Disclaimer: I don't own the characters; they belong to Saban.
Chapter 21: Dreams Come True/Dream Snatcher
The park was eerily silent. Normally, on a weekend, the place was full of people, even with the chillier air temps. They walked for a few minutes, but didn't see anyone until they reached an area near the fountain. "Whoa," Noah breathed. The Blue Ranger pointed a gloved hand at a figure sprawled on the fountain's rim. One hand dangled in the water.
"What's happening?" Jake wondered, looking around. People were lying on the ground. They looked like they were sleeping. Noah gently shook the elderly woman who'd fallen on the fountain rim. She didn't stir. "I think they're unconscious," Noah told the team.
"What the heck are those?" Troy asked, pointing. Beneath a young girl, something was splayed out on the pavement. Noah stepped up closer to investigate. "Are those…roots?" Gia guessed.
"Let's ask that thing!" Noah was the first to spot the monster, a purple thing with a bullfighter-looking costume. It spotted them the same time Noah pointed.
"You must be the Rangers the Prince was telling me about." It had a completely cheesy Spanish accent.
"Where do these guys get these ideas of how we talk?" Gia muttered.
"What are you doing?" Noah yelled at it.
"Dining on the useless dreams of these useless humans." The monster stepped forward menacingly. The rangers dropped into a fighting stance. "I am Dream Snatcher. I eat people's hopes and dreams. Their spirits are imprisoned in the Dream World. After their dreams are eaten, they grow roots of despair! They'll wither away!"
"We have to help them," Emma gasped desperately. She rounded on Dream Snatcher. "You think we'll let you take away people's dreams?" she yelled. She led the charge, flying toward Dream Snatcher with her Phoenix Shot outstretched.
"Emma, wait!" Troy called, front-flipping down to join her. The two of them attacked Dream Snatcher in unison. Troy kicked at his head while Emma swept below, aiming for his feet. He jumped over Emma's feet but Troy's foot connected with his midsection, staggering him back a few feet.
Jake waited until Emma and Troy were clear, then fired on him with his blaster. But the matador-looking monster pulled out a staff and knocked the bolts of energy away.
"I am so strong, you'll be tripping over the roots of all of humanity!" he cheered. With renewed vigor, he attacked, using the staff and knocking them all off their feet. Troy crashed to the pavement, and Gia landed on top of Noah. Dream Snatcher took aim at Noah, but was blinded by laser fire that came from somewhere over their heads.
Robo Knight had arrived. "Hostile target neutralized," he informed them.
"Nice of you to join us," Troy said, getting to his feet and helping Jake up.
Robo Knight surveyed the scene. "These roots are making the earth rot."
"That monster created those roots. He's eating people's hopes and dreams," Noah told Robo Knight.
Robo Knight looked at the blue ranger. "What are dreams?"
Troy rolled his eyes. "Dreams are what humans wish for and hope to achieve!" Troy told him impatiently. "We don't really have time to talk about this right now-"
He heard a scream. He turned. Inside his helmet, Troy's face went white. "Emma!"
Dream Snatcher had gotten too close to Emma. His staff was pointing straight at Emma's chest. It started to glow.
"Emma, move!" Jake yelled. But the energy from the staff had her frozen in place.
As Dream Snatcher pulled the staff away, Emma collapsed to the pavement. Her suit disappeared, leaving her helpless on the ground. "No!" Troy yelled.
"Emma!" Gia screamed.
Dream Snatcher grinned an ugly smile their direction. "Her dreams were devoured. She'll never wake up!" Jake and Noah both tried to hit him, but with a chuckle, Dream Snatcher disappeared in a burst of light.
Gia demorphed and ran to Emma's side. "Emma! Emma, please wake up!" She dropped to her knees, grabbing Emma's hand in hers.
Troy was next to her in a second, his uniform disappearing in a burst of red light. "Stay with us, Emma," he pleaded.
Emma's body lurched. To the team's horror, the same white roots that had sprouted under the other victims splayed out beneath Emma's still form. "Emma!" Gia cried. She shook Emma violently. "No, Emma, get up, get up!"
"Gia!" Troy barked. "Stop!" Jake grabbed Gia under the arms and pulled her back. Gia jerked out of his arms, but Jake grabbed her again and pulled her away from them.
Troy saw Robo Knight taking aim at the roots splayed under Emma, and he reached up and put one hand on the barrel of his blaster. "Don't cut the roots! If you cut the roots you might hurt these people!" Emma especially.
"Back up, dude," Noah advised. Robo Knight was silent for a moment, then took a heavy step backwards.
Troy knelt down next to Emma's ear. "Emma, I know you can hear me. Or at least, I hope you can. You have to fight," he begged her. "We can't help you in there. We need you. Come back to us." He laced his fingers through hers. "Come back to me," he whispered.
