Chapter 50: Facing Your Demons
A/N: I've reached 50 chapters! I couldn't ever imagined my story reaching this far! I'm glad a lot of people keep reading the story and leaving reviews. I appreciate it alot!
Her brown eyes widened up in horror as he advanced towards her, blade in hand. He could hear his own laugh as he felt his blade slashing her white skin. He felt her warm, scarlet red blood splash against his face and clothes.
He watched as the blonde woman stood still, her wound spurting blood. He chuckled darkly, watching her staggering towards him, falling on his shoulder. She breathed heavily when realization hit him. He noticed what he had done and lowered his weapon, his Barracuda Blade, clattering the ground.
"Why?" she murmured, slowly glanced at the man. Her brown eyes were wide in shock and terror, tears forming in her eyes. "Why did you kill me? Why did you do it?"
The man glanced at her, startled at her declaration.
The blonde haired woman, turned towards his ear, whispering, "Bastard. You could've stopped yourself. You could've turned that knife against yourself!" The man's eyes went wide as the woman pushed herself off him, seeing her bleeding wounds. She summoned a Spinsword and wielded it in front of her. "You actually liked that power she gave you, didn't you?"
"No! I didn't!" he cried out, shaking his head. The blonde hair slashed at him, ripping his black and white checkered scarf. "You embraced the darkness instead of fighting back!" the woman spat at him. "Look at the consequences! You murdered a human being!"
"I wasn't in control!" the man yelled.
"But you didn't fight back, love," came another voice. The man turned around to find Ami standing behind him. A sinister smile spread across her face as she walked towards him, snaking her arms around his neck. "You loved that power, didn't you? You enjoyed your time being the Dark Gold Samurai Ranger. You loved the rush of power I gave you!"
"No!" the man denied, clenching his jaw.
"The moment I gave you a taste of the power, you practically felt captivated," Ami continued, circling around him. "Tell me, Antonio, did you enjoy killing Emily?"
"No!" Antonio shouted, his eyes wide in horror. "I-I hated it! I can't believe I killed her!" He grabbed his hair, shaking his head, tears streaming down his face.
"Did you enjoy the look she gave you?" Ami snickered. "The look of betrayal, hurt and mistrust?"
"No!" Antonio cried out.
"Or how you stabbed Maria?" Ami cackled. "Watching your blade bathe in the blood of the woman you love."
Antonio found himself standing behind Maria, grabbing her face as he drove his blade deeper into her side. Had enough, Lightning Princess?
"No! Stop!" Antonio declared, grabbing his head. "Shut up! Shut up!"
"I'll never shut up," Ami whispered in his ear. "I will always be the darkness inside you, Antonio."
Antonio gasped awake, breathing heavily as he quickly sat up. His heart was racing from the wretched nightmare he dreamt as sweat dripped down his forehead. The Gold ranger glanced around, noticing he was in the infirmary.
Antonio tried to move, but noticed that his hands were tied down. The Gold ranger went into full fledged panic, wondering why he was tied up. He tried to pull free but couldn't and he glanced around, seeing no one around.
Suddenly the doors slid open, revealing a weary Jayden walking in with a tray of tea in his hands. The Red ranger noticed that the Gold ranger was awake and quickly rushed towards him. "Antonio?" the Red ranger asked cautiously.
"Jay?" Antonio asked fearfully. "What's going on? Why am I tied?"
Jayden's eyes lit up seeing this was his Gold ranger and let out a sighed relief. "It's really you."
"What's going on?" Antonio asked again, his eyes wide in fear. "Sorry, this was just a precaution," Jayden replied, reaching to the rope tied in his hands. He began to untie him while Antonio questioned, "Precaution? For what?"
The Red ranger paused and slowly looked at him, puzzled. "What do you mean?"
"Jay, I'm confused, what happened? How did I get here? Why was I tied up?" Antonio questioned. "What did I do?"
Jayden blinked and asked, "You don't remember what happened during the last few weeks?"
"I don't remember anything," Antonio whispered. "I don't remember how I got here. The last thing I remember was protecting Maria from Ami."
Jayden looked at him wide eyed and murmured, "You don't remember what happened in the last few weeks."
"What happened during the last few weeks?" Antonio asked, when a piercing pain hit his head. He touched his forehead and declared, "Everything's a haze."
The doors slid open, revealing Emily walking in looking worriedly. "Jayden, Mentor is looking for y…." she trailed off seeing Antonio awake. "Emily," Antonio whispered, his eyes wide. The Yellow ranger walked towards him and looked at him worriedly. She glanced at the Red ranger, who looked conflicted and touched his arm.
"It seems her symbol worked," she told him. "It seems so," Jayden replied.
