Chapter 4 'Identities Revealed'
Octoroo waddled over to his unstable master with the daily bowl of medicine. The migraines have been occurring more frequently ever since the three new Rangers showed up and were close to fully destroying Defearius. He didn't remember any Rangers with such specific shades before, especially ones who didn't waste time in fighting a Nighlok.
Xandred sat on his mat on the lower deck of his ship with Dayu and her hauntingly, soothing melodies occupying the space.
"Master Xandred," the squid headed Nighlok asked his master as he handed over the milky medicine, "What are we going to do about those Rangers? They seemed to be multiplying by the minute!"
"Silence!" Xandred ordered bitterly. He slurped up his medicine, "To preserve my health for the next few hours, don't mention a word about the Samurai Rangers,"
"But master, their new additions are more powerful than the rest-"
"-Then figure out how to eliminate them! Find their weakness! In the meantime, send back Defearius,"
"Of course," And with that Octoroo left to do Xandred's bidding, but not without sending a few Moogers to tail the Magenta Ranger first. Dayu plucked her strings during the conversation, not caring for the Ranger business anymore. All that was on her mind was Dekker and the life they had shared before their misfortune of being turned into Nighlok. Was there a way to still save him?
Her thoughts paused her music, causing Xandred to notice. Dayu broke out of her daze in time to not engage in any conversation and picked up where she left off. She was a prisoner on this ship for so long, yet it was the only place where she could be at peace. The Pink Ranger offered to help her, had sympathy towards a Nighlok.
How ludicrous! Who could ever want to assist a monster who had nothing else to do but pour out her pain onto her harmonium strings? But sometimes, Dayu would contemplate about what could happen if she accepted her offer. Would her life be different?
Mentor and the others never found out Antonio and Jayden left the house. Although, Antonio's constant yawns caused the team to wonder if the Gold Ranger had received any wink of sleep the night before. Truth was, after the run-in with the bear and the Mystery Rangers, he kept thinking of where they might have come from, what their intentions were, and why they were being so discreet about it. By the time he wrapped up his time of thoughts, the alarm clock rang before he was able to get a wink of sleep.
He was so tired, he picked up a bowl of what Mia cooked for breakfast and ate it, not minding the horrid taste.
"Somebody's hungry," Mia commented at the table while everybody else stared incredulously at Antonio's braindead behavior, "Why aren't you all eating?" That snapped them from the staring and proceeded to "eat".
Mike had invented a way to finish Mia's horrendous meals by dropping spoonfuls onto a paper towel he placed on his lap. It would look like he was actually taking bites No one else dared to try this new method in case Mia would see. They all were seeing how long Mike could go before Mia catches him.
"It's a beautiful day today, should we all do something?" Mia asked the group.
"Emily, Jayden, and I have errands to run, remember Emily?" Antonio was fully awake and reminded Emily of plans that had never been set.
Emily understood what Antonio was getting at and nodded, "Oh yeah. We're helping Antonio with some fishing duties,"
"But Em," Mike in a hurt voice, "I thought we were going to skate at the park today." Emily looked pleadingly at Jayden but his eyes said no.
"I'm sorry Mike, maybe next time. This is really urgent," Emily, Antonio, and Jayden were immediately excused from the table after that.
"Since when catching fish became so urgent?" Mike grumbled to himself and sat up, completely forgetting the food on his lap. The PB&J omelet bits splattered to the floor. Kevin snickered while Mia rushed over to help Mike clean up the mess.
"Be more careful next time Mike, I guess spilling food is a habit not limited to elementary school," Mia said. The Green Ranger gave a huge sigh of relief that Mia never found out exactly how the food got there.
"What's up?" Emily asked the guys. They were outside the gates of the Shiba House. Jayden had informed Antonio on the way back from the woods of the encounter with the kids at the market so it felt right to tell her about the meeting. Then Antonio briefed Emily about the identities of the new Rangers and she gasped.
"No way! The kids from the market? And what about the girl?"
