Ray's jaw clenched as he watched the feed, seeing Lena writhe against her captors as she came face to face with the monster in the nightmare. Things were already bad, and now they were only getting worse.
"Dammit," Hilary hissed. "I told her not to go in there!"
One Ranger trapped, their leader still unconscious, and the rest drowning in Cyberdrones as they tried to keep the enemy forces at bay. If they didn't start solving problems soon, then it was only a matter of time before something escalated beyond control. Ray had sat on the sidelines long enough. It was time to step into the ring.
"Don't even think about it," Hilary scolded without even looking. "If you go into that simulation, there's no guarantee you won't get swept up in it. It could suck you in with your own heart's desire, just like it did to Erika. And I am not losing you to that."
She knew him too well, but Hilary's logical rebuke did nothing to ease Ray's discomfort. He knew the depths of Erika's despair, of the trauma surrounding her mother. Erika was his responsibility, and yet Ray had to stand back and let Lena, the other person in his care, brave the dreamworld alone to rescue her. It wasn't fair. But then again, Ray supposed nothing about it was.
Meanwhile, the battle downtown wasn't going swimmingly either, with so many Cyberdrones swarming the scene that the three Rangers were easily bogged down. Ender and ArcKnight were twirling through the chaos, cheaply striking, while their opponents were distracted before vanishing back into the writhing masses. Ray couldn't help Erika or Lena, but he knew he could at least help the others. Something Jessica agreed with.
"I can keep things under control from here," she told Hilary, nodding to the screen, "They need you more."
Hilary gave a guilty look, knowing Jessica was right but still hesitant to abandon the Rangers trapped in the simulation. If anyone could get them out, it was her; Ray knew that, just he knew that stepping into the fight was potentially leaving Erika and Lena trapped with no way out. But they were spread too thin, and they needed to focus their efforts. The Rangers needed help, and the city needed it too.
Now it was Ray's turn to comfort Hilary, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder to give the silent permission she couldn't conscience to give herself. To let her know it was okay to leave them. Slowly, the programmer turned, looking up at Ray with fearful, quivering eyes that betrayed and shame.
And then suddenly Valerie spoke up. "Look!"
All eyes shot to the screen where she was pointing, watching as another version of Val engaged Erika in conversation. Erika was backing away, shaking with confused uncertainty. And then she turned and ran, racing away from a hurt-looking Val with tears in her eyes.
"She's breaking through," Ray realized. "She's figuring it out."
But that didn't mean she'd be allowed to leave, and Ray had no doubt that the freaky-plant monster bearing down on Lena had plenty of tricks to try and keep Erika trapped.
"Keep on her," Hilary instructed Jess. "Let me know the second something changes. She might need a quick exit."
The assistant nodded, spinning to focus intently on the screen as Hilary rose from her seat. Where moments before there was frightened guilt, now there was burning resolve, a determination to get all of them out in one piece.
"Let's go get some answers," Hilary said sternly as Ray nodded in complete agreement. She'd found her second wind, and Ray was not going to question her will to keep going. Not now. Not when there was a cackling madman who owed them a long overdue conversation.
With Jess at the desk and Valerie devotedly at Erika's side, Ray and Hilary strode to the exit, Morpher's flashing to their wrists as they readied to enter the fray. They were going them back, all of them.
Erika's illusion was weakening; she just needed some help to get her through it.
Lena needed to get herself free.
Lena scowled at the strange plant, jaw clenching as she watched it cackle in front of her.
"What do you know?" it cackled. "Wasn't expecting another customer in my little shop of horrors."
"Thought I'd come in to browse," Lena sneered. "So what's your deal anyway? Feel left out because Seymour didn't feed you enough?"
"I'm here to give a gift," the monster laughed. "Blow your candles, make a wish, and Dream-Eater will give exactly what you've always wanted."
Lena ground her teeth, eyes shooting back and forth between her captors. False visages of her friends stared blankly at her, iron grips holding her still as Lena writhed to break free. She didn't have time for this, not when Erika needed her. But everything had a weakness, even a dream-creating monster. She just needed to find it.
"You're giving her a lie," said Lena. "You can't give her the real thing."
"Does anyone ever even want the real thing?" Dream-Eater scoffed. "How often do people get what they want and find it's disappointing? This is way better! She gets what she wants and never has to leave. Why would she want to?"
