Chapter 21: Strange Case of the Munchies Pt. 1
A/N: Revised Chapter
Jayden covered himself up as he and the others headed to bed. It had been a long day and everyone was pretty exhausted. He had noticed something strange between Ami, Emily and Tashiko. Somehow they were avoiding each other. That's strange, Jayden thought as he glanced at Antonio who was already snoring. Why are they acting that way? He had also noticed Tashiko seemed different. The sensation he always felt around her was barely noticeable and seemed duller. He clenched his bed sheets tightly, wondering if Tashiko was okay. Did the Nighlok that attacked her and Emily, damage them?
Jayden hoped that wasn't the case.
His eyelids began to grow heavy and Jayden was having a hard time keeping them open. Before he knew it, he fell into a deep sleep.
Hideo was glaring at his crystal ball, growing more worried by the minute. He was trying to spy on Tashiko, but the images that appeared on his crystal ball were misty and unclear. He knew something bad happened to Tashiko and he had to find her as soon as possible. He stood up, and waved his staff, opening a gap. He disappeared through it before appearing near the Shiba House.
The sky was beginning to change from the night sky to an orange glow. Hideo narrowed his eyes, changing into his half-human form and passed through the barrier symbols that surrounded the Shiba House. He quickly went to each of the rangers windows, trying to find Tashiko's room.
After the third window, he found Tashiko asleep in her bed. Hideo sighed in relief seeing her alive and well, before frowning noticing something off about her. The purple aura that always surrounded her, seemed dimmer and weaker. "What happened Tashiko?" he murmured. "Why is your aura so dim?"
Hideo stood by the window, thoughtful before his eyes went wide. He began to list off the reasons to why her aura was dim and who could be responsible for it. Hideo clenched his jaw angrily, quickly scouting the other windows. He found Ami, sleeping soundly in her bed and opened the window. He jumped in quietly, seeing her sleeping profoundly before grabbing the latter by the neck, choking her.
Ami gasped awake, quickly grabbing into the hands that were squeezing her oxygen out to find an angry Hideo glaring at her. "What did you do to her, Uragiri?" he snarled angrily. "Do what?" Ami gasped out, only to receive a tighter grip. "What did you do to Tashiko?" Hideo growled dangerously. "You better spit it out, before I snap your neck."
Ami smirked at Hideo.
Jayden opened his eyes to find himself standing in the darkness. He quickly go to his feet, remembering that the last time he was standing in eternal darkness, he found himself staring at Antonio's dead body. "Hello?" he called out. "Purple ranger? Tashiko?"
No one answered back, only the silence.
Jayden felt a shiver run down his spine, the silence slowly drawing him a near panic.
Then he heard it.
Red ranger.
Jayden turned around, trying to find the source of the voice. You're not the one, came the voice once more. "Hello?" Jayden asked, spinning around in a circle. "Who's talking?" Incompetent fool, the voice stated in his ear.
Jayden turned around but no one was around.
The One would have noticed the enemy in your den, the voice whispered around the Red ranger.
"Enemy? Who? Ami?" Jayden asked turning around. He froze when he saw a young woman standing a few feet away from him. She wore a tattered kimono with chains wrapped around her arms, legs and chest. Her hair reached to her waist but her face was obscured to Jayden, the only thing visible were those glowing red eyes.
"Who...are you?" Jayden breathed.
I am the one you seek, the woman answered.
"The one I seek?" Jayden repeated puzzled. "I don't understand. Who are you? What's your name?"
I cannot tell you my name, because I simply don't remember, the woman answered. I only know that I am the scabbard of your sword, Jayden Shiba. I will always be by your side no matter what. We will meet again soon. Either in this world or the other. The image of the woman suddenly shattered, leaving Jayden very confused.
Who was that woman?
"I have no idea what you're talking about," Ami growled, a sneer plastered in her face. "Have you forgotten that I'm prohibited to touch her? My mission is to solely to destroy the rangers. That is all." She grabbed his hand and pushed it off making her sit up, transforming into her Nighlok form. "And you better watch it Hideo, Serrator will notice your sudden interest in the little girl. He will now something is up."
Hideo clenched his jaw before saying, "I don't care Uragiri. If I see you lay one hand on her, I will not hesitate to kill you." "I would like to see you try," Ami growled.
Suddenly the Gap sensor sounded making the two half-Nighlok's glance at the glowing red light illuminating the room. Ami shape-shifted back into her human form and said, "You better bail, before they find you." Hideo scoffed before disappearing in a swirl of magic. Ami quickly changed before rushing out of the door towards the Common room. Mentor Ji awaited them before stating, "There's a Nighlok attacking the mall." "Let's go," Jayden ordered the rangers, who rushed out of the Shiba house.
