Chapter 38 No Hope, All Hope
That word struck me harder than anyone could ever hit me, but the mental toll of it was the worst. Shaking my head, I whispered, "You're lying. I won't believe it. It's not true!"
"Believe it or not, it's true," Ackdos said. "And I'll teach you what I do with traitors."
Before I was teleported to the ship, I saw the others tending to a pale Marvelous, and that only got me even more worried.
On the ship, I was thrown to the ground in a cell. I was in no physical or mental state to fight back, even though I had my mobirates and ranger key. After all, if Joe couldn't defeat Ackdos, and he was unharmed, then how could I fight him in my condition?
"Joe," I whispered, pain touching my heart. A tear rolled down my cheek. "He's gone." I looked down at the engagement ring and saw the words he had etched into the silver, "Joe+Amanda forever", and another tear ran down my face. Coldness wrapped around me that I thought I'd never feel after Joe proposed to me: the feeling of being alone.
XXX
"Marvelous-san, do not do anything real difficult," Gai said as they got him to be still on the couch.
"I can't!" Marvelous replied again. "My first mate was just killed, and our doctor was kidnapped! How can I not do anything difficult?!"
"We're trying to find her," Don said.
"But what about Joe!?" demanded Marvelous. "You can't do anything for him!"
A saddened silence wrapped around the Galleon as they grieved for their lost first mate and swordsmen.
"I hope he is resting in peace up there," Ahim said, tears rolling down her face as she looked up at the ceiling of the Galleon. "Poor Amanda-sama."
Now, whatever the others did, it always showed a type of sorrow.
XXX
"What happened?" whispered the man as he slowly opened his eyes, seeing the bright light of the sun. He was lying on the ground, in too much pain to move, but in his ears, there was the ringing of an awful sound, a sound that would only haunt his nightmares. Getting to his feet, he saw the Gokaigers tending to a pale Marvelous.
Grace looked back in his general direction, placing a hand over her heart and then pushing the hand out as if she was moving something away. Tears glistened in her eyes, as she looked up at a ship and then ran after the others.
The man looked after the Gokaiger for a moment before concluding something. "I've got to follow them," he mumbled, running after them.
XXX
The Gormin had a tight grip on me, or maybe that was because I was so weak, but either way, it didn't stop the pain coming from my arm as they forcibly cut into it, creating words that I could not see yet.
No matter how much I screamed and tried to fight back, they didn't let go.
It seemed like my whole body was on fire, and that the core was where the knife continued to dig into my skin deeply.
My cries of pain echoed throughout the empty corridors of the ship, and I wouldn't be surprised if the others on the Galleon could hear me.
When it seemed like they would never stop torturing me, the Gormin released me and my knees gave in, falling to the ground.
The Gormin walked out of the cell and locked it behind them.
I looked at my arm and saw two words: "Zangyack Traitor" in crude lettering, my blood slowly dripping out of them and onto the ground. The fabric from my long sleeves was on the ground, the hole made perfect to show what had happened to me.
It had been three days since I was taken, and I hadn't been through anything as painful as what just happened now. I prayed that Marvelous was ok and I hoped that the others would come help me soon, if they could find the ship.
"I'm not a Zangyack," I whispered before the pain caused me to black out.
XXX
"I've got her!" cried a gleeful Gai, turning to the others as they quickly gathered behind him. He told them the location and they ran out of there.
"Where' the ship?" Marvelous said, who had healed up from the bullet-wound.
"Is that it?" Grace said, pointing to a ship on top of a hill.
Gai looked at his tracker. "Yes, that's it!" he said.
"Let's go!" AkaRed said.
XXX
"I can't do this," said a young girl, shaking her head as she looked at the sword in her hands and then at the group she was supposed to kill. She threw the sword down. "I won't!"
"You will," said Ackdos, the simulation dying.
"I'm not like you!" the girl snapped, then stomped out of the room.
Several years later, the girl is standing next to Warz, and the face is beginning to look familiar.
"The person who will take over the planets and expand my empire is Amanda," Ackdos said.
Amanda glared. "I won't!" she fought back. "I told you, I can't do this! Let Brother do it!"
"It will be you, whether you like it or not," Ackdos said.