"Because it's not enough," Lena shot back. "And she already knows it. Your grip's already slipping; she took one look at me and knew where I was from. In her heart, Erika knows the truth."
But in the face of Lena's defiance, the monster just laughed.
"That?" he hooted. "That's nothing! All she needs is a little reminder of what she'd be giving up. She'll be happy to leave you behind in no time!"
"If that were true," Lena replied. "What do you need the bodyguards for?"
"Because I don't like party crashers," Dream-Eater snarled. "You thought you were soooooooo sneaky, but we knew you were here the second you uploaded yourself. But welcome to the dreamworld, baby! Because now that you're here, you're not ever going back!"
Stifling a growl, Lena's eyes shot again to her captors. They sure looked like her Ranger teammates, but Lena doubted they were perfect replicas. A program like this would have had to be immense, and there was no way Ender would have wasted processing space on intricate models. No, he would have used a baseline and copied it. And Lena suspected that was a baseline she could easily beat.
"Well, seeing as I'm here for a while," Lena decided. "Want me to tell you my dream?"
"Ooooh, I do love a guessing game," the plant monster replied, its mouth opened enough to let its slobbering tongue unfurl and lick its lips. "Go on, tell me. What do you truly desire?"
Lena shot her foot, smashing her heel in the monster's face as it stumbled back with a cry. With momentum pushing back, her two captors stumbled, grips loosening as Lena twisted free. She didn't waste a second, grabbing Abbey tight for support as she leaped into a spinning kick to smash free from Hilary. Landing, she snapped her hips to send Abbey spinning to the ground, and the reaming illusions of her friends rushed to their teammate's side as Lena shifted into a guarded stance.
"My dream is for my friend to wake up," said Lena. "And to see you in the compost heap, you sick freak."
"So rude!" Dream-Eater replied. "Tried to settle it as friends, but now I'll need to call security."
At the mention, the bodies around him flashed, and the visages of Lena's friends vanished into the light as their forms were replaced with Cyberdrones.
"We've got a hostile system," Dream-Eater replied. "Get her!"
The Cyberdrones lunged, but Lena was already moving, winding back as the five henchmen descended on her at once. The first reached and swung as Lena swerved, the first hitting empty air as Lena ducked beneath and countered. As the second closed in, Lena repositioned, sweeping beside the first and kicking out to send the robots colliding. With one mess beside her, the other three coordinated and engaged. But Lena was ready for them.
She leaped into a cartwheel, shifting the ground of battle and clumping her enemies together as they scrambled to give chase. Now, with them all coming from the same direction, Lena changed the pace and charged. With too rapid a shift, the Cyberdrones had no time to react, the first giving a feeble swing that Lena battered aside in her assault. She grabbed the second one, reefing its arm and into a rigid bar as she locked its shoulder and heaved. With its body in Lena's mercy, the Cyberdrone was her puppet and went crashing into its comrades as she threw it aside.
"Sorry," Lena smirked. "My firmware has a strong anti-creep program."
Dream-Eater was about to cackle a sinister response, stepping forward as the hobbling henchmen recovered and stood beside it. But his face dropped as he realized what Lena had done. Where before, she'd been held in the middle of the thicket and surrounded, now Lena had grouped all her enemies together, with nothing to block off her escape.
She hadn't planned to fight them, not to win. She just needed to steer them in the right direction.
"It's been fun," Lena replied. "But I'm late for a birthday party." And then she turned and ran as fast as her legs would carry her.
"Stop her!" Dream-Eater cried, and all heads at the party spun around and flashed into Cyberdrones as Lena raced deeper into the park.
There was no sign of Erika, and Lena could only pray that was a good thing. She knew she'd have no hope with all the Cyberdrones on her tail, and Lena's only chance of helping her friend was losing the robotic pursuers. Then, she could figure a way out of this hellscape.
Lena lunged for the park table, hoping that a barrier would be enough to put some distance between her and the Cyberdrones. A robot leaped out to stop her, but Lena didn't even break her stride. She dropped into a skid, leg shooting out to trip it as she shot beneath its feet. The Cyberdrone clattered to the ground as Lena rose, catching another already coming from the flank. Thinking fast, Lena leaped and bounced off the bench, kicking the robot back before she spun and smacked another. Then, taking the high ground, Lena leaped onto the table and looked down on the pursuing Cyberdrones.