"Troy?" Noah asked timidly. Troy barely looked up.
"What?"
"If there's anybody that can spark hopes and dreams," Noah replied, "it's Emma." He put a hand on Troy's shoulder. "No worries, man. She's strong enough to fight this."
"I know," Troy admitted. He squeezed Emma's hand. "I know." He felt Jake and Gia come join them.
"Do you remember all those wishes Emma had?" Jake asked after a minute. Gia nodded, looking down at Emma with tears in her eyes. "I bet they're giving that guy some serious indigestion right now." Gia coughed out a short laugh, which Troy knew was what Jake had wanted.
"Emma would never let go of her dreams," Troy replied, looking at Gia. Gia was Emma's best friend. If this was tearing him up, he could only imagine what it was doing for her.
"No matter what," Gia blinked back the tears. She rubbed her thumb over Emma's hand.
"And I bet she's encouraging every single person not to give up on theirs," Noah added, kneeling down beside Troy. The team was silent for a few moments, each saying silent thoughts of encouragement toward their friend.
Something moved under Troy's leg. He looked down, and gasped. "Guys. Look!"
The roots under Emma were receding. After a moment, they were gone completely. "Yes!" Jake laughed. "Go, Emma!"
Troy looked down at her. She's fighting. But she's going to need our help. He stood up, looking at Robo Knight, who had been watching the exchange emotionlessly. "Robo Knight. You stay here, protect Emma. We're going after Dream Snatcher."
"We are?" Gia asked. "But, Troy-"
Troy looked at Robo Knight. "We're trusting you to keep her safe," he told the robot. He pointed to Emma. "That's our friend and our teammate. We saved you, and now you need to return the favor. Keep her safe." He looked at Gia. "Come on. We need you. Emma needs you."
Gia nodded. "Okay."
"Gosei!" Troy pulled out his morpher. "We need a location on Dream Snatcher."
The Rangers found Dream Snatcher out in the trees after Tensou tracked his signals. With a pang, Troy realized he could see Jessup Point behind Dream Snatcher's head. If they didn't stop him…Emma wouldn't see the meteor shower, wouldn't get to wish on the falling stars. With a yell, he yanked out his morpher and changed into the Red Ranger. "Ultra Mode!" he yelled, and the new golden armor and staffs they'd received appeared in his hands. He tensed, ready to charge.
"Troy, wait!" he heard Noah yell.
Through his anger, Troy looked at Dream Snatcher, and realized that the purple creature was holding its belly the way Troy used to when he was little and had a stomach ache. "I'm feeling sick!" the monster moaned. Good, Troy thought angrily.
"Hey, I bet Emma is riling everybody up in his dream world!" Noah called out.
"Yeah, being sad is so not Emma," Gia confirmed.
"Whether she's sad or not, I ate her dreams!" Dream Snatcher reminded them. "She'll never wake!"
"Wrong! If someone hold onto their dreams hard enough, no one can ever take them!" Troy growled. He shrugged Gia's hand off his arm and lowered his staff. "Let's take him down!"
A field of gold lights broke through the red rage, and he paused. Dream Snatcher's stomach began to bulge as a sea of golden light burst from the center of his chest. "What's goin' on?" Jake wondered.
Ten miles away, Emma Goodall sat straight up on the ground, blinking in confusion. She glanced over and saw Robo Knight standing a few feet behind her. "What happened?" she asked aloud. She stood up, and it came rushing back to her. Dream Snatcher…the fight…and then somewhere, in the back of her mind, Troy's voice…Come back to me. She closed her eyes and smiled.
"They've escaped!" Dream Snatcher wailed.
Troy pumped his fist in excitement. "Let's get him!" he yelled, and the four rangers charged. Troy slashed him across the chest with his Dragon Sword, and his teammates followed behind.
"You're dreaming if you think you can defeat me!" Dream Snatcher sneered.
"We're your worst nightmare!" Jake yelled back.
"Hey, Dream Snatcher!"
The voice made Troy stop dead, and he turned and looked skyward as the Lion Zord appeared, with Emma standing astride the top.
"Emma!" Gia yelled, relief flooding her voice. The Lion Zord folded and Robo Knight returned to stand with the rangers, Emma beside him.
"We thought we lost you," Troy told her, spinning her around into a hug.
She flashed him a thumbs up and her visor popped open. "All it took was a little hope," Emma smiled at him. Then, she popped her visor closed again and turned to face Dream Snatcher. "Robo Knight and I got this one," she told Troy.
Troy returned her thumbs up and stood back.
"Ultra Mode! Activate!" Emma yelled. Her golden armor and staff appeared. She leapt into the air, her staff slamming into Dream Snatcher, cracking him across the face. He tried to blow her backwards, but to everyone's surprise, Robo Knight caught her, and launched her back toward him. The end of her staff rammed the monster dead center in the chest, knocking him on his bullfighting behind.