"Not if I leave!" Amanda said, turning and running out of the room. She ran to a docking station before anyone could catcher and flew to Earth, soon forgetting everything that she knew about her past in the Zangyack Empire as the leader's daughter. She willed it to leave her, and that it did.
I woke up, remembering everything that had happened to me before. "It's true," I whispered. "I won't tell the Gokaigers. If they know, I'm dead." I placed a hand over where I had been cut into, my jacket over the top of it. "If they find out, my life is ruined. But, someone's got to know. Who do I tell?"
"We won't let you keep her like this!" cried a voice I knew.
"Marvelous!" I exclaimed, jumping to my feet and going to the bars.
"Amanda!" Grace said, running to me and then shooting the lock so that it would open. "What happened to you?"
"Nothing," I said.
Grace hugged me. "We're so glad you're ok," she whispered in my ear.
"Grace, hurry up!" called Luka.
"We can't hold them off for long!" Don added.
"Hold on," Grace said, holding up a button. She pressed it and threw it against the far wall.
We took shelter and the wall exploded.
"All clear!" Grace called. "Come on, Amanda, we're going to jump."
Before I could reply, Grace and I had already jumped out of the ship, rolling onto the soft ground.
"Amanda, are you ok?" Marvelous asked as everyone joined us on the ground.
"Yes, I'm fine," I said.
"Get them!" came Ackdos' voice.
"Run," Ahim said.
Just as fast as the breakout that I was just in, we started running to the Galleon, losing the Gormin easily in the city.
"Yes, we've got Amanda back without injury!" Gai said as everyone seemed to give me a group hug.
I smiled. "Great," I said. "I really missed you guys." I looked down for a moment, thinking.
"What's on your mind, kid?" AkaRed said.
"Um, Marvelous, can I talk to you in the crow's nest?" I said, swallowing past my fear. "Please, no one else hears."
"Of course," Marvelous replied. "AkaRed, make sure no one else follows us."
AkaRed nodded and Marvelous and I walked up into the crow's nest.
"What's up?" Marvelous said, leaning back against the railing. He saw me rub my arm where I was cut. "What did Ackdos do to you?"
"Marvelous, would you think of my any differently if my family changed from what I knew to someone else, and I didn't even know that it was true?" I asked.
"No, why?" Marvelous said.
"Before Ackdos took me, he told me something," I said. "Something that I don't know who to tell, now that Joe is gone." As I started to tear up, I turned away and gripped the railing in front of my tightly, looking down. "I don't know who else to tell: Grace, Gai, Ahim, and Don, it would ruin our friendship, AkaRed would cast me away, Luka would try to hurt me, and I even think you would want me to leave the Gokaigers, to turn in my ranger key and mobirates and never come back."
"Once a Gokaiger, always a Gokaiger," Marvelous said. "You're not going to be sent away, not matter what. What did Ackdos tell you?"
"He said that I'm-" my voice caught and I was coughing and sobbing at the same time.
Marvelous walked to me after a few minutes and placed his hand on my head, turning me to him. "Don't cry," he said, kind, but also strict.
Taking a breath to calm myself, I said in a calm, but shaky voice, "Ackdos said that I'm his daughter. And while being captive, I saw my past, and I saw that it was true."
"Then what did he do to you?" Marvelous said, seeing that I placed a hand over my arm where I was cut. "Did he hurt you?"
Slowly, I nodded, but it wasn't visible in my shaking as I took off my jacket and slowly showed Marvelous the words that were dug into my arm. "He had some Gormin do this to me," I whispered as Marvelous grabbed my wrist gently and ran a finger along the cuts, fresh blood clinging to his skin. "I'm not a Zangyack. I would never betray you guys! I mean it!"
Marvelous released my wrist, and I could tell he was trying to think of something to say. Turning form me, he crossed his arms over his chest and, looking at the blood still on his finger, said, "Zangyack will pay for this. I will make sure it's done, even if I have to go by myself. Joe would give his life for you, and I would do the same for my crew. I won't let you be hurt by this and not have someone pay for it." He turned back to me. "Don't show the others until you feel that the time is right. I won't tell anyone, because I know how much this could hurt you if told by the wrong person."