"Here for the party?" she asked them. "Have some cake."
Her foot caught the edge of the plate, sending the food flying to a Cyberdrone as the icing smushed into its face. The next tried to grab her, leaping onto the table to snatch her as Lena dropped low and spun. Her leg swept out, catching the off-balance ankle of the freshly landed bot to send it crashing into the ground. By the time a second had climbed up, Lena had rolled off the table, turning to her pursuers.
"If you want the table so much," she decided. "Let me just clear it for you."
Her hand snatched the checked tablecloth, yanking it free to trip the two attempting to stand above her. As the henchmen clattered to the ground, Lena hurled the sheet, watching it envelop those that were enclosing and tangle them in a mess.
It was the only opening she was getting.
With the tiny window of breathed room she'd earned, Lena turned and ran, rushing deeper into the park with a desperate hope of losing her pursers.
Hang on, Erika, Lena pleaded silently as she desperately tried to imagine where she could find her friend. I'm coming!
Abbey leaped high as she unleashed another volley from her bow, blue streaks unleashing from the knock to blast the Cyberdrones in all directions. As she landed, she was already moving, flipping off the hood of a car to crashing into a rioting cluster. The bow smashed into the face of the first, knocking it into its comrades as Abbey spun into the kick and sent another flying.
They just kept coming, and they weren't making any headway. Ender and ArcKnight were in constant motion, refusing to be pinned down as the walls of Cyberdrones would flood in the gap the second the Rangers approached. They needed to shift the scales, and they needed to shift them soon.
And then she caught it, a break within the lines where Ender was merrily strolling along. It was small, but if they could bust it open, the ranks could collapse. They just needed to hit it hard enough.
"Miguel!" Abbey commanded. "He's over there!"
"On it!"
The Dark Ranger didn't even need to request it, running straight toward Zeke as the Yellow Ranger spun and braced the shield. As Miguel leaped, he panted his feet against the surface, vaulting high as Zeke flung him up to commit to a downward strike.
But Abbey's heart sunk as Ender looked up and smiled.
"Would you look at that!" he cheered. "A volunteer!"
Because the Rangers weren't the only ones to see the opening. As Miguel reached his peak, a black shape shot into the air, a lumbering armored figure zooming right for the soaring Ranger. With nowhere to go, Miguel was helpless as ArcKnight crossed his path, slicing his blade across the Black Ranger suit in a shower of sparks.
"Miguel!" was all Abbey could scream as her boyfriend cried out, hitting the ground with a steaming thud as ArcKnight towered over him.
"The first to fall," ArcKnight chuckled as he raised his blade over the groaning Miguel.
"No, you don't!" Yellow beams sliced through the air, shattering against the knight's armor and causing him to stumble as Zeke launched between them and planted the shield. "I've got his back!" Zeke insisted to Abbey. "Go for Ender!"
Right, but it was easier said than done.
Abbey took off, racing as fast as her Ranger suit would push her as she leaped up high and fired. No sneaky generals lurking in the masses, nowhere else for Ender to run. The monster maker saw her coming, grinning maliciously as he twirled away from the raining fire, leaping as the energy exploded as his feet and Abbey landed in continued pursuit.
"Oh no! One of them's after me! Whatever will I do?" Ender cried unconvincingly. "Oh, I know!"
He snapped his finger as a fresh wave of Cyberdrones flashed in front of him, all of them charging together to keep Abbey's assault contained.
Seriously?
Abbey hissed back a curse as she switched to her saber, refusing to relent any speed as she met the horde at full force. But this time, she wasn't facing them alone.
"Hold tight, Abbey!' Jess assured her through the com. "The calvary's coming!"
Abbey didn't even need to question what that meant, as Ray and Hilary's confirmation sounded through the com a second later.
"Server Force! Login Access!"
Twin blazes of Gold and Silver light descended upon the battlefield, summoning the matching Rangers as they leaped into the fray. Their Mainframe Blasters were already drawn, unleashing paired barrages with maximum prejudice. The energy engulfed the henchmen, blasting them to pieces in a rippling explosion that left them nothing but steaming and shattered parts.