Tashiko watched the Yellow ranger leave with the rangers and frowned. She had noticed Emily was acting strange after the symbols that Ami had hit her with. But she didn't know what the consequences of those symbols could be.
Ami wouldn't just throw any symbol at Emily like that. There must be something to it. I need to watch her closely. She felt a pain in her chest and clutched it. Damn. What ever she did to me too, I can't seem to function right. My chest is always getting these pains and I've been feeling sluggish. "Tashiko are you okay?" Mike asked, limping towards her. "I think so," Tashiko touching her head.
The Green ranger looked over the young teen and said, "Well, since the rangers are gone, how about we practice some sword fighting?" Tashiko gave him a smile and nodded.
"That will be good."
Half an hour later the rangers came back, bursting through the door bickering as they rushed towards the kitchen. Tashiko was grabbing a water bottle when the rangers almost knocked her over to grab any food of the shelves and the refrigerator. "Wha?! Guys what are you doing?" Tashiko asked surprised as they started to eat anything on site.
Mike blinked a few times, seeing Kevin and Mia fighting over a tub of ice cream. "Um, what happened to them?" he asked, just as a panting Emily came walking in. Tashiko watched in horror as Jayden and Antonio were eating the last cookies from the cookie jar. "Yes! What happened? They're eating the last cookies!" Tashiko whined with a pout. "Sorry guys, I tried," Emily replied with a sigh. "A Nighlok called Grinatuar hit them with some dirt while they tried to save me. Now they won't stop eating until we defeat the Nighlok."
"If we don't defeat this Nighlok in time, they will burst from eating," Ji explained, flipping some pages from an old, dusty book. "Wait, if they keep eating, they'll die?" Mike echoed, his eyes opening wide. "That's what the Nighlok is making them do," Ji replied. "Make them eat until they burst."
"Nooo! Not the cheesecake!" Tashiko stated, running towards Jayden and Kevin who were pulling on the cake pan. She got the cake and pulled from the middle, trying to take away the cake from them. "My secret stack of chips!" Mike yelled, seeing Mia reaching on the top of the fridge and ripped the bag apart. He tried to take the bag away from the Pink ranger but she growled at him and bolted out of the kitchen.
Mike gave Mia a weird look and stated, "Yeah. We need to defeat this Nighlok. Now." "Emily, you'll have to defeat the Nighlok," Mentor Ji ordered as he pulled the egg carton away from Ami. "Me? By myself?" Emily squeaked. "But I don't know how to defeat him!"
"Find a way!" Ji replied, taking the salt away from Kevin.
"Mike! Let's try to tie them up!" Tashiko stated, taking out an Ancient morpher Ji had given her. He gifted her the ancient morpher to have by her side in case of an emergency and for her to practice her symbol power. "Alright!" Mike stated, taking out his samuraizer. "Symbol power! Rope!" Tashiko called but as soon as she tried to first stroke of the brush, pain filled her chest. She gasped out, collapsing to her knees. She dropped the morpher and clutched her chest.
"Tashiko!" Mike gasped, rushing towards the younger teen. "Are you okay?" Tashiko touched her head and nodded. "I think so." "What happened?" MIke asked in concern, looking into her hazel eyes. "I don't know. I tried to use Symbol Power but my chest started to hurt badly. It seemed like, it actually hurt using my Symbol Power." "That's strange," Mike frowned. "That only happens if you use too much symbol power." "And I haven't been using symbol power," Tashiko answered. "The last time I did, was when fighting….the Nighlok…"
The sudden realization hit her like a rock. "The Nighlok did something to your Symbol Power, didn't it?" Mike stated. "But what exactly?"
Tashiko felt worry enter her chest. She had barely gotten her Symbol Power and now it had been snatched away. The only one to blame was Ami.
"It doesn't matter right now," Tashiko told the Green ranger. "We need to keep the rangers to one place." She got off the floor and quickly went towards the storage room and grabbed some rope. Mike frowned worried but brushed it off. He got to his feet and and said, "Symbol Power! Rope!" A rope appeared tying three of the rangers together. "That should do it," Mike stated satisfied. Tashiko sighed, dropping the rope she found. "Well, that shou-"
"Symbol Power release!" Jayden stated, breaking the rope as the three rangers scattered. Mike face palmed with a groan. "We should have taken their morphers away." "It's okay," Tashiko patted the Green ranger's shoulder. "Let's see if we can catch them again."
