Jayden
I raised my head off my podium and looked at the others. They were exhausted, covered in blood, sweat and dirt, panting and clutching different parts of their bodies in an attempt to stop the pain. I let myself have one deep breath and stand upright, ignoring the pain in my chest. Xandred was stronger than any nighlok we had fought before but he was weak from his battle with Emily.
Emily. I had grit my teeth and clench my hands on the podium to stop myself from abandoning the megazord and pulling her into my arms. I watched her pass out and demorph after her intense battle with Xandred. I was so proud of her for all the damage she did to him, especially after what she has gone thought the last two days.
I knew that we were at the end of the battle with Master Xandred. One last big hit from us would destroy him...but to have that much power in a hit could be the end of us. I know there is no other choice, now the difficult part was to convince Kevin, Antonio, Mia and Mike.
"We have to put all our strength and symbol power into one final strike." They were hesitant at first but they realised I was right. We demorphed and focused all our energy into one final strike. Xandred was weakened but he hasn't fallen once. He was laughing at us.
"Rangers! You are pathetic! Particularly you red ranger. You were unable to protect your precious yellow ranger from me and now I will fill your world with Sanzu river water and you won't be able to stop me!"
He was taunting me and it was working. At that point I wanted nothing more than to lash at him.
"Not on our watch" yelled Kevin.
"Yeah you're going down!" Mike agreed. Mia and Antonio nodded.
"So let's finish this" I said
We dug deep, ignoring the pain and fatigue and pushed the megazord forward. We swung our sword at Xandred and disarmed him.
"NOW"
The megazord's katana started glowing in our colours. I could feel the symbol power exuding out of everyone. We focused all our energy and symbol power into what would be our final move. We raised the sword
"FINAL KATANA STRIKE"
We bought the sword down and held it against his chest.
Colours were sparking off his chest. We were struggling to hold our ground.
"RANGERS!" He yelled in pain
"You have won this round but the nighlok will be back and your world will be ours!"
With those final words and a bright flash he was destroyed.
"Samurai Rangers, Victory is ours"
I said for the final time in battle. Smiles were found on everyone's face. The realization that we had destroyed Master Xandred; that we have ended a war that our families have fought for generations was in everyone's eyes. Then the realization that we were one person short in the megazord quickly kicked in.
"Emily" was all Mia needed to say before we disassembled the megazord and ran to the unconscious yellow ranger.
As I got closer my heart sank. Her face was pale, her breathing was shallow and there was a puddle of blood under her back. The others stopped next to me and gasped. We have never seen anyone like this before. We've never someone so close to death before
Emily
I woke up a second time to someone shaking me and calling my name. I didn't want to wake up, I was so tired.
"ily...Emily. Wake up, please wake up." I recognized the voice as Jayden's. He sounded so scared that I got scared. Maybe they lost, maybe our world was about to be taken over by nighloks and the Sanzu river. I slowly opened my eyes and looked into the faces of my friends and boyfriend. They were dirty, tired and in pain.
"Jayden, what's wrong?" I didn't have enough strength to convey the worry in my voice. I could barely whisper.
"We won. Xandred is gone, forever."
He was smiling but his eyes were scared and full of worry. I have a feeling that it was because of me.
"That's good. I'm so proud of you guys." I whispered smiling.
"Guys, she's still losing blood" Mike informed them. I could feel my energy seeping out me again so I started to close my eyes to sleep.
"No Em, don't go to sleep. Stay with me, please stay with me. Mentor will be here soon. You're going to be alright" They were all begging me to stay awake and Jayden's pleas were the loudest but I knew I wasn't going to hold it off until Mentor got here.
"I'm sorry I let this happen guys. I love you; you're the best friends I could have asked for. I'm sorry I disappointed you." I feel like I have to apologize for failing them, for not being strong enough to face Xandred alone.
"Don't be silly Emily. We could never be disappointed in you." Mia assured me. I tried to laugh but ended up coughing violently instead, scaring myself when I coughed up blood. Jayden pulled me into his arms, trying to comfort me like he has so many times before. My energy was fading too quickly now. I know when I fall asleep I'm not going to wake up again.