Abbey didn't even break her stride, launching herself through the fire and emerging from the smoke to unload her Security Pistol at her target. This time, Ender didn't see her coming. His eyes widened, leaping back in shock as the rounds danced at his feet, and Abbey landed into a lunge. The saber unfolded, slicing where Ender had just been standing as Abbey swerved to block his path. Ender's scowl met her with a hiss, spinning to change his escape route, only for Ray and Hilary to land and cut him off.
"Granger! Hawkins! How good to see you!" Ender chuckled. "Having a lovely day out and about?"
There was something about his tone of amusement that sparked a fire in Abbey's chest, like gasoline on flaring embers. With a snarl, she thrust up the saber, pushing the tilt in Ender's direction as the monster maker staggered back.
"Abbey, wait!" Ray urged.
The Blue Ranger hesitated, scowling as Ender caught their command and snickered.
"Stopping her from a finishing blow?" he laughed. "Why would you ever do that? Oh, it wouldn't have anything at all to do with a certain birthday present that arrived in the mail, now would it?"
In response to the question, Hilary's Mainframe Blaster fired up, whirring as it rebuilt power. "What did you do to her?" she growled.
"I gave her a gift," Ender said delightedly. "I gave her everything she's ever wanted. Quite generous if you ask me."
"You trapped her," Ray said angrily.
"Trapped? She's not trapped, she can leave anytime she wants to. And all it will take is the sacrifice of her heart's desire." Again, Abbey's anger flared from within, watching as Ray and Hilary tensed with growing fury. And in seeing them incensed, Ender's smile only grew. "It would be like tearing off her own arm."
At that, Ray's Mainframe Blaster whirred in match with Hilary's as Abbey retrieved her bow to snap the drawstring back.
"Well, if we can't help Erika do that," Abbey said darkly. "We'll settle for taking yours."
"By all means," Ender taunted. "Do your worst."
"Don't worry," Hilary snarled. "We intend to."
And then all three Rangers leaped at the monster maker once in full fury and retribution for the teammate.
Erika had no idea how long she'd run for, but she only stopped when her lungs gave out. She ran until her chest was heaving, until her legs were about to give way. But no matter how long she ran, she could escape the thought. The worry.
The reality.
At last, Erika staggered to a halt, reaching a fork in the road as she buckled with a heaving chest. Then, when Erika's wind had finally returned to her desperate lungs, she threw herself back and unleashed a howl of despair. It was all she could do to stop the spiraling thoughts from building, rising in a chain reaction that threatened to make her burst. And yet, Erika knew what to do; despite never having before, in her memory, felt this anguish, she knew exactly how to deal with it. She didn't know how, but deep within was an answer that she'd long learned.
She had to let it out.
And so she screamed, wailing into the sky's grey void as Erika desperately tried to reconcile with everything in front of her. It didn't make sense, why didn't any of it make sense? How could she long for someone always in front of her? How could she feel relieved to see someone that was with her every day? If all she knew was happiness, why did she feel so jaded? How could she have learned without pain?
"Erika?"
It was her mother. The voice that cut through her daze jolted Erika's heart, an icy sting of fear flushing through her chest as she spun around and gasped. There her mother stood, on the path Erika had run from, staring in fearful confusion. Her mother, the person who Erika wanted to make happy more than anyone else. Whose warm, comforting embrace she could just throw herself into, to discard her worry and concerns, safe in the belief that as long as she had her mom, everything would be okay. There was nothing in the world that Erika wanted more.
So why was she hesitating?
"You doing okay?" her mother asked. "Honey, what's wrong?"
How to even begin? How to even describe the impossible, deluded thoughts that she couldn't shake, no matter how much Erika desperately wanted to. How could she even suggest them without breaking her mother's heart?
"I… I don't know," Erika shuddered. "I just… It's a lot, you know. I just needed somewhere quiet, somewhere to think. I don't know why, but it's like there's something wrong. It's like when you get a bad feeling and then…"
"Erika," her mom said quietly. "You're not making any sense. Did something happen?" Do you not like your party?"
"No," Erika insisted. "No, it's perfect. All of it."
Everything was.
Except for her.
And as she stood there, staring at her mother's confusion, a strange weight suddenly lifted as Erika silently realized what it was. It wasn't a lightbulb or strike of lighting, just a quiet realization of something she hadn't wanted to admit but had known deep down all along.