Meanwhile in the Common room, Emily was pacing back and forth, trying to come up with a strategy to defeat Grinataur. "C'mon Em, think," she murmured, biting her thumb. She was beginning to feel the weight and pressure on her shoulders. How could she single handedly defeat a Nighlok? She had never defeated a Nighlok by herself and much less keep up with the others rangers. She was the weakest and slowest of the whole group. She was always the one left behind and never the one that delivered the final blow to a Nighlok. Emily had never once used the Super Samurai mode or even touched the Bullzord disk to power up to Shogun mode. She sat down and sighed, raking a hand through her blonde hair when she heard a low chuckle.
"Aw, is the job too much to handle, little Yellow?" came a voice, which Emily instantly recognized as Ami's. "Ami!" Emily growled but her head flared up in pain. She gasped, clutching it as Ami neared the Yellow ranger. "Tell me, Yellow ranger, does it hurt? Do you feel the immense pain?"
Emily didn't answer but could only succumb to the pain.
"That's my own creation," Ami continued. "A creation created to make you suffer. Suffer like I did when I drowned on Sanzu water. The pain you're feeling is the same I felt when those filthy red waters, burned my skin, corrupting me to no end." "Please, make it stop," Emily whispered, tears brimming in the corner of her eyes. "That's how I want you Emily," Ami chuckled lowly, her eyes flashing yellow and her pupil turned into a slit. Her right arm formed into a Nighlok arm and she stated, "That's how I want you Emily! Begging me to stop the pain!"
"Stop!" Emily whispered. "Ami, please stop!" "No, today, you're gonna die!" Ami yelled, extending her claws. She slashed at the Yellow ranger but Mike's Forest Spear stopped her. Ami glared at the Green ranger who was glaring at her.
Ami stepped back and transformed her arm back. "Of course, the Green ranger comes to the Yellow rangers rescue. How pathetic." Emily glanced at her which made Ami glance at her. "Pathetic that you can't even defend yourself from me. You little boyfriend has to come rescue you! How do you think you can defeat the Nighlok? You're weak." Mike got in front of Emily and snarled, "Get away from her." Ami snorted and said, "You cannot defend her forever Green ranger, next time, you won't see me coming."
She turned around and disappeared from sight.
Tashiko tied Mia with rope and took her Samuraizer away. "One down, four more to go," Tashiko sighed as Mia fidgeted in the chair. "I'm thirsty!" Mia wailed. "I want water." Tashiko rubbed her face and was almost knocked over when Kevin and Jayden came running into the kitchen.
"Give me the chocolate bar!" Jayden yelled, grabbing Kevin from his shirt. "They're mine!" Kevin screamed, pushing Jayden away. Jayden accidently hit some dirty plates, knocking them down into the floor. They crashed, sending broken glass all over the floor.
"He did it!" Kevin and Jayden stated pointing at each other. Tashiko face palmed with a groan. She heard shuffling and turned around to find Antonio rummaging the cabinets, opening cans of tuna. He ate it from the can before throwing the trash into the floor. He turned around to find more only to find Tashiko glaring at him with her arms crossed across her chest. She reached towards his hands and swiped the can away from him. "Stop it!" she scolded before he pushed her and opened the fridge once more, where Ji was pushing Ami away from it. But the half-nighlok took the broccoli and bolted from the kitchen. "The broccoli!" Ji yelled, going after the half-nighlok.
Tashiko let out a frustrated whine. This is getting worse by the minute!
Mike turned to Emily and said, "Are you okay? Wow, it seems like I've been asking that a lot lately." "I'm fine Mike," Emily replied, glancing at the ground. "Maybe Ami is right. I'm weak. Pathetic." "No Em, don't listen to her," Mike began. "How can I not think about it after all she's done? She's been trying to kill me! She did the-" Emily clutched her head as the pain flared up in her head once more.
"Em please, sto-"
"No! You stop!" Emily told Mike, glancing at him. "Don't you get it? She's right! I'm always the one behind you guys. I never get the chance to go to the front lines. I'm always the one that gets protected!" She got to her feet and turned to glance at Mike. "I'm tired of that Mike! I want to be the one protecting all of you!" Mike grabbed her hand and squeezed it. "Then do it. Show us you can defeat the Nighlok. You can do this. Don't listen to Ami. She doesn't know you like I do."
Emily blushed brightly before her smile disappeared.