I put my jacket back on and looked at the ground. "What am I supposed to do now?" I said. "Joe's gone, the others know something is up, and now I'm lost about what to do."
"Continue your dream," Marvelous said.
"Huh?" I said, turning to the captain.
"You wanted to be a doctor for a long time," GokaiRed said. "Joe was always helping you out when needed. Continue that training, in his honor. Don't let it all be for nothing."
I nodded. "Ok," I said.
"Dinner!" Don called.
Marvelous went to leave, but he noticed me stay in my position. "Are you going to come?" he asked.
"Not yet," I replied. "I need to think."
"Don't stay up here too long," Marvelous said. I was surprised when he took off his jacket and draped it around me. "You'll catch a cold." He walked down to dinner, leaving me alone.
XXX
The man didn't understand why the other Gokaigers didn't talk to him. After all, they sometimes looked right at him, but it was confusing. Three days, and they still didn't even acknowledge that he was there. He never tried to make a conversation, not sure why he wasn't being recognized and not wanting to startle someone.
Finally, when they left to do something, he shook his head and went for a walk.
Even the people that he walked by didn't notice him.
"Why?" he whispered. He stopped in front of a window displaying some stuff on sale, and when he focused on the place where he was straight in front of, he was startled when he didn't see his reflection.
"Ackdos used an invisibility strike!" he cried, taking a step back. He ran into a woman walking her dog.
"What was that?" the woman said, looking around.
The man remained quiet, slowly moving away. As soon as he was away, he started running to the Galleon, hoping to see the others to tell them what he found out.
Getting aboard, he saw that everyone was going to their places, and Marvelous and I going to the crow's nest.
"I don't want to disturb them," he whispered. "After all, AkaRed is protecting the way, keeping Luka's ears from following them. It'll be no use."
"Dinner!" Don called after a little bit.
Marvelous came down without his jacket and took his seat.
"Is Amanda-sama alright?" Ahim asked.
"Yea, she looked pretty upset," Luka added.
"She's just trying to sort out some things," Marvelous said. "It's hard for her, seeing Joe get killed and then being captured by the person who killed him."
"It's not the same without him," Don said.
"I can't begin to imagine how Amanda feels," Grace said, looking up at the crow's nest.
"After all, this is hurting us, but he's her love, and she would do anything for him, just like he would for her," Gai said.
The man stopped himself from talking to the others, hearing what they thought happened, which is different from what really happened.
"If she doesn't come down soon, I'm going to get her," AkaRed said, casting a glance where I still was.
The man silently climbed the stairs, wanting to see if I was ok.
XXX
I pulled Marvelous' coat closer to me, feeling some comfort from his small gesture of caring. Hearing footsteps, I said, "I'll be down in a few minutes."
"Amanda," said a voice that was all too familiar to me.
"Joe?" I whispered, spinning around and looking around. "I'm hearing things: no one's there."
"I'm here," said the voice again.
"Where?" I said. A hand took my hand and held it.
"Here," said the voice, right in front of me. "I'm here."
"Joe?" I asked again.
"Yes," Joe replied.
"Are you a ghost?" I said.
"No," Joe said. "Ackdos' hit was actually an invisibility strike. It turned me invisible, not hurting me."
"When will it wear off?" I said, feeling warmth rise up in me and take hold of my heart.
"It'll take all night tonight, at least. I'm not sure after that," Joe answered. "What happened to you? Were you hurt?"
I paused and then nodded slowly. "Yes," I whispered, beginning to shake again.
"Hey, I'm here with you," Joe said, putting his arms around me, but still making sure to keep Marvelous' jacket on me, knowing that it was keeping me calm. "You can tell me anything that happened. What did Ackdos do to you?"
I buried my face into Joe's shoulder, even though it was weird that I was staring at the ground instead of his famous blue jacket. "I'm his daughter," I said, the words coming out in a shaky breath. "He told me. While I was captured, I saw my past, and everything I knew before was fake. My whole life is a lie. I didn't grow up on Earth: I grew up on the planet Zangyack, trained to take over planets. But I ran away and Warz, my brother, took over."
"Did he hurt you in any way?" Joe said.