Erika was the imperfect one, but she wasn't what was out of place.
Slowly, Erika's mom walked toward her, tempering her anxiety with quiet contemplation as her daughter made no attempt to stop her. "Eighteen," she chuffed, almost amusedly. "Crazy how time flies. I remember the day that you were born. I held you in my arms, looked at your beautiful little face as your tiny fingers squeezed my hand like you never wanted to let go. I thought it was the happiest day of my life, with no idea that the next day would be too. And the next and the next. Each and every day that I've had in my life.
"And just like that," she snapped her fingers as she let loose a nervous chuckle. "You're all grown up. In the blink of an eye. Ready to leave the nest and face the world without me."
With those words, a fresh pain stabbed at Erika's chest, a hurtful longing crying from deep within as the very idea of being without her mother recalled a panicked plea. Why? Erika always knew this day would come; what teenager didn't excitedly look forward to the day they left the nest? What was her mom going to do, look after her forever? It wasn't like she'd never see her again, it wasn't like Erika didn't know how to look after herself.
Because she'd always had to…
There was something about the pain, however much it hurt, that shocked Erika as she caught it. The way it dulled, the bluntness with which it cut. Like it was something she'd felt before, something that had never gone away, and Erika had long become used to.
She'd grown used to it a long time ago.
With teary eyes and shuddered breaths, Erika gulped down her dread as she launched herself at her mother and squeezed her tight. The dams broke, tears flowing from her eyes like a burst faucet, her wails turning to cries and then sobs as Erika tightly held the person whose warmth she longed for most. And then, as a growl of thunder rumbled overhead, Erika pulled away, staring back with stinging eyes as, at last, she accepted the truth.
"This day was perfect," she said, trembling. "I've dreamed about it for so long. The number didn't matter; it could have happened any year. But today, you gave it to me, everything I've ever asked for. Everything I ever wanted. You, standing right in front of me, smiling and saying you're proud of me."
"But of course, you have that, Erika," her mother insisted, shaking with a sincerity so convincing that Erika almost let herself believe it. "Where else would I be?"
The words choked in her throat, begging to be held back from her quivering jaw as Erika stared at her mother with blurring eyes. The answer that she didn't want, that she so desperately wished was wrong. But Erika could no longer deny the truth. She didn't know how, or why, but in her heart, she knew. And so, with a tightening breath, Erika willed herself forward, speaking with the strain of desperate despair as, at last, she spoke the words she could never take back.
"I don't think you're real."
The thunder clapped, and a flash of lightning boomed in the distance. Her mother recoiled at the words, hurt fear worn plain across her face as Erika held strong and refused to take it back.
"It's not that I don't want you to be," she sobbed. "I've never wanted anything more in the world. You are everything I ever wanted. But that's why I know it isn't right, why you're not my mom. Because you're here, and my real mom wouldn't be. Because she left, and she never came back. You can't be my mom because you would never have made me. Not like I am, not now."
Slowly, her mom's face grew serious, stonelike in response as if trying to find an answer to the impossible. An answer that Erika would know in her heart to be a lie. "The cake," she coldly decided. "I knew it was off. Something about it. It must be upsetting your stomach, maybe making you delirious. Why don't you come back, let me take care of you?"
"I want to," Erika said tearily. "Believe me, more than anything. I know how easy it would be to just fall into arms and pretend that I don't know what I know. To go on living the life I've always wanted. But I know that I can't, not in my heart. Because I don't belong here, and back where I do, people need me. I have to go. I have to leave you behind."
"Erika…!"
"I'm sorry."
And then Erika ran, turning her back on the mother she never had as she picked a fork in the road and took off down it. In the moment, it didn't matter the direction, just that her every step took her further from the life she'd never have. Further from the dream she'd always longed for, knowing it could never be real. Further from the temptation to go back. The clouds boomed again, more shocks of lightning rippling from nearby impacts as specs of cold rain pattered her face to mix her tears. Finally, Erika could run no more, screaming into the void once more as she sunk to her knees by the pond. Alone.
She cried and cried, and yet the tears kept coming, an unending stream flowing from her eyes as her wails sounded into the coming storm. And as at last she opened her eyes, Erika stared at the surface of the pattering water to stare at the face reflecting back.
A face she didn't recognize.
