Author's Note: Okay, super sorry. I know all these author's notes are super annoying and you just want to get to the story. But I would just like to formally apologize for not updating. I had the worst writer's block. I THINK I'm over it now though, so things should go much more smoothly now. Well read and enjoy, don't forget to review/favourite/follow! Thanks to everyone who already has!

Chapter Nine: First Battle

Emily woke up the next morning feeling exhausted. Not only had she been emotionally taxed with leaving her friends and facing one of her bullies, but she had been up all night worrying about her first day back at school. Today was the day Emily would have to return to the horrid life she left behind. To say she was dreading going back would have been an understatement.

Her only hope was that her past tormentors would either have found someone else to pick on, or would have hopefully forgotten about her and would ignore her like any other new kid. The first option would be her best chance. Because she lived in such a small town, it was unlikely many new kids had transferred to her school, and it was very likely everyone would remember the weak little girl they all used to love to pick on.

But because she was Emily, she was trying her best to be optimistic. This would be her fresh start. She needed everyone to see how she had transformed from when they had last seen her. She was no longer the weak girl she had been when she lift for the Shiba house. Now she was much more confident and much less klutzy.

Being a ranger had definitely helped Emily. When she first got to the Shiba house she was timid and nervous. Mia had taken the role of Serena though and helped Emily to open up. Because of Mia, Emily had gotten out of her shell and was able to grow. Kevin and Jayden had given Emily something to strive to be like when she first arrived. Her drive to be like them had shown Emily what she could accomplish when she really tried. Mike and Antonio though had helped Emily the most, mainly Mike. He had always lifted her spirits and tried to help her confidence grow. When Emily was finally confident in herself though, her accidents and spills started to happen less and less. Fewer bonsai were broken, she had less bruises than before, and she kept her balance much better than one she had first gotten to the Shiba house. When Emily was with her friends, she was a different person. Her only hope now was that she could be the same Emily she had been at the Shiba house.

She knew that unfortunately, appearances were everything to try and convince everyone she had changed. So she hopped out of bed and went to take a shower. She got out, put on her dark blue skinny jeans, her yellow shirt, and her tennis shoes. She put on a little bit of make-up, and curled her hair. She looked in the mirror one last time before finally deciding she looked decent enough.

Emily went downstairs to see her parents were where they used to be every morning before she went to school. Her mother was bent over the stove, cooking some breakfast for everyone. Emily's father was sitting at the kitchen table with the paper and a mug filled with black coffee. When they heard her come down the stairs and into the kitchen they both looked up and gave her a smile.

"Morning honey. Did you sleep well last night?" Tracy asked her daughter.

"Yeah." Emily replied quickly. She grabbed a fresh apple from the center of the table and took a large bite.

"Do you have time to eat breakfast with us?" Tracy asked as she carried two plates over to the table. She set one down in front of Emily's dad, Byron, and another where Emily used to sit.

"I don't think so mom, but thanks. I better get going." Emily said as she rushed out the door grabbing her backpack on the way. She walked over to the shed and threw her apple on the ground. Her bike was still in the shed, just where she had left it. She pulled it out and hopped on. The bike was still working just as she remembered, she had missed going on bike rides. While she was in the city she didn't have much time, and not many people rode bikes around anyways. So as she rode her way to school she enjoyed the familiar feeling of the wind rushing through her hair. The feelings of nervousness were blown away as she made her way down the dirt road leading to the high school.

Too soon for her liking she reached the large building. Because it was a small town they didn't need a very large school, but it was still much bigger than the elementary school down the road. Emily hopped off her bike and tied it to the bike rack outside the school. As she approached the school she saw many people she recognized, but some she didn't. She kept her head down though, and avoided eye contact as much as she could.

Emily walked straight to the office to collect her schedule. Unfortunately, the first week of school had already started. That meant all the teachers would go through the standard, 'This is Emily and she will be joining our class from now on. Everyone say hello.' This was bad news for the blonde. Instead of hiding in the back of the room, she would be forced to stand in front of her former tormentors. They would surely recognize her immediately.

