"Mike?" Emily reached the clearing by the side of the mountain where most people came to relax. She hoped she had found the right place. She knew this town like the back of her hand, but Mike was still new. He had only been up to her home once, and had never left her property. He must have gotten the idea of lunch on the mountainside from someone, but she wasn't sure he knew exactly where it was or what that meant.

"Who's Mike?"

Emily almost jumped out of her skin and spun around. She found herself face to face with Brian, Stephanie, Clara, and Steve. They didn't look very happy with her, and she couldn't blame them. They had tried to pick on her the night before, but she had shown them she wouldn't be pushed around anymore. Brian had tried to dunk her and the others watched and laughed. Fed up with being the victim, Emily fought back, turning the tables on Brian by dunking him. He was big, but she was stronger.

"My fiancé," Emily said and tried to walk away. The best advice she had ever been given was to walk away. They couldn't mess with her if she wasn't around.

"Yeah, right," Brian scoffed and grabbed her arm, pulling her back, "Like anyone would want to marry an ugly bitch."

Emily ripped her arm out of Brian's grasp, "Stop it. Leave me alone."

"No," Brian shook his head. "We're playing the game. Remember the rules?"

"I'm not playing," Emily shook her head. "I'm finding my fiancé and we're going home."

"You used to love this game," Brian insisted and put his hand on her shoulder to stop her from leaving. At this point, Emily had had enough. She knew Brian's mindset. He would keep grabbing her and pulling her back until she gave into his requests. She wanted to show him she wouldn't be picked on anymore. She was tired of always being picked on. As soon as he touched her shoulder, she spun around and punched him in the stomach. It was nothing too hard compared to what she could have done, but it was enough to send the message. She would fight back.

Brian clutched his stomach and doubled over in pain. Steve tried to come in to help, seeing his friend was hurt, but Brian held up a hand. He coughed, bringing the air back into his lungs, and then stood up straight. By now, Emily had already turned to walk away.

"You bitch!" he shouted and charged at her. Emily heard him coming and stepped out of the way. Brian's momentum was too much for him to stop in time and he stumbled down the little hill that led up to the clearing. Emily watched him roll with a little smile. That time she didn't even have to touch him.

"That's it," Brian quickly got to his feet. He had always been very athletic and very good on his feet. He played for the school's football team, so he knew how to take a hit and he knew how to get up quickly when he was knocked down. He charged up the hill. Emily tried to get up the way, but even uphill he was fast. He grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder. Emily asked him once to put her down. Then she screamed it. He wouldn't listen. Instead, he swatted her butt. Emily returned the gestured with a hard punch to the back, winding him again. As he gasped for breath, he let her go. She rubbed her butt.

"That's just wrong," she huffed.

The score was 2-1 for Emily. For once, she was winning against the bullies.

-Samurai-

Finally, the Samurai were giving him a bit of a challenge. Kevin wasn't too happy he had been kicked out of the house and banished from the farm, but he was starting to see the Rangers were capable of putting up a fight, and they weren't too fragile to handle a beating from inside the pack. He had other things to worry about that would keep him occupied for the day, and then when he returned, he could act out a sincere apology and earn his way back into the house. If all went according to plan, Mike would still be locked in the closet, unable to scream for help, Emily would be missing, or too badly broken to be of any use to anyone, and he would be back to tormenting Mia behind closed doors. Maybe, he would even get the chance to start work on another Samurai.

But for now, he took advantage of his day away from the farm to check up on his protégé. When Kevin met Brian and shook his hand, he had sensed something inside of him. There was a part of Brian that was no different from a Nighlok. Pain, suffering, and power made him stronger. It gave him a rush, a rush he couldn't live without. Brian needed human suffering. So far, because of his human upbringing, he had been forced to contain it. Kevin wanted to encourage Brian to unleash it. It would help him get rid of the Samurai a little faster.

He walked to the mountain side and had a quick look around. Emily should be here by now. A smile reached his face when he saw her, but it quickly disappeared when he saw she wasn't scared. Three of the four people around her seemed shocked, and Brian, Kevin's protégé, looked frustrated.