It was still her shape, her skin, and her eyes, and behind those windows was her soul, frightened and alone. And yet, everything else she recognized was different in indescribable ways. Her hair was longer, combed past her shoulder, and neatly styled. She was in a dress, a warm red perfect for the coming spring, snugly wrapped in a white cardigan to protect her from the lingering remnants of winter.
On seeing how she was dressed, a soft smile parted her lips as Erika realized Abbey's amusement, not the false Abbey of this world but the real one. Barely a few weeks prior, the girl had been combing Erika's wardrobe, desperate for something familiar to wear while stuck in her friend's body. The moment stuck out to her, clear as a cloudless day, as if now that she'd accepted the truth, Erika's mind had found a door for the captive memories to freely flow through. To come back to her, merging the two pasts into one, to remind her of the life that she had almost left behind. The life that needed her.
And even then, as Erika grinned at the memory and the ounce of lightness lifted inside her chest, a fresh sadness wafted back as she realized why her face looked so unfamiliar. It was the face of who she could've been but never would be. The face of a girl whose mother never left her, who'd never buried her abandonment beneath a shield of anger and indifference. Who'd never needed to fight to be seen, to be safe.
It had made Erika who she was, resigning the girl looking back at her to impossibility.
The gravel crunched beside her, the sound of an awkward footstep trying to be quiet. For a moment, Erika feared that it was her mother, giving chase to give false comfort. And yet, there was something about the footstep that gave her pause, a welcome sense of safety as Erika realized it was signaling something she'd not heard at all that day.
Imperfection.
Someone trying and failing, a strange comfort that Erika hadn't even realized she was longing for. Slowly, Erika blinked back her tears and turned toward the source, seeing Lena standing cautiously a few feet away. She stared at Erika with a curious look of concern, as if uncertain who she was speaking to. But in all her glimmer of hope, Erika's worry of who it was remained.
"How do I know you're real?" Erika asked, gesturing vaguely at the sky. "How do I know you're not part of all of… this?"
"I don't know what I could say to convince you," said Lena. "All I can tell you is that I came to help you, to be there for you. Because I know what it's like to make an impossible choice. To have everything you thought you knew come crashing down around you. Erika, I'm so sorry."
In the space of a heartbeat, Erika had flung herself into Lena's arms. She didn't even care anymore, all she had was her gut and hope. As her friend's embrace closed around her, Erika buried her head in Lena's shoulder, surrendering to the last of her sobbing as she finally felt the comfort she'd been craving.
Something real.
At last, Erika pulled away, looking into Lena's eyes to see welling tears of relief. "I know," was all she Lena needed to say. "I know."
And it was all that Erika needed to hear. "I don't know what to do," she sobbed. "I know where I need to be, but I don't know if I can go there. I don't know if I have the strength to leave this behind."
"But you do," Lena assured her. "Because even if you weren't the strongest person I knew, the strength you need doesn't have to come from you alone. Because I know what you're feeling: like there's a hole that will never be filled. But it doesn't have to contain what it once did. Because you're not alone, Erika. Not while you have all of us. Not while you still have people that love you."
Like she was awakening from a heavy daze, the fog from the fading dream began to lift from Erika's mind, melting away to further reveal the lies of the reality before her and the truth of the world she belonged to. Her friends, her dad. Valerie. All of them were people who stayed by her side through everything that happened and everything she'd put them through. People that Erika loved, people that she knew she couldn't leave behind.
"I know the world we're from isn't perfect," Lena conceded with a pained quiver in her voice. "I know that we're certainly not. I know that there are people that we feel are missing from our lives and that they always will be. But those we do have, those who chose us, they're the ones that matter. And all we have to do is choose them back."
Erika stood there in silent agreement, nothing more needing to be said between them. Lena knew; the strange impossibility of a girl knew exactly what Erika was going through. Maybe even better than anyone else. She was right, and for the first in Erika's life, she felt like she finally understood what Ray had been trying to teach her. Her mother may have left her. Her mother wasn't coming back. But she was not alone.
"Thank you," said Erika. "I'm ready."
"Then let's go home," Lena smiled as she offered an outstretched hand.
"Awwww, would you look at that? Such a heartwarming reunion."