"She seems to be the leader and called all the shots," A beep came from Antonio 's Morpher. He flipped it open and checked the screen. It was a new message. Antonio went on to read the message, "It's from them! We meet at noon at Cupcake Cafe," He then ran off to get his fish cart, "In the meantime, we could go and actually fish. I'll teach you both how,"
They headed down to the docks and spent the next few hours fishing. Well, Antonio was fishing, his friends, on the other hand, were struggling with either putting the bait on the hook or reeling in any fish. Emily's objective was to put the plump, juicy worm on the hook without squealing while Jayden had yet to catch anything. It made them both wonder how Antonio could do this everyday.
Lunch came all too soon for them. Jayden and Emily were eager to go to Cupcake Cafe, but Antonio was in the middle of reeling, "Aren't you coming?"
"Sure, in just a minute though. I'll catch up with you later,"
"Okay," And with that Emily and Jayden went to the Cafe. It was the bakery where the Rangers went to celebrate Dayu's defeat after the whole bride fiasco. It felt like it happened not too long ago. Emily remembered her exact words to Jayden at the same spot in front of the store, "Samurai Rangers, cupcakes are ours!" But they weren't there for cupcakes that day.
Emily scoped out the area for the kids and immediately found them sitting at the patio tables. It was plain to see they didn't want to be noticed, but wearing massive sunglasses and bulky hoodie jackets probably attracted more attention, not a wise choice during the pre-autumn weather in Panorama City.
The Yellow Ranger was deeply concerned about exactly who they were dealing with, "Jayden?" she said unsurely as they neared the table.
"It's okay, Em. If anything goes wrong, call the others,"
Eve saw the older Samurai coming and tensed up as they sat down opposite from her team. She couldn't shake off what happened with Ryder. If it weren't for his mistake, the future wouldn't be hanging in the balance. Traveling to the European Middle Ages would have been less catastrophic. Her father stared at her attentively, expecting a long-awaited answer.
"Who are you three? No tricks or running off, so it's best to tell us now,"
Ryder felt guilty to put his friends in such an uncomfortable predicament, so he spoke on their behalf, even if it meant speaking to his father, "I'm Ryder. The dictator in training over here is Eve Shiba and the Mr. Genius is Lewis Henderson,"
Shiba,Jayden thought, Oh no, how am I going to explain to the team?Now was not the right time to drop a bomb this big, especially when the Nighlok are now growing stronger than ever. But Jayden eyed Eve more closely and noticed she looked nothing like him. Almost. Apart from her chocolate brown hair and dark eyes, her nose and chin was a noticeable similarity. In what way could he be related to her?
During Jayden's time of contemplation, Emily was comparing Lewis to Mike. Same as Eve, his hair didn't match the Green Ranger's. It was the same shade of blonde as her own hair. The eyes were covered by his coiled locks, so she couldn't determine what color they were. Lewis contrasted Mike in so many ways.
"How are you both related to the Samurai?"
Eve and Lewis were silent. So Ryder answered for them, "They don't want to say it themselves. But we're not from here, this time I mean. We're from 2031."
'I hope that is part of an address and not what I think it means,' Emily thought. She had a gut feeling this was heading in a direction that she wasn't prepared for.
Jayden, having understood what Ryder meant, was doubtful, "Not possible," Time traveling was only accomplished by one other Ranger group, but that type of technology is inaccessible, way beyond this time.
"That's what I thought," Lewis broke his vow of silence. He cleared his throat, "Have you ever heard of the Time Force Power Rangers?"
Jayden nodded and leaned forward in his chair. He was slightly amused on how this explanation could go. The benefit of the doubt was still hanging in the atmosphere.
"Well, their time machine crashed onto our beach. The debris is still there, even after 29 years! Eve had found a key component that enabled the machine to time travel. We fixed up our own machine and then came here,"
Eve saw her dad raise an eyebrow. He was still not convinced. Lewis caught this and shuffled through his knapsack for proof. He took out the device he needed and presented it to the group. It had a close likeness to a taser with the exception of its gel exterior. The idea of being surged with powerful electric currents had the Red Ranger spring out of his seat in a fighting stance.
"It's not a weapon," Eve spoke for the first time in this company, "It's a gadget used to conceal one's identity called the Guiser,"
Lewis' finger pulled the "trigger" and a green light beamed from the Guiser's aperture. The light scanned Jayden from head to toe. Then, Lewis aimed the Guiser at himself and the green appeared again only this time,instead of scanning, the light altered Lewis' appearance as it moved down to his feet. By the time the Guiser finished, Lewis was Jayden in any possible way (but not in mind), from his height to his Samuraizer inside his right pocket of his jeans.