"He ordered the Gormin to do something to me," I said, taking my arm out of the sleeve and looking at the words that were made in my skin, the bleeding still visible. As more footsteps travelled to me, I slipped it back in.
"Don't tell them I'm back," Joe whispered. "I'll do that on my own."
"Ok," I replied, turning around to look back, and Joe went to the other side as AkaRed came into view.
"Hey, kid, you've got to eat," AkaRed said. "I know you don't really want to after what happened, but you need your strength."
"Alright," I said, turning to AkaRed.
"I know you hurt with what happened, but we all are hurt," AkaRed said. "Maybe if we just take some time after dinner to just talk about it, then we'll feel better."
"Do you think that'll work?" I said.
"Maybe," AkaRed said. "But it doesn't hurt to try." He gently took my hand. "Come on, you need to eat."
I nodded and followed AkaRed down the stairs, not realizing that I was clutching Marvelous' jacket close to me. While I did place his jacket in the right place, I didn't take off my own, knowing that with the hole that was cut, the others would be able to see the cuts easily.
"Amanda, don't you want to take off your jacket?" Don suggested. "It's really warm in here."
"I'm fine," I replied, taking my seat and silently beginning to eat.
The others looked at Marvelous for an explanation, but he remained straight-faced as he continued eating, motioning for the others to do the same. They did, but kept casting worried glances in my direction.
When we finished, Don, Ahim, and Gai went to clean the dishes as we went to sit down, too engrossed in our thought to do anything else.
I sat on the couch, leaned forward, my hands clasped together in front of me. I stared at the ground without seeing it, and I heard the clinking of plates and utensils without hearing it.
As she left the kitchen, Ahim noticed me looking down and sat next to me, placing a hand on my arm, but unfortunately for me, it was my cut arm. "Amanda-sama," she said as I masked the pain that jumped through my body as a sigh. "Would you like to say anything?"
Marvelous glanced up at me.
I shook my head. "No," I whispered. "There's nothing that can be said."
"About anything?" Ahim said. "Is there not anything you want to get off your chest now?"
"I miss him," I said, placing my hand on the engagement ring.
"We all do," Ahim said. "Joe is all of our friends."
The others added their agreements, and I could tell that they were trying not to cry while talking.
Finally, I couldn't take it anymore. I got to my feet, said that I was tired, and walked to my room. When I closed the door, I walked to the bed and sat down. "Thank you, Ahim, for your concern, but I can't share what I really want to share yet," I said. "It's too soon, and I'm still shaken up from it."
I got ready for bed and went to sleep.
During the middle of the night, I felt a pain, and I let out a small cry as I sat up, clutching my arm as a stinging feeling went through me. "Please, stop," I whispered, the wounds reopening and blood staining my sleeve. It felt like they were being cut open all over again. I wanted to scream.
As the feeling slowly left, it kept me up all night. As the sun shined through my window, I was still sitting up, my eyes tight shut as my arm was pressed against my chest by my other hand.
Forcing myself up, I wrapped my arm to try to stop the bleeding and got dressed. As I went to the living room, I saw that only Marvelous was awake, playing darts.
"Feeling better?" Marvelous asked, tossing his dart at the board.
"Not really," I said. "For some reason, the words started to sting and it kept me up all night."
Marvelous frowned, throwing his final dart and then collecting the set. "That's not good," he said.
"They reopened and I was forced to wrap it up," I said.
"Are you sure wrapping it will help?" Marvelous said. "After all, if it hurts and you did nothing to it, then it would cause more pain when pressure is put on it."
"So far this morning, I'm fine," I said.
Marvelous nodded. "Do you know when you'll tell them?" he said.
"I don't know when," I said. "I'm actually planning on keeping this a secret. I just had to tell someone. And next to Joe, you're the next best."
"Glad you think so," Marvelous said. He held out some darts to me as I went to walk by him. "One-on-one?"
"Do I need to wear that bracelet?" I replied, eyeing the gold bracelet on his wrist.
"If you want," Marvelous said. "You don't have to."
"Challenge accepted," I said, taking the darts from him.
We played a few rounds before the others woke up, and it turned out that I had enough skills with my accuracy to tie up to GokaiRed.