"Symbol?" Antonio echoed, confused. Emily blinked surprised and asked, "You don't remember anything?" "No," Antonio replied, shaking his head. The Yellow ranger sighed and looked at the Red ranger. "Can I talk to him, alone?" The Red ranger looked surprised but gave her a nod, patting her shoulder. He left the room, sliding the doors closed.
Emily turned to the Gold ranger and took his hand, sitting on the edge of his bed. "Antonio, I know you're probably confused right now, but, I think you should know the truth of what happened."
The Gold ranger looked worriedly at her and asked, "What did I do?" The Yellow ranger could see the fear in his brown eyes and she sighed. "You were under Ami's control for the last few weeks. She, she pitted you against us." Antonio's eyes went wide and shook his head. "No, that….I couldn't have….Did I… betray you all?"
Emily shook her head but Antonio pulled his hand away from hers. "Did I hurt you all? Did I place my blade against yours?"
"Antonio, that wasn't you," Emily replied. "That was Ami's doing."
"But I still could've done something! Could've I?" Antonio declared, tears forming in his eyes. "Antonio…" Emily began, when the sliding doors opened. Both rangers turned to find Mike, glaring at them both, anger evident in his green eyes.
"Don't touch Emily!" he shouted, running towards them both. He grabbed Emily, pulling her away from the Gold ranger, while Antonio looked confused.
"Mike!" Emily told him, trying to pull away from him.
"It wasn't enough that you killed her, that you almost killed your girl too?" Mike snarled, making the Gold ranger's eyes grow wide in shock. "What?" Antonio breathed. "Mike stop!" Emily yelled. "No Em!" Mike replied, glancing at her. "He needs to know!"
"He was brainwashed!" Emily argued. "He killed you in cold blood!" Mike shouted back. "I don't give a damn if he was brainwashed or not!" "You shouldn't have told him this!" Emily replied in shock. "Didn't you say that there shouldn't be any more secrets? That it hurt hiding the truth from you?! Why should he be an exception?!" Mike declared.
"Is this true?" Antonio asked quietly, making them glance at him. The Gold ranger was looking at his bed sheets, clenching them tightly in his hands. "Did I really kill you?"
Emily lowered her glance, not knowing what to say. "Yes, you did," Mike told him, clenching his fists. "It hurts to say it, but you killed Em. The reason she's standing here alive was because, Hideo used a forbidden spell on her to bring her back alive."
"Did I kill….Maria too?" Antonio whispered, clenching his jaw. "No, but she's badly injured," Mike pointed out. Emily saw Antonio's fist clench tightly and grabbed Mike's arm. "That's enough. Leave him alone."
The Yellow ranger pulled the Green ranger away from the infirmary, leaving the Gold ranger alone.
Maria rolled her injured shoulder back, wincing. "Don't over do it," Mia told her as she checked over her. "Despite your regeneration power, you're still at risk in opening the wound again."
"I know, but at least I have some feeling back in my arm," Maria replied. "How's your side?" Mia asked as Maria got to her feet. She stretched noticing that the wound on her side was a dull ache and not an agonizing pain.
The Pink ranger smiled, chuckling at her.
"I really envy those regeneration powers of yours."
Maria chuckled back and sat back in the bed, laying flat on her back. "I guess. But even my regeneration has limits."
"That's true," Mia replied, walking from the bed towards a chair where a bag of clothes sat. "Serena and I decided to go shopping the other day and bought you new clothes." Maria blushed embarrassed that the two rangers bought her clothes but at the same time she felt extremely grateful. "You didn't have to," Maria muttered, her cheeks beet red. "We wanted too," Mia smiled, taking the bag and offered it to Maria, who took it from her hands. "Thanks," Maria told her. She opened the bag, noticing new black skirts, new purple blouses and a pair of black boots.
"I hope you like it," Mia told her as she walked out of the infirmary.
"Why did you tell him like that?" Kevin scolded the Green ranger, who had his arms crossed. "He had to know either way," Mike replied, glaring at the Blue ranger. "That wasn't the correct one," Kevin continued. "What you did was uncalled for."
"Then what did you want me to do Kevin?" Mike snapped. "Did you want me to tell him in baby steps? He knows what he did!"
"Maybe he didn't!" Kevin shouted at him. "Don't you understand? When I was under control by Madimot, I didn't attack you willingly! I couldn't control my body to stop from hurting you all!" The Blue ranger clenched his fists angrily and stated, "Antonio probably didn't have control over himself either!"
"He hurt one of my friends and my girlfriend!" Mike spat at him. "He could've tried to hold back! But he decided to drive a blade through Emily's heart!" "You're being an asshole about this Michael!" Kevin snarled back. "Don't you think he feels like shit already? Especially now, that you told him what he did! He'll forever live with the guilt that he hurt Emily and Maria!"