Both girls whipped around, Lena scowling as Erika gasped at the sight. It was her mother, her face snide and cold as she hatefully glared at the two girls. And then she began to change, her body morphing in full view as the human features receded into her body and shifted into something writhing and bulbous. An enormous walking plant with a toothy maw in its bulb-like head, cackling manically as Erika recoiled in horror. It was the plant she'd seen before, hiding in shadows and watching with sinister laughter as she'd convinced herself it wasn't real. But it was, it had been there the whole time. A monster hiding in the dream.
"Dream-Eater," Lena snarled in recognition. "Figured you come to ruin a good time?"
"Ruin?" the monster scoffed. "But good times are what I'm all about! It's not my fault you can't accept what you want."
It started as a single, hissing breath, the winging wind drawing into Erika's lungs to clench the walls of her chest. Embers glowed brightly as they fell on the dried kindling to catch into a feeling Erika had long locked away. It touched her longing, her despair, her agony from a parting she'd wished to never feel again. And as the heat drew on the kindling to rouse into crackling flames, the fire within stoked her anguish together into a single, focused feeling. Rage.
This… this thing. It was why she was here. It was what had trapped her in a world that taunted her with desire. That forced her to leave the mother she'd always wanted behind.
"You," Erika growled darkly at the monster inside her mind. "Do you have any idea what you did to me?"
"I gave you what you always wanted!" Dream-Eater cackled. "I'd have thought you'd be happy?"
"Happy?" Erika spat. "HAPPY?"
"He's the one responsible for all of this," Lena confirmed to her. "If we're getting out, then I'd bet anything it's through him."
"Just what I wanted to hear," Erika sneered. And then she looked at the watch still attached to her wrist as the screen flashed to a live, electric blue. "Any chance this works in here?"
Lena's only reply was a daring smirk. "Only one way to find out."
With an inferno raging within, Erika's head tilted toward Dream-Eater to let him see her full fury. And in realizing his lethal mistake, the monster recoiled.
"This world is everything I want, right?" Erika asked him. "Well, right now, I want to tear you to pieces. Ready?"
With a flash of crimson, the trusty Morpher appeared on Erika's wrist, a comforting return to normal as her keycard appeared in her hands. Beside her, Lena's Morpher appeared as well, and she stepped beside her ally in confident support. "Ready!"
"Server Force! Login Access!"
The power surged brighter than ever before, bathing Erika like a cleansing fire that met with her fury and melded. Her rage was her fuel, mixing in with the power of the grid to give Erika a greater strength than she'd known was ever possible. It was like a weight had lifted, like restraints had shattered and set Erika free to be truly unbowed for the first time in her life. And as the light faded, as the helm folded around her face, Erika glared at Dream-Eater with fresh and renewed fury.
"Uh oh!" the monster gasped. "I didn't even dream that you could do that! But I've got some tricks of my own!"
In a flash of green, a wall of menacing Cyberdrones appeared between him and the two Rangers. But Erika's didn't' so much as flinch.
"Lena?" she asked. "Mind dealing with the crashers? I've got some issues to work through."
"You got it!"
Ray was always telling Erika to point her anger where it belonged. It was time to take his advice. With a flourish of her axe, she braced into an offensive stance and pointed the axe at Dream-Eater in an overt threat.
"You dreamed a dream? Then welcome to my nightmare!"
And then she lunged.
Erika surged across the gap, soaring high with her axe wound back as she closed in on the agent of her misery. Unprepared for such a reckless advance, Dream-Eater recoiled in terror, staggering back as a wall of Cyberdrones rushed to block her path. What met them instead was a volley of white beams, blasting at their feet as Lena unloaded from her pistol. As the White Ranger engaged the writhing horde to clear the way, Erika surged through the smoke with her weapon glowing brightly.
"Wait!" Dream-Eater cowered. "We can still keep the dream alive!"
But Erika was unmoved and unrelenting, screaming with all her rage as the burning axe-head crashed down. It seared across his vine-covered chest with a searing flash, the monster hurling back and slamming into the ground as Erika flourished the weapon for her second attack.
"Your dream? It's just time gone by," she sneered as the monster climbed to its feet.
"Man, that packed a punch!" it grumbled, mouth suddenly gasping as it realized the obvious. "Wait, what am I doing? I make the rules here! And looks like you need a long kiss goodnight!"
The ground