"Well played, GokaiPurple," Marvelous said.
"Thank you, GokaiRed," I said.
"Good morning," Ahim said.
"Up already?" Luka said, rubbing her eyes.
"It's only nine in the morning," Gai complained.
"That's a first, the captain up before us," Don said.
"I'm usually up before anyone," Grace said with a yawn.
"Everyone had a hard time sleeping last night, I assume," AkaRed said.
Marvelous and I nodded to prove that what AkaRed said was true.
"What are we doing today?" Luka said as Don and Gai went to start breakfast.
"Treasure hunt," Marvelous said. "Bird! Treasure navigate!"
"Don't call me 'Bird'!" was Navi's first reply.
"Just do it," Marvelous said, crossing his arms.
"Mou," Navi said.
"Please, Navi?" I asked.
"Alright," Navi said. "Let's Treasure Navigate!" She flew into the air and then hit her head on the wall that Marvelous and I had just been, falling to the ground. "Someone thought gone will return," she said. "That's it!"
"'Someone thought gone will return'?" we repeated.
"Joe," Luka whispered.
When we finished eating breakfast, we went out and walked around the city.
"How are we going to do this?" Marvelous said, his arms crossed as he walked in front of us.
"What if the clue doesn't relate to Joe-san?" Ahim said. "It could mean someone from Zangyack, like a monster we got rid of."
"I can't be!" Don said.
"All signs lead to that!" Gai said.
"But, we saw him killed," Grace said.
"Ackdos finished him off," AkaRed confirmed.
"We have other matters to worry about right now," I said as I heard Gormin, turning to them.
Marvelous watched for a moment as the people were taken down then suddenly fired his gun, taking one down. "We don't like what you're doing," he said as we walked forward.
"Gokai Change!" we said, morphing. Then, we charged at the Gormin and took them down.
A second wave fell to the ground and we turned our attention to them.
As a third came, we realized that they planned to outnumber us.
"Keep fighting!" Marvelous said.
Then, I saw a Gormin fall, but we were away from it. A second one did the same, along with a whole row of them.
"What's going on?" Don said, who also noticed it.
"What?" Luka replied, then she saw a Gormin fall. "Ghost?"
"Ignore it and keep fighting!" Marvelous ordered.
We nodded and attacked the Gormin.
Just as we were able to finish off the second, a fourth wave came, adding to the numbers that were still left by the third.
"This is bad!" Gai said.
"Do not give up!" Ahim said.
"Fight until the end!" Grace said.
"We never give up, not matter what!" AkaRed added.
The numbers soon overwhelmed us and we regrouped.
A blue light lit up and a blue strike took down a good number. Then, more single Gormins fell.
"That has to be Joe-san!" Ahim exclaimed.
Slowly, a GokaiBlue figure appeared as he fought the Gormin.
"Yes!" I whispered. I really hadn't believed Joe at first mainly because of what I had been through, but now I saw that he really did mean what he said.
"Joe!" the others cried.
"Going to help?" Joe replied, taking down a couple more.
"Let's go!" Marvelous said as we charged at the Gormin again.
This time, we could take them out without another wave coming.
"Navi was right," Marvelous said as he put a hand on Joe's shoulder when we powered down and regrouped. "Dang it, you got us thinking that you were dead."
I couldn't hold myself back as I hugged Joe tightly, glad that I could see him.
"Sorry," Joe said as he returned my hug. "I was on the Galleon several times, but you never noticed me. Finally, I realized that Ackdos' 'final' attack was actually an invisibility strike. He assumed that I would just kill myself because I thought that you guys were purposely ignoring me because you didn't care about me anymore, but hearing Amanda always kept me straight."
"Wait, so for the past five days, you've just been invisible, and you never tried to talk to us!?" Luka said, going to punch Joe's arm, but thought better of it, seeing that she could easily miss and hit me.
"I didn't because I thought that you would just ignore me, act like I wasn't there," Joe said.
"At least the crew is back together," Ahim said. "That is something to be cheerful about."
We smiled and nodded.
"I think this is a good time to return to the GokaiGalleon," Marvelous said. "This treasure hunt had been a success."
"I couldn't agree more," I said, not straying too far from Joe's grasp.