"You would never understand, how helpless it feels, when you want to stop your body from committing an action, but you can't!" Kevin continued. "I would never wish this on anyone, not even my worst enemy!" The Blue ranger left the Common Room angrily, while Mike walked towards another direction when he felt someone grab his shoulder.
"What did you do?" Jayden asked sternly, making the Green ranger swallow nervously.
The Gold ranger grabbed his hair as a few tears slipped down his face. He couldn't believe what Mike and Emily had told him. So, was that nightmare real? Antonio thought fearfully. Was Ami right? Did I not fight the darkness? Did I….embrace it?
Antonio closed his eyes, letting out a sob. He was starting to remember everything, from Ami's torture, to the last fight where he and Maria fought it out. He remembered how good it felt when he embraced the darkness Ami had given him. How he enjoyed the rush of power that coursed through his veins. It made him feel alive, it made him feel powerful.
"What have I done?" Antonio whispered, covering his face with his hands.
"Antonio?" came a voice.
The Gold ranger didn't glance up but felt someone embracing him. "Mike told me what happened. Are you okay?"
Antonio didn't know what to say. He didn't feel okay at all. He had killed one of his friends and hurt the woman he loved. He felt the person hug him tighter and whispered in his ear, "It's going to be fine." Antonio clenched his jaw and shouted, "It's never going to be fine! I killed a living being! I killed Emily and I hurt Maria! Don't you understand that?!"
The Gold ranger glanced at the Red ranger, who was startled at the outburst.
"I was corrupted by Ami and she tapped into a darkness I've never thought I had!" Antonio continued. "I feel horrible! I feel like shit to be honest!" Antonio sobbed, covering his face, making the Red ranger pity him. "I hate myself! I hate how I was so easily manipulated by that woman!"
Jayden looked at his best friend, taking Antonio's hands off the Gold ranger's face. The Red ranger could see how emotionally and mentally broken the Gold ranger looked and sighed. "We will get through this. I doubt the others have a hate towards you. They know it wasn't you that killed Emily."
"But it was me!" Antonio whimpered exasperatedly. "No," Jayden shook his head, squeezing Antonio's hands. "It was Ami. She put inside you a darkness that was never there to begin with. You're one of the kindest people I know. You would never do that to the people you love so willingly. Ami's to blame for everything that happened."
The Red ranger gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't be hard on yourself Ant. You will face your demons. You will conquer them. And when you do, you'll feel at peace with yourself."
The Gold ranger glanced away, wondering why the Red ranger believed in him so much. He felt like a monster at the moment and felt like he couldn't be even trusted. "I don't know how to conquer them."
"Start with not blaming yourself for hurting your friends," Jayden suggested. "That wasn't you, but Ami's influence. Her spell did that to you. You're strong Antonio, you can conquer your demons."
The Gold ranger glanced at him and whispered, "Thanks Jay."
Jayden grinned and stated, "That's what a best friend is for."
The Green ranger knocked on Mia's and Emily's door, hoping that the Yellow ranger would answer.
Mike sighed, placing his forehead on the door and stated, "Em, can I talk to you? Please?" He could hear footsteps on the other side and the door slightly opened. "What do you want Mike?" Emily asked quietly. Mike looked relieved that Emily had answered but faded away when he noticed that she was avoiding his gaze.
"Look Em, I'm...terribly sorry," Mike began. "I don't know what came over me. I shouldn't have yelled at you and Antonio. Also, for lying to you about Hideo. I hope, you can forgive me." When Emily didn't answer, the Green ranger sighed. "Kevin was right. I was being an asshole about it and I shouldn't have judged him like that."
Emily opened the door wider, noticing the Green ranger's sincere tone and sighed. "I don't think you should be apologizing to me," Emily replied, looking at him. "You should go apologize to Antonio for what you did." Mike glanced at her, seeing her concerned brown eyes. The Green ranger looked at the ground, knowing she was right.
"Right," Mike murmured, nodding. "But, I still accept your apology," Emily replied, giving him a small smile. "No more secrets between us?" Mike gave her a nod, smiling. "No more secrets."
Emily smiled at him.
A young shrine maiden walked towards the two sliding doors and slowly opened them, bowing to the blonde haired woman within.
"M'lady, we have sent word to Ji about your arrival. Our messager should be there soon, since his departure a week ago."
"Good," the blonde haired woman told her servant, removing her red and white flowered kimono. It fell on the floor, revealing civilian clothing. Her hair was tied up in a ponytail with a red ribbon. "My things are prepared?"
"Yes m'lady," the shrine maiden answered.
"Excellent," the blonde haired woman murmured. "It's time." She turned away from yard she was facing and walked towards her desk. She picked up her Samuraizer, looking at the brush and clutched her hand around it. The blonde haired woman put it close to her heart, tears brimming her eyes.
"Finally. I will come home, father."
"I will finally get the vengeance and peace I've longed for. I will seal the Nighlok away and finish this once and for all."
