to start an argument. Nothing could come between them.
"Emma, the power of friendship can break the spell," it was a strange feeling as Gosei's voice rang in her head, but it was quickly rewarded. A faint pink glow shone from her chest as a card appeared. It cut through the vines keeping her trapped. Emma spread out her arms and smiled as she was freed. She glared angrily at Beezara, who was having a laugh throwing Gia around.
Emma grabbed the card from midair and placed it in her morpher's mouth to activate it. Three new Zords appeared so Emma grabbed the closest one. The first thing she would do was help her best friend.
"Crow Blast!" she shot at the energy whip that had a tight hold on Gia and the Crow cut the yellow Ranger free. Gia dropped to the ground and Emma ran towards her. She stood before her best friend, protecting her as she recovered.
She unclipped the Crow Zord from her blaster, grabbed the Hawk and pointed it at the alien. The blast was strong enough to not just not Beezara back, but shot her high up in the air before smashing her into the ground.
Beezara beat her fists in the ground in anger and used her powers to make more vines grow, hoping to catch the girls and defeat them for good.
When the vines burst up from the ground, Gia pointed her blaster, cutting them all down before they had a chance to grab her or Emma, and then pointed a final blast as Beezara. Emma knew it would take more than one hit and so she grabbed the last of her new Zords and fired with her best friend.
"Ptera Zord!"
"Dino Zord!"
When they fired, their energy came together and struck Beezara right in the chest. A powerful explosion took over the area, knocking the girls back into the trees but the force field Beezara had made to keep her slaves captive protected the boys.
Jake's watched as smoke clouded the battlefield. He prayed it was the monster's cries he was hearing, and no one of the girls. He wished desperately that there was something he could do to help. He quickly glanced to Noah and Troy who seemed equally worried.
The wind cleared away the smoke eventually and it revealed an empty battlefield. Beezara was gone, but the boys didn't see any sign of Gia or Emma.
Jake cried out from behind his hand, hoping the girls would hear him and answer.
Troy's stomach was doing flips as he thought back to his dream once more. He knew the girls had died, but he couldn't remember how. Noah had been shot and bled out, and Jake had taken a sword through the chest, but he hadn't seen Gia or Emma die on the battle field in the great war. To calm his upset stomach, he placed his hands over his abdomen and pressed lightly.
"EMMA!" he called out and then realized he was no longer forced to cover his mouth. He had full control of his body. He turned to Jake and Noah who were both still trying to call out for the girls with their hands clasped tightly over their mouths. "Guys, we're free."
Jake and Noah looked to him and then hesitantly tried to move their hands. Once they saw they were back in control of their bodies, they ran past where the shield had kept them captive to look for the girls.
"Gia!" Jake called. He jumped over a log and stumbled slightly when he hit the ground. He pushed himself up to quickly get back to his search when he heard giggles. He turned around to see Gia and Emma sitting by the log and watching him as they tried to hide their laughter. Jake got to his feet, waved the boys over and then he knelt beside the girls.
"Are you two okay?"
"For the most part," Gia answered and then looked to Emma, "She's having trouble breathing."
"Just a little bit," Emma said. "I'll be fine…"
"No, you won't," Gia shook her head and gestured for the boys to help Emma up. Troy and Noah gently lifted Emma. Jake pulled Gia up to her feet and brushed some of the leaves off her shoulder.
"What happened between you two?" he asked her as they followed Troy, Noah, and Emma back into the city.
Gia shrugged her shoulders, "I'm not sure. I got really mad at her for some reason."
"Yeah, we saw that," Jake wrapped his arm around Gia, "Let's just blame the alien. She made Troy, Noah, and me do some pretty… nasty stuff. We were under some weird mind control. Maybe she did that to you too."
"Maybe," Gia said and then sighed, "Still, I said some pretty mean things…"
"You were really impressive out there, though. If actions really do speak louder than words, I'm sure Emma's going to know you didn't really mean them."
"What do you mean?"
"You were protecting her that whole time."
"Of course. She's my best friend," Gia looked to Jake strangely. "She was hurt. I knew that if she fought, she would only hurt her ribs further. I couldn't let that happen."
"Yeah, and I smacked Noah with a fan, and I wasn't even angry with him. You and Emma are really close, huh?"
Gia nodded her head and suddenly pulled away from Jake. She raced over to Emma and gently took the pictures from her pocket.
"Can I borrow these?"
"Of course, but…"
"Take her to the hospital. I want to be sure there's nothing really wrong with her," Gia told the boys and then gave Emma a look that told her she was not to be argued with. "I'll meet up with you there, with a surprise. I promise."
"Gia, you don't need to do anything. Just take me home…"
"And risk letting your ribs get even worst? No way. At least go to a doctor. Promise me you'll go to the doctor's."
"Fine," Emma nodded her head, "I'll see you at home."
"Perfect," Gia smirked and then raced off with the pictures in hand.