Astonished, Jayden dropped his stance and neared his reflection, the perfect look-alike, "You weren't kidding. So if you are all from the future as well as being samurai, doesn't that make you..." His words faltered as the truth finally entered his mind.
"Your children," Lewis finished for him as he switched off the Guiser and approached his mother in regular form, "You're Emily Henderson, wife of Mike Henderson and...my mom,"
Emily's mind hadn't caught up with her ears for a few seconds. She tried to formulate a reply only to have "Wha-what?" come out.
Jayden was speechless. It all added up. Eve must have share his wife's, her mother's, characteristics. Only mystery left is the identity of Mrs. Jayden Shiba. He gathered all of what he knew about his daughter. It was not much, but hopefully it's enough to put the pieces together. Maybe he hadn't even met his wife yet.
So..
Magenta Ranger
Looks out for her teammates
Air Symbol
Chocolate brown hair and eyes to match.
It hit him, "Mia," Eve nodded along with her dad's answer which confirmed his guess.
Jayden had never thought of Mia as more than a friend. Sure, they had undergone two weddings for a mission, but would there ever be a third? He had to admit, Mia is beautiful. Her kind nature gives her the tendency to care for everybody. And for her cooking, well, she is only trying to give her friends something to fill their stomachs with, like a gift of generosity. But about what happened during the practice fight the day before, did he really have feelings for the Pink Ranger?
"I know this is a large bridge to cross, Da- I mean Jayden. But don't tell the other Rangers and limiting contact is best if we want to preserve the future. This is a mistake for coming here and telling you. Unfortunately, mind wipes are still being sanctioned, so this is goodbye,"
'Sanctioned? Yeah right,' Eve thought before sliding off her chair with Lewis and Ryder in tow, leaving the older Rangers at Cupcake Cafe to digest the news. Jayden and Emily couldn't move, they couldn't stop them. They were compelled to say something to their children, but no words emit from their mouths. In simple words, their minds were left reeling.
Not long after their children's departure, a waiter approached the table and served them two cupcakes. The two stared puzzledly at their unordered meal, wondering if the young Rangers had forgotten their snacks. Emily gingerly picked up her cupcake, peeled back the wax paper that shielded the pastry, and brought towards her gaping mouth. But Jayden latched onto her wrist before a crumb could touch her tongue.
"Don't eat it," he warned
"Why?"
"Isn't it strange that they asked for only two cupcakes?"
"Maybe one of them isn't hungry?" Emily tried to reason with him. She needed to indulge herself with the sugary treat to prevent her brain from exploding. Just give her a minute to eat the cupcake and think things through.
"But their food supply had been torn apart by a bear last night,"
"They could have gone shopping before they came. We did go fishing for all that time,"
"Those kids had probably moved their campsite deeper into the woods. The hike from there to the city would take hours, especially if they had woken up late. They had most likely overslept since the bear attack occurred pretty late at night,"
"True, but if they beared a vigorous hike then wouldn't they seem more exhausted? Then they would have to get food. And if they hadn't eaten breakfast due to the lack of food supply, don't you think they would have gotten something to-?"
"-Fine!" Jayden cut off the useless argument and exasperatedly seized the other cupcake, He was as overwhelmed as Emily. He could use a few bites to calm down and make sense of the sudden appearance of his pre-teenage daughter.
"I think they're eating it," Lewis voiced his observations to his friends via his Xel, a multi-use tool that has the same components as an iPhone with the exception of a holograph interface feature. Ryder and Eve were on their way back to the campsite as he lingered in the area to spy on his mom and Mr. Shiba.
Eve regretted setting the lunch meeting as soon as she said it aloud, so she had formulated a plan last night. Knowing her dad, he wouldn't give up the search even if she and her team hadn't shown up. She figured they could tell the older Rangers the truth and wipe their minds with a secret recipe cupcake.
