Kevin, the real Kevin, could feel his heart pounding in the worst way possible.
Octoroo was in the other room, allowing Kevin to suffer in silence by watching his friends as they unknowingly fell right into Nighlok Kevin's trap.
He needed to get out. He needed to find a way back. He needed to help.
"I'm coming, Mia," he whispered as he started to work on his bonds. His hands were behind his back, tied around the mast of the ship. He couldn't see what he was doing anyways, so he kept his eyes on Mia.
He could feel blood dripping down his hands as he worked on the rope, but he couldn't feel the pain because he had no time to feel pain. Eventually, he loosened the ropes enough to slip one hand out, then the other. He got up on shaky feet. It didn't help that he was on a boat. He was up, though, and determined to leave. He thought about ripping the paper seal from his chest, but decided against it. He wouldn't help anyone if he was dead, and though the seal was a curse, he needed it to stay alive. He pressed it against his skin to make sure it was stuck where it was and then jumped through the portal.
He thought that if he jumped through the portal that showed him what was going on with Mia, he would land near her. That didn't happen. Instead, he landed in a field, with nothing around for what looked like miles. Pushing himself up to his feet, he had a look for a sign of anything. All he saw was earth, dirt, grass, hills, and more grass.
"Stupid country," he muttered. He took a step forward and then clutched his ribs, almost falling over. The seal still attached to his chest kept him from dying, but it wouldn't stop the pain. He looked down and pat the seal against his chest. It would stay stuck to him just like a regular sticker would. As long as he didn't sweat too much, or he didn't peel it off, he wouldn't die. There was a little bonus there. But the pain he felt was agonizing. Octoroo wasn't very strong or intimidating. Given his height and his… width, he didn't own the ability to be really threatening. He could barely punch himself in the face, much less anyone else.
But he was smart. The big forehead wasn't just for show, and it wasn't just because he was a squid. He had brains. He knew exactly what he was doing, what he wanted, and how to get it. Kevin would never underestimate him again. He tried to straighten himself up, but the pain was still too much. He dropped to his knees.
"No," he said and forced his body to stand. Mike was locked in a closet, scared to death. Emily had just endured a beating. Mia had been used and abused. He couldn't give up because of pain. His friends needed him to come home. They needed to know the truth. The pain, while it was strong, wouldn't kill him with the seal on his chest. He couldn't just lie down in the dirt and wait for help to come. If he did that, it was possible his Nighlok would kill his help. He had to push through, he had to be strong.
He gritted his teeth, put one foot in front of the other and started to walk.
He hoped he was walking in the right direction.
-Samurai-
Emily saw her farm was getting closer and closer, and glancing over her shoulder, Kevin was long gone. Still, she needed to get home as soon as she could, and willed her horse to go faster. The horse galloped as fast as it could go until it reached the farm and then came to a sudden stop and disappeared, throwing Emily forward as the symbol she had traced floated off into the sky. It was expired now.
"OW!" Emily cried and stared up at the sky. Was something broken? She wasn't sure. Right now she just needed to focus on breathing. In and out. In and out.
"EMILY!"
Footsteps pounded against the earth as two people ran over to her. As they came into her line of sight, blocking her view of the sky, she saw it was Jayden and Antonio.
"I'm… fine," she gasped, finally able to breathe again. She was going to be sore, but that had been a guarantee long before she had been thrown from the horse. Brian and Kevin had done a number on her. Jayden and Antonio noticed right away.
"What happened?" Antonio asked and he looked very unsure about what he wanted to do. Emily started to try and sit up, inviting them to help her. They gently pulled her up, and Jayden moved behind her so she could lean back against him. Antonio handed her his water bottle. It was almost empty, but there was a little something left for her. Emily took a sip as Antonio inspected her, "There's no way all this is from falling off a horse."
Emily shook her head and gave the water bottle back, "Flowers… lied."
"What?"
"Mike…"
"Mike did this to you?" Jayden asked. Emily shook her head again. She wouldn't let anyone believe that for a second.
"Kevin."
"Kevin?"
"There's something wrong with that guy," Antonio said and looked to Jayden, "Mia was upset this morning, Serena was pissed, now Emily."
"We'll get you inside," Jayden said to Emily and very carefully, with Antonio's help, they lifted her up and carried her into the house. Serena was in the kitchen with Mia, cooking lunch while Mia fed Terran. If the boys had been paying attention, they would have noticed the silence in the room, and Mia's inability to smile even around Terran. Instead, they focused on the empty chair at the table, and carefully set Emily down. Hearing people in her kitchen, when they should have been outside working, Serena turned around to scold them. Instead she gasped.
"Emily?"
She hurried to her sister's side while Antonio went to the freezer and collected all the frozen peas and vegetables he could find. He bought them back to Emily and set them on her head, shoulders, in her lap, and anywhere else he could get them to stay.
"I'm fine," Emily assured her sister, "You should see the other guy…"
"What happened?" Serena asked in a panic. Over her shoulder, Emily could see Mia looking over in worry as well. Suddenly, telling them about Kevin was so much harder. She would hate it if Mia came home, bloodied and bruised, and accused Mike of hurting her, even if it was true.
"Thrown off the horse."
"Did it stomp on you afterwards?" Serena asked, and judging by her tone it was obvious she knew she wasn't getting the full story. "Emily, falling off a horse is the only thing you know how to do gracefully."
"Yeah, she soared through the air like a butterfly," Antonio muttered and was jabbed in the ribs by Jayden. The red Ranger then looked to Serena.
"She mentioned Kevin."
"Kevin did this to you?" Serena shrieked. She knew he had gotten out of hand with Mia, but she couldn't imagine him going out after Emily and taking out whatever anger he had on her.