"Robo Blade!" Robo Knight charged, his silver sword impacting Dream Snatcher in the chest again. He summoned some vines that appeared out of nowhere, wrapping Dream Snatcher and immobilizing them. Then, Emma jumped into the air. "Ultra Strike!" she yelled. She came down directly on top of Dream Snatcher, her staff dropping him to his knees. The creature knelt there, stunned. "Now to finish this!" she said. She looked at Robo Knight and nodded.
The other four rangers watched as Robo Knight took aim with his laser pistol. Emma leveled her staff at him. "Ultra Sky Dynamic!" The two fired at the same time. The blast vaporized Dream Snatcher, and Emma turned back to her team, triumphant.
And Troy would never admit he'd never been more turned on in his life.
After the inevitable MegaZord fight as Dream Snatcher was brought back by Prince Vrak, Emma and Troy were walking side by side in the city park. They walked past a kid about their age in a black vest and white shirt with shaggy hair, playing a cover of a Rebel Rockers tune on his guitar. "He wants to write his own music and go on a world tour some day," Emma told Troy with a smile.
"He's not bad," Troy agreed. "And his taste in tunes is decent enough." On impulse, he grabbed Emma's hand as they kept walking. Emma squeezed it back. Troy grinned as they walked together, enjoying what was left of the afternoon.
Out of the corner of his eye, Troy caught a glint of light on a nearby rooftop. He shielded his eyes and looked up. "Hey, there's Robo Knight."
"We should go tell him thank you," Emma suggested. "You told him to protect me, and he did. I'd say that deserves some praise."
Troy smiled. "I completely agree." He texted the other rangers to join them on the building, then held Emma's hand as they teleported up to the roof.
"What are you doing up here?" Troy asked when they'd materialized next to him.
"Observing," came the mechanical response. The robot was facing out over the city.
"Do you have dreams, Robo Knight?" Emma asked.
"I do not have a dream. I have a mission to protect the earth."
"You could take a break from that mission," Jake pointed out as he and Noah and Gia arrived. "There's a meteor shower tonight. Supposed to be the biggest one this year."
The robot didn't even turn around. "No. My mission comes first." The robot bent his knees, and jumped, disappearing into the sunset.
Jake looked at the others. "I tried," he shrugged.
Emma patted him on the arm. "He'll come around," she told him. "You trusted him enough to keep watch over me today, and he returned the favor by helping us defeat Dream Snatcher," she pointed out, when Jake scoffed. "He wouldn't have taken orders from you before. He's starting to trust us."
Tires flung gravel as Gia pulled into the trailhead parking lot at Jessup Point. "Let's go, guys!" Troy urged. "We'll lose our spot!" He jumped out of the Jeep and pulled Emma out behind him. Gia locked the vehicle and the five of them practically sprinted up the trail to the top of the hill. Darkness had fallen fifteen minutes ago, and the five of them were eager to get settled to see the meteors fall.
Emma unlocked her tripod and extended the legs, planting them in the hillside. As she worked on securing the camera to the latch, she looked back at Troy. Troy was staring straight ahead, deep in thought. She took a step backwards and poked him in the nose. "You look worried. Why?"
"I was just thinking …." Troy said, embarrassed to be caught.
"Oh no. No thinking," Emma told him. "Not tonight." She returned back to connecting her remote shutter, but not before looking back over her shoulder and giving Troy a wink. When he grinned and ducked his head, she laughed and flicked her camera on, adjusting the aperture and the speed.
"Come on Emma, you can't watch the whole thing through your camera lens!" Gia told her friend. "Sit!"
Emma took the remote in her hand and plopped down next to Troy. "Watcha thinking about?" she asked him.
"Nothing," Troy said. When Emma raised an eyebrow, he gave in. "I was really scared today, Emma. We almost lost you."
"I was never worried. I knew you'd bring me back," Emma replied. He noticed as she said that, she wasn't talking to the rest of the team. She was looking right at him. "I heard you, you know. When you told me to come back to you." She intertwined her fingers with his. "That gave me the hope I needed to get everybody wishing again in the dream world."
Troy closed his eyes. I wish…
The next thing he felt was Emma's lips on his. He became vaguely aware of Jake and Noah cheering next to him, but he didn't care. They broke apart and Emma bit her lip, looking up at the sky.
Troy smiled as he tilted her head back toward him and kissed her again. Meteors streaked by overhead, ones that Emma's automatic shutter would catch later. The real stars were in the sky. The rest were in Emma's eyes as she leaned back into his chest and the two of them settled back as the stars streaked overhead.
Author's Note: Happy, fluffy feelgood stuff this chapter. Things are about to get a little more intense and a little more serious as we near the end of the Megaforce season. Thanks for reading!