Emily laughed half heartedly. "I can't even think about her. My head starts to hurt if I do." "Em, then don't think about it," Mike told her, touching her cheek, wiping the stray tear from her eye. "I can't. I want to know what she did to me," Emily stated. "She told me it was a creation of hers, to make me suffer." "Do you remember the symbols?" Mike asked but Emily shook her head. "Not clearly," Emily responded. "It had some weird strokes. I've seen it before but I can't place it where."
Suddenly the Gap sensor sounded making the two rangers jump.
Emily swallowed knowing the time for her to defeat the Nighlok had come. Mike turned her head towards him and planted a kiss on her lips. Immediately the Yellow ranger turned bright red and glanced at Mike who stated, "You can do it Emily. Believe in yourself." He smiled and said, "Go kick some Nighlok ass for me."
Emily smiled and nodded, running out the door.
Ji joined Mike as they watched Emily run out the Shiba House gates. "She can do it," Mike told him. "I know she can," Ji replied.
Emily ran filled with confidence before glancing back, wishing the others were running with her. She could only hear her footsteps and gave a sigh, knowing her friends weren't going with her. This is why I need to break the Nighlok's spell. I need to believe I can do it. I can do it! The Yellow ranger ran, knowing the city and her friends needed her to defeat the Nighlok.
Tashiko chased the boys around the Shiba House but couldn't catch them. She gave up and was currently walking towards the kitchen. She caught glance of Ami sitting on the kitchen counter eating from a tub of ice cream. She let out a chuckle as she watched the rangers wrestle over leftover pizza.
Tashiko felt her lips curling and approached the latter, pushing Ami off the counter. The half-Nighlok let out a surprised cry and landed on the ground. She rolled to her feet and glared at the person who pushed her, finding Tashiko slam into her, knocking her to the ground. Tashiko grabbed Ami's hands and began to tie her with a rope. "What are you doing?!" Ami snarled, withering underneath the other girls weight. "What do you think I'm doing?!" Tashiko snapped back. "Are you trying to tie me up?" Ami asked with a slight chuckle. "That's adorable!"
Ami twisted her body and flipped Tashiko over, slamming her into the floor. Tashiko gasped, winded for a few moments before Ami grabbed her by the throat. "You can't defeat me, Tashiko. You. Are. Weak!"
Tashiko grabbed Ami's hair and pulled making Ami cry out in pain. "Ow! Let me go!" Ami yelped, but Tashiko pulled harder making Ami let go of her throat. Tashiko flipped over, making her mount Ami once more and began to tie Ami's hands behind her back. "I'm not weak!" Tashiko smirked. "I got you once more." Ami laughed and said, "I let you win. That's all." Tashiko got off her and got Ami to her feet. She dragged her to the dining room where she threw the half-nighlok into a chair.
Ami glared at Tashiko through her bangs, giving the younger teen a sneer. "Shut up," Tashiko growled lowly, narrowing her hazel eyes. "Tell me, Ami. Why do you want to hurt Emily?" Ami raised an eyebrow and chuckled. "I did not expect that question. I thought you were going to ask me what I did to you. Why you've been feeling weak and why you lose your breath for the little things you do. Have you not noticed how you keep panting for air?"
Tashiko had been panting but she thought because she kept running after the rangers. But now that Ami had mentioned it, she did feel weaker after the whole fiasco in catching Ami. "Well, that too," Tashiko declared, trying to not let Ami see her surprise. Ami laughed and said, "To answer your little question about Emily. I just love watching Mike suffer over the poor little thing." "Mike?" Tashiko echoed surprised. "What do you have against Mike?" "He got lucky," Ami growled, her face changing into fury. "He got the lucky side of the coin, while I got the flipside. This is just my little vengeance."
"You're a monster," Tashiko stated. "You love to see people suffer." "Not just any people," Ami replied. "Mike and you are my favorite candidates." "What did you do to Emily? What did you do to me?" Tashiko asked. "What I did to Emily is simply a pain symbol," Ami pointed out. "She thinks of me, it brings her pain. For you, well, I severed your connections with your Symbol Power." "What?" Tashiko breathed. "You cannot use your Symbol Power anymore," Ami sneered. "Once a Symbol Power has been unlocked, the user can do anything with it. Yours and like the rangers, your Symbol Power is so great that it links with your life source. That's why the rangers cannot over do it or else they die."
"That's why you've been feeling so weak," Ami laughed. "You can over do it and die!" Tashiko unconsciously grabbed a knife from the counter and raised it into the air. "Shut up!" she yelled, her hazel eyes flaring up in anger. "The only one who's going to die! Is you!" Ami's eyes opened wide, her mind flashing back at the woman in the tattered kimono with the chains wrapped around her chest.
"Maria! Don't do it!"