"She can't be winning," he said to himself and stepped out to the clearing to give his friends a hand. He walked up behind Emily, taking her by surprise. He grabbed her arms and pulled them behind her back.

"OW! What…" she looked over her shoulder, assuming it was Steve who grabbed her. She was wrong – it was Kevin, "What are you doing?" she shrieked and tried to pull away from him. Though Serena had kicked him out of the house, and she seemed to be pissed off with him, Emily never imagined he would help her bullies.

She had an advantage with Brian and the other teens. She was a Samurai. She was trained to fight monsters and protect herself. With Kevin, not only was he bigger and stronger than she was, but he was also a more experienced Samurai. He had been training since she was just a little baby. If he wanted to hurt her, he could.

But it didn't seem that way. When he had her pinned, unable to free herself or protect herself, he looked at Brian.

"Remember, the more she screams, the more fun it is for you."

Brian nodded. He made a tight fish with his hand and pounded into Emily.

-Samurai-

Down in the Netherworld, the real Kevin was truly suffering. Not only was he at the mercy of Octoroo, who wanted to get the secrets of the Sealing Symbol out of him no matter the cost, but he was also forced to watch what his Nighlok clone was doing to his friends.

And there would be no end to it until he spilled the secret Symbol. Octoroo had made it so that Kevin could survive in the Netherworld. He stuck a paper seal to the blue Ranger's chest, and as long as it remained there, or was still touching a part of his body, Kevin could withstand the cruel, unforgiving Netherworld.

"Please," Kevin never imagined himself ever pleading with a Nighlok. Now it was all he could do. He was in an unbearable amount of pain, and he was certain he was only alive because of the seal on his chest. If it slipped off, he was sure his injuries would kill him long before the Netherworld would. He was also tied to mast, unable to get away, or even stand up from his seated position and forced to watch through the portals as each of his friends suffered by his hands. Kevin looked through the portal, showing him what Mia was up to. He hated looking to that portal, but he couldn't tear his eyes away from it. Seeing her so beaten down, and knowing she thought it was him hurting her, but then watching as she tried to defend him, and still tried to see the good side in him, he wasn't worthy. It killed him to watch her cry. It killed him to see her share her heartbreak with a furious Serena. It killed him to know that someone in his body was hurting his fiancée. Mia was a strong person. Had it been Jayden, or Antonio, or Mike hurting her, she would have fought back without hesitating. He was her weakness. A dirty, filthy, scum of the Netherworld Nighlok was using her weakness to torture her.

"Ooh, ah, ooh, reduced to begging, are you?" Octoroo waddled around the ship, getting Kevin's next round of whatever he had planned ready. Kevin was never really sure what to expect. Sometimes it would be physical torture, sometimes emotional. Either way, it always hurt, and he couldn't stand it. "You know, blue Ranger, there is one way to make it all stop."

"I will never tell you what the secret Sealing Symbol is," Kevin shook his head. There was no way he was giving up that secret. He couldn't give Octoroo that kind of power. If he wanted the symbol that could seal the Netherworld and the Nighlok away for good, he had to have a reason for it. Kevin wouldn't do it. He would rather die.

"The funny thing is," Octoroo said with a smirk, "if, hypothetically, you do manage to escape and prove to the Rangers that the blue Ranger who hurt them was just a Nighlok, who will you blame for their suffering?"

"You," Kevin growled. "You're doing this. That Nighlok is your creation, following your orders…"

"I'm just doing what you're telling me to do," Octoroo shrugged, "If you told me the secret to the Sealing Symbol, I could end this now. I would call off my Nighlok and let your friends live in peace while I worked on my plan. You refuse to help me, and you know that your refusal is only causing them pain. You are hurting them. Why don't I let you sit on that for a bit?"

Octoroo walked away, out of Kevin's sight. Teary eyed, and unable to do anything else, Kevin turned his attention to Mia and Serena. Mike was locked in a closet, completely terrified and paralyzed, and Nighlok Kevin was torturing Emily, which Kevin couldn't watch. Mia was really the only choice now.

But it killed him. More than the Netherworld could. More than his injuries could.