"Brian," Emily quickly said, seeing the hurt and shocked look on Mia's face. She wasn't lying anyways. Kevin had held her, but Brian had thrown the punches. "He did this."
"You said Kevin," Jayden looked at Emily confused. She shook her head.
"I had just been thrown off a horse. I need to lie down."
"Take her upstairs," Serena told the boys and they did as she asked. When they were gone, Serena turned around to Mia. She didn't buy Emily's cover story. If Kevin's name had been mentioned, it meant he had something to do with this. "That could have been you, you know."
Mia didn't say anything. She just fed Terran another spoonful of his lunch.
Serena sighed and sat down beside the pink Ranger, "I know it's not easy…"
"Kevin would never hurt Emily. He would never hurt me. He needs help," Mia insisted. "Just let him come home. I can talk to him…"
"No," Serena shook her head, "After what he did to Emily…"
"She said he didn't do it," Mia said. She put Terran's spoon down and got up, "I'm going for…"
"You're staying here," Serena grabbed Mia's arm, "You have to cut your losses…"
"NO!" Mia screamed and shoved Serena. She pulled away from her sister and stormed up the stairs. Serena let out a frustrated groaned and grabbed her hair in her hands. She hated messes like these. She could understand why Mia refused to see the bad in Kevin. Serena was struggling herself. But when there was something going on, and her friends were getting hurt, Serena needed to find the source and tear it apart. She hated accusing Kevin. She hated thinking that this was his doing, but she wouldn't sit by and let anyone suffer. If this was Kevin being a jerk, Serena had no problem taking him out. If he had just lost his mind, like Mia said, and needed help, Serena would help him by protecting Mia. It would be what he would want.
Mia stormed up the stairs and into Emily's bedroom. She saw the yellow Ranger sitting in the bed and grabbed her arms, "Kevin didn't hurt you, right?"
Emily shook her head, "No. Brian did. Who hurt you?"
Emily pointed to the faint bruise on Mia's jaw, from when Kevin had slapped her cheek.
"I was being an idiot," Mia shook her head. "You agree with me, Kevin's not a monster."
"Uh…" Emily hesitated on that one. She could truthfully say Kevin hadn't hit her, but he had turned into something scary.
"He's not a monster!" Mia shouted and started to shake Emily.
"OW! OW! OW!" Emily cried loudly. She wasn't sure what hurt exactly as Mia shook her, but she was sure it was painful, "OW! Mia, please stop! He's not a monster! He's not a monster!"
"MIA!" Jayden and Antonio grabbed her arms and ripped her away from Emily. While Jayden continued to hold her back, Antonio went to check up on Emily.
Emily's eyes were fixed on Mia. They had tears in them, from the pain, though Emily tried to hide it. She tried not to look at Mia like she had just been attacked by her, "He's not a monster."
Mia felt a wave of realization smack her right in the face when she knew Emily meant her words. All it took was a little force, her exerting her power over Emily, and suddenly the smaller girl believed exactly what Mia wanted her to believe. Mia backed away with a look of horror on her face. She couldn't believe it. She couldn't believe she had fallen for it. She had always thought she was stronger than that.
"Kevin hit me. Kevin's hurting me," Mia whispered and then threw her arms around Emily in a hug. "We slept together and he ignored me. He blamed me for dropping Terran and made me sleep outside, and he hit me. He hit me and it hurts."
"What's going on?" Antonio asked and saw Jayden looked just as confused, "Alright, who hit who here?"
"There's something different about Kevin," Mia whispered and let go of Emily slightly to look at the boys, "I don't know what's gotten into him, but he's changed."
Emily nodded her head, "He didn't punch me, but he held me still while Brian did. Then when I got away, he ran after me. I lost him, I don't know where he went, but he wanted to hurt me."
"You two stay in here," Antonio told them as Jayden gave him a nod, "We'll go talk to the others about this. We'll figure out what happened."
Leaving the girls together on the bed, Antonio and Jayden raced downstairs. Serena, James, and Ji were all inside, sitting around the table poking at their foods. They had been discussing something just before Jayden and Antonio arrived.
"We need to talk," Jayden said, joining the table with Antonio. "Kevin's obviously lost it."
"I knew he hurt her," Serena nodded.
"Emily says she lost him on her way home. He's out there somewhere," Antonio said. "Carefully, we bring him back here and figure out what the hell happened to make him snap."
"Or, we beat the shit out of him because he's really a wife-beating asshole," Serena muttered. James put his hand on her arm.
"Careful. We don't know the full story yet. Before you beat up the asshole, give him a chance to speak. There might be a reasonable explanation…"
"You know what comes out of an asshole's mouth? Bullshit," Serena shook her head. She pointed to the stairs, "He's hurting Mia! He beat up Emily…"
"Brian beat up Emily," Jayden clarified. Serena gave him a look to tell him to shut up.
"Did he stop it happening? Because if he didn't, I don't care if it's the freaking Easter Bunny who touched her. He's accountable!"
"Here," Ji put Terran in Serena's lap, hoping that having her son in her arms would calm her down a little bit. It worked and Ji hoped it would continue to work. Serena took a few breaths and hugged Terran close. Ji looked around the table, "We all need clear heads. Kevin is a valuable member of this team, and this family. We all agree this is out of character for him. Use caution around him, but there will be no beating the shit out of him. Worse come to worse, I will deal with him how I see fit."
"After a few of us get our hands on him, right?" Antonio asked and cracked his knuckles, "If I want to hurt him this much, I can't even guess how badly some of us want to hurt him," he looked across the table to Serena and then looked to Mike… only he didn't see Mike. He couldn't see Mike. Mike wasn't at the table.
He hadn't come to the table. No one had seen him all day.
Antonio pointed to the empty seat, "We're missing someone."