A/N: Hey! Sorry for the wait. I've been busy lately with the March For Life and other events that came up in the past month. I sure hope you enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review!
One month passed as the trio continue their project. They go over possible scenarios that might come up and test their creation. Some nights they would sneak out and bring their prototype into the woods to test how well it would work on rough terrain. Sometimes they would go all the way to the skate park to practice around obstacles. Other nights they would work until dawn in the shed tweaking and editing their design. The more they work, the better it gets, and the greater of a chance that Mia will take back her role as the pink ranger full time.
In the meantime, Mia has become more of a nurse to the samurai. During each battle she prepares ice packs and frozen peas, a pot of tea (with some assistance from Ji), bandages and gauze, and Emily's favorite stuffed monkey, Joe, for when the rangers return home. She also assists Ji in bandaging and mending the wounds as Terry quickly left the Shiba house once he realized he could not take up the mantle of the pink ranger. She also has created instructions for several basic appliances, like the washing machine and the dryer, which have spared some of the red ranger's white clothing.
Mia anxiously sits, waiting for the rangers to return. It appeared to be just a clan of moogers, but what should have taken no longer than an hour, has lasted three. She constantly rearranges the different medical supplies and prepares more as time grows. Wheeling in and out of every room, OCD on fire, she makes minor critiques to every object she sees, in an attempt to make it perfect and to distract herself. Ji stands guard at the table, watching the battle go down on the reflection. His lips are pursed as he stares down with such focus that it seems as if he were trying to put a hole in the table with laser vision. When Mia wheels through one more time he grabs the handle on the back of her chair, stopping her in her tracks.
"Will you stop pacing back and forth?" he pleads.
"Ji, I can't move my legs, therefore I can't pace!" she jokes in an attempt to lighten the mood.
He rolls his eyes, just as a cry from the front yard sounds, "Ji! Come here!" Mia and Ji share a terrified look and take off towards the owner of the voice. When they come around, they see something very unsettling. Terry's limp body is being held in the arms of Jayden. All are de-morphed with the exception of the surrogate pink ranger, whose uniform is torn and dirtied and his helmet is cracked.
Panicked, Jayden explains, "I have no idea how this happened. He shouldn't have been able to morph, but he showed up and fought. The moogers knew it wasn't Mia were targeting him. He had so little power he could barely fight them off. No matter what we did, they kept coming and attacking him. We couldn't stop them."
All movable muscles in Mia's body visibly tense as she stares dumbfounded at the sight in front of her. Slowly, she wheels towards the red ranger, who places his broken body onto her lap. She does not know who, but someone begins to push her towards the house. Her whole body feels numb and all she can do is stare down at her sleeping baby brother. She feels his week breaths on her chest as he fights for each one. She clasps his hand in hers and closes her eyes to keep her tears at bay.
Ji lifts Terry off of her and places him on a bed in the infirmary. He draws a symbol on her brother's chest, forcing him to de-morph. Underneath his armor, his skin is spotted with various shades of black, blue, purple, and red. A gash on his right collarbone seeps a deep red. Small slashes and nicks cover his flesh and his eyes are swollen shut. Mia's stomach churns at the sight and her hands begin to shake. She nervously grabs the bandages and the disinfectant, but Ji takes them out of her hands.
Before she can protest, Ji kneels down and calmly whispers, "Go, sit by his side and hold his hand. Try to comfort him if need be, but whatever you do don't let go." She shakes her head and glides over to the side of the bed. Mia interlocks her fingers with her little brother's and quietly waits for a response. Ji works around her while applying the bandages, medical glue for the large gash, and just doing an overall check up. Mia watches as he works, but does not speak. When he quietly ambles out of the room, she does not take notice. She just silently stares down at her baby brother while tiny droplets of water streak her tired face. The eldest pink remains this way for the remainder of the night, not sleeping and not moving, just waiting patiently by his side.
At dawn, Terry begins to stir. Slowly and painfully, he barely opens his eyes. He glances over to his sister who just barely is able to mumble his name. She shakes her head as more tears flow down her cheeks.
Terry stutters out, "I..I...I...I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I ju...ju...just wanted to he...help."
She reaches over and gives him a one-armed hug, then turns and yells, "Ji! He's awake!" As Ji sprints into the room to check on Terry, Mia wheels outside.
"There is only one way he could have morphed," she mutters to herself. Grabbing Jayden's bow and arrow she furiously scrawls on a piece of parchment, 'GET TO PANORAMA NOW.' She then stabs her message with an arrow and shoots it off to its destination. As she waits, the other rangers walk out to the training yard, asking her why she sits here instead of inside with her brother. Just then, a green streak of light bounces around the landscape ahead of them until it lands in the Shiba house yard. Cam Watanabe stands up and meets the furious gaze of his little cousin.
"What happened?" he asks, "Is everything alright?"
"You did this to him," she spat, "You somehow enabled him to be the pink ranger and now he looks like he was thrown into a blender!"
"Mia, I…" he stammers.
"Don't even talk!" she hisses, "You might have just killed him." With that she whips herself around and goes back inside to where her brother lays, leaving the rangers and Cam dumbfounded in the yard.
A/N: Terry's hurt! Oh no! What will they do? The experiment is still being tested! Tell me your thoughts down in Mr. Review Box!