It was brilliant in Lewis' opinion. He could see her mom bring the cupcake towards her mouth. Mr. Shiba stopped her and the two bantered about whether or not to eat it. Mr. Shiba surrendered and was obliged to take bites along with Lewis' mom. His mom smiled slightly as she enjoyed the taste of the cupcake while Mr. Shiba bobbed his head in approval. The memory serum does have a sweet marble taste to it.
"Good," The Magenta Ranger's voice showed signs of relief, "Now we need to avoid any contact. No more fighting Nighlok,"
"Aw come on," Lewis could hear Ryder object from the other line, "I want to kick their butts back to the Sanzu!"
"More defiance from you, then I'll kick your butt back to juvie," Ryder didn't talk much after having heard Eve's threat.
Lewis directed his attention back to the Cupcake Cafe. His mom and Mr. Shiba had devoured their cupcakes. The effects are supposed to kick in instantly. The two teenagers had just disposed their cupcake liners into the trash and were talking about something. No sudden bursts of energy that would have sure to have their heads jerking backwards.
He pushed a few buttons on his Xel to activate the bugs he had scattered in the patio area. After checking the settings, Lewis could hear what the older Rangers are conversing about.
"See, I told you. They just forgot those cupcakes. Nothing dangerous," His mother said.
"You're right," Mr. Shiba admitted putting a hand on his stomach, "I feel a bit weird still."
"Oh, it's just the marble. Now, we have to go tell Antonio what we found out!" Their memories weren't wiped! The two raced out of the the Cupcake Cafe and the bugs' range. Lewis could feel the sweat forming on his forehead. He screwed up and he was supposed to tell Eve about his mistake. Lewis turned off the bugs and switched back to his call with the Magenta Ranger.
Believe it or not, the reason why he, Eve, and Ryder had traveled back in time had nothing to do with Xandred or fighting at all. The trip to 2012 was for selfish reasons. Lewis was curious to learn about how things worked in this time, as in culture, society, and technology wise. He could have looked up the Top 10 Songs in 2012 on his Xel but he would have to pass up an opportunity to actually experience these types of things. Fessing up to his mistake could bring an end to exploring. Eve would coop him up at the campsite while she plans to resolve the issue.
"Th-Their..um..."
"What?"
"Their...memories," Lewis inhaled deeply, deciding what to say,"...have been wiped. They don't remember a thing,"
Eve sighed in relief, "Alright. Now, all we have to do is carry on with our tasks and don't fraternize with the Rangers. But first, we need disguises. I've already got my Guise."
"Anybody in particular?" Ryder asked.
"No. Just blend in. We return to camp by 6, so start going for the woods at 4:45. It's a pretty long hike but only a for a few more days, okay?" Eve hung up her Samuraizer. She and Ryder were at the mall but she took off soon to put the groceries back at camp. She and the guys had went grocery shopping prior to going to Cupcake Cafe and they had stored the groceries near a bike rack. After Eve left, Ryder planned to follow Jayden and Emily.
Then suddenly he knocked into some tall, scrawny guy with hair spikier than his, "Oh sorry,"
"S'okay," the guy replied before being joined by a bulky man wearing a bandana on his bald head.
"Spike, we have to go and train!" said the man.
"Oh yeah! I almost forgot, Uncle Bulk," Spike waved at Ryder before running off with his uncle. Ryder got to thinking about his Guise and decided to save time by speedily scanning Spike with his Guiser as he scampered off. He then aimed the Guiser at himself and metamorphosed into the stranger he had bumped into.
"Now, follow the Rangers!" he said in his new voice. He frowned. He sounded ridiculous, "I guess I'll have to get used to it."
A/N: Now, I hope that I'm not confusing you. I added in the mind wipe serum at the last minute because I think it would be really helpful later on. And to help you visualize what a 'holographic interface feature' is, think of the movie Iron Man and how Tony Stark uses his hands to control the holographs.
Don't worry, there's more surprises to come in Future in the Past including: a new Zord, an epic guitar solo, and a jealous Jayden.
And for jiafan, I might write a songfic. If I do, then it's most likely be Two Is Better Than One. Or maybe if I have time I could write both.
Really, I'm taking all your reviews to heart. I'm trying to incorporate some of these ideas to make a good story. So, thank you and I won't stop thanking you. Estoy agradecida por revisores (I am grateful for reviewers!)
*~Bluefire510~*