-Samurai-

Serena pulled the sobbing Mia into her arms after the pink Ranger shared her story starting from the moment they walked into the house, until the moment they bumped into each other in the hallway. She felt like she was betraying Kevin and throwing him under the bus, but once Serena got her started, she couldn't stop.

"He's a monster," Serena whispered and it only made Mia cry harder, "I don't care if he was hit in the head. That doesn't justify his behaviour now. If he's worth saving, we'll get him any help he needs but Mia…"

"Don't say it…"

"For your own sake, you'll have to cut your ties with him until you know what kind of future you're looking at."

"No," Mia shook her head, and the rest of her body trembled as well. Now, not only was she losing her fiancé, but her dream of a nice, happy family were slipping away from her. There was no way any man could compete with Kevin. No relationship would ever be as good as the one she had with Kevin.

"Mia, if he slapping you for dropping my son, just imagine what he'll do to you when you make one mistake with his kid. If you don't get him help, and if you stick with him and support this, you're setting yourself, and everyone around you, up for a life of misery. That's not your dream life either, is it?"

"I can't…"

"I'll help you," Serena promised and squeezed her a little tighter to show her the support she needed, "I'll help you get the best life you can possibly get, I swear. You're never going to be alone."

Mia felt alone.

-Samurai-

"Brian, she's had enough," Stephanie called to her boyfriend as she, Clara, and Steve watched him beat Emily down with his fists and feet while a stranger, Emily's friend it seemed, kept her from getting away. Emily was now slumped over, trying to curl up as much as she could to protect herself from the beating.

She refused to scream. Maybe that made her beating worse, as Brian tried harder and harder to get a sound to leave her mouth, but she wouldn't give him or Kevin the satisfaction of getting what they wanted.

"She's a bitch who needs to learn her place!" Brian shouted. He punched his fist into her ribcage. "No one humiliates me!"

"I think she gets it!" Steve cried, "Dude, just let it go! You're big and mighty, we get it now. What do you want, a ribbon?"

"Shut up!" Brian shouted and turned his body away from Kevin and Emily for a minute to scream at his friends. Emily saw she had an opening. With Kevin holding her up, she didn't need her feet on the ground. With a powerful kick from both legs, she hit Brian in his side, right in his ribs. He stumbled to the ground. Kevin, seeing this, spun Emily around to yell at her for fighting back. Now that she was face to face with him, she knew where to hit him. As he tried to grab her arms again to hold her in place, Emily lifted her fist and punched him in the throat. He dropped, gasping for air.

She bolted towards the edge of the mountain. Anyone could follow her along the path back to the city and she didn't want to be followed. Knowing there was another path below, she jumped off the side of the mountain. She was already in enough pain, she didn't care how far the jump was. She landed on the lower path and rolled on the ground. When she stopped, she saw she was mere inches from rolling off the side. She would have been screwed if she had.

She got to her feet and started to run home.

On the upper ledge, Kevin held his throat in his hand and walked to the edge. He looked down and saw Emily running away. She was good, he would give him that. She was also headed home, and if she made it back, she would tell everyone what Kevin had done to her. They would never let him back into the house.

She had a head start. Kevin thought about jumping over the edge like she had done, but he had seen how she had come close to falling. Given his size, his momentum would have rolled him right off the lower edge and down the side of the mountain. If that didn't kill him, it would certainly weaken him. In any case, Emily was limping as she ran, which slowed her down. Kevin still had enough strength to run, and if he ran as fast as he could, he would catch up to her before she reached the farm. She still had a long way to run.

So he started down the path, through the forest. To his delight, they both made it to the base of the mountain at the same time.

Emily looked over her shoulder. Now he was only a few steps behind her. Whipping out her Samuraizer, she knew she needed a little push. She continued to run as she traced a symbol under her feet.

"Horse!" she shouted, spinning the symbol. Right underneath her, a horse grew up from the dirt, lifting her onto his back. Emily nearly slipped off, but squeezed her legs and grabbed the reins and steadied herself. One thing she had never lacked was the ability to ride horses.

Seeing her ride off, Kevin slowed to a stop. She would make it home, guaranteed, before he did. He kicked the dirt with his foot in frustration.

"Damn humans."