"Jayden." I could barely whisper now, this was going to take all the energy I have left.
"Shh Em. It's going to be ok." He shushes me while stroking my hair.
"No it's not. I'm sorry Jayden. I love you so much."
"I love you too but you're going to be fine. Mentor will be here and he'll fix you. But you've gotta stay with me. Please stay with me."
I don't know if he was trying to convince himself or me but he sounded so desperate, I tried to fight the blackness but it was becoming too strong.
Now I was beginning to feel really weak and cold. I knew my end was coming quickly. Soon I would be with my beloved sister Serena. I looked around at my friends and Mentor, taking in their faces one last time.
"I love you Jayden" I whispered as I used up the tiny reserve of my energy. I closed my eyes and rested my head on Jayden's shoulder as the blackness and peace took over.
Kevin
There was a heartbeat of silence as Emily passed away. It didn't seem real. It can't be real. Emily can't be dead. Our younger sister can't be dead.
Then it hit.
Mia started hyperventilating, Mike started yelling in anger, Antonio dropped to his knees and starting crying and speaking in Spanish to himself, and I was staring at Jayden. He was still holding Emily and stroking her hair, his tears gently falling onto her face.
Suddenly Mentor broke the silence. "Rangers. I think it's time we went back to the Shiba house" I'm so in shock I can't recall Mentor arriving. Nobody really reacts to what Mentor says, we just move closer to where Jayden and Emily are. Mentor traces a symbol into the air and we are transported to the Shiba House. Again there is another heartbeat of silence before we move again.
Everyone moves to go inside the house except Jayden, who hasn't taken his eyes off Emily.
"Jayden, we have to move Emily inside." Mentor Ji places his hand on Jayden's shoulder. Jayden nods and stands up. Mentor offers to carry Emily but Jayden holds her closer to his chest. I know that he's not going to be willing to let her go anytime soon.
Jayden
You look like your sleeping. I want to believe you're asleep but then I remember that your face is pale and my shirt is covered in your blood. I'm sure my broken heart is causing me to see things because I swear that there is a faint yellow glow to you. Walking to your room I am consumed with thoughts.
Emily. My sweet Emily, How could I have failed you so badly? Why did I allow this to happen? I laid you down on the bed so you were comfortable and lay next to you.
I held your hand and stroked your hair for god knows how long until your hand goes cold and I realise that the love of my life is never going to wake up. My reason for waking up every morning, my reason for breathing was gone. You died a hero protecting the world. I wasn't fast enough to protect you and now I've lost you, the same way I lost my father.
This was the point I lost control of my emotions. I start sobbing so loudly that my chest hurt, like someone has stabbed a knife into my heart. Looking around everything in your room digs the knife in deeper. I jump off your bed and ran to my room where my anger gets a hold of me. I yell at the top of my lungs. I start picking up random things and throw them across the room. My eyes stop at a framed photo of the two of us at Rainbows End. At that moment my anger is gone and heartbreak takes over.
Mentor Ji
It broke my heart to see the boy I raised like this. I always knew that Jayden and Emily were meant to be together. But when Jayden left her room and the others had their injuries taken care of, I took the chance to examine Emily.
She looked like she was sleeping. I had to pretend she was sleeping so my emotions wouldn't prevent me from caring for the girl who became like my daughter. She was covered in cuts and bruises with a few broken bones but nothing that could cause the blood loss she had. Her back was a different story.
When I turned her over I saw the reason for her death. During her battle with Master Xandred she fell onto her back and onto a large, sharp rock. The rock managed to damage her spinal cord and sever the anterior spinal artery. If she had gotten to a hospital she would have survived as a paraplegic but as the others were fighting Xandred she was unable to receive help for the blood loss.
I put her on her back and cleaned the blood and dirt off her. I didn't want the others to remember her like that. I sat next to her bed for a moment, trying to figure out what to do next, when I saw a yellow glow around her.
Smiling I breathed a sigh of relief. 'We'll be here waiting for you' I thought to myself.