Emily blocked the thought out of her head and went to the office. She got there without anyone recognizing her, thank goodness. She got her schedule from the secretary and made her way to her first class, U.S. History. She found the classroom and stepped inside just as the first bell was ringing. She saw the teacher sitting at her desk and most of the students were already in their seats. She refused to look at her classmates in fear they might recognize her. She walked to the teacher and re-introduced herself. Her teacher, Mrs. Johnson, remembered her from her freshman year, and also her sister Serena.

"Glad to have you back Emily. Take a seat anywhere. Class is about to start." Mrs. Johnson said as she gestured to the rows of desks.

Emily finally forced herself to look at her classmates and almost started crying as she saw that Jessica was in her first class. Unluckily for her, so was Sharon, Jessica's best friend and partner in crime. The main crime being making Emily's, and other kids, lives a living hell.

"Oh look Sharon. See who's back? It's little Emily!" Jessica said, loud enough for the entire class to hear.

Sharon screeched with excitement, "Oh it is! This year just keeps getting better and better!"

Emily tried to ignore the stares and laughs from the students and found a seat next to a dark haired girl with glasses and bright green eyes. She set her stuff down on her desk and put her head down, the day was not starting well. Emily sat up with a jump when she felt something sticky hit her in the neck. She turned around to see Travis Manson and his friends laughing with a straw in his hands. Emily wiped the spit ball off her neck with a disgusted look.

"Ewwwh…" Emily muttered as she wiped her hand off on her jeans.

"Class! We're starting. Now can someone please tell me what we discussed last week?" Mrs. Johnson said from the front of the room.

"They'll stop now." said the girl next to Emily.

"Why would they?" Emily whispered back.

"Because Mrs. Johnson is one of the few teachers who won't deal with their bull-shit." the girl whispered.

"Good thing then." Emily muttered.

"I'm Haley by the way." she said.

"I'm Emily. Let me guess, you came within the last two years?" Emily asked.

"Yeah, how'd you know?" Haley asked confused by Emily's knowledge.

"I'm not really new here. I was here freshman year and part of sophmore, but I had to leave. Let's say I didn't have too many friends. I know you're newer because one, I don't recognize you. Two, if you were here you would know that talking to me is social suicide." Emily huffed.

"Do you think I care what any of these assholes think of me?" Haley said with a smirk.

Emily just smiled back, maybe she had just made a new friend.

***Going Home***

Jayden and Serena were locked in an intense sparring battle. The team wanted to see if Emily was telling the truth about how good Serena was. She wasn't lying. Serena and Jayden had been locked in battle for a good ten minutes. The other rangers were normally lucky when they lasted 5 minutes. But 10 minutes was a new record. Finally though Serena got the upper hand and nailed Jayden in the ribs.

"That was really impressive." Kevin said as he returned outside with a bag of frozen peas for Jayden's side.

"Yeah, where'd you learn to fight like that?" Mia asked curiously.

"Lots and lots of training from my mom." Serena laughed.

"Must have been some intense training, no one has ever beaten Jayden before." Antonio said.

"When your pregnant mother can whoop your ass, it really makes you motivated to win." Serena joked.

Everyone laughed except Mike. He was sure under different circumstances he would have liked Serena just as much as the rest of his team. But because of everything that had happened, Mike was giving Serena the cold shoulder. It wasn't necessarily her fault, but she was the easiest person for Mike to blame, so he did.

Their laughter was interrupted by the blaring of the GAP sensor. Jayden and the team ran inside to see what was happening. They rushed into the common room to see Mentor Ji standing over the table map.

"Nighlock attack at the park. Looks like it could be Serrator, be careful." Mentor said.

The samurai rushed out of the house, following Jayden in the direction of the park. Once they got close they saw people running away and screaming. Sure enough, there was Serrator in the middle of the park, surrounded by an army of moogers. The team morphed as they ran towards him, full force.

"What do you want Serrator?" Jayden yelled at the nighlock.

"I just came out to play! Looks like I have a new play mate though. Where's the little yellow?" Serrator asked mischievously.

"This is no time for games Serrator, you're about to lose!" Jayden yelled as they all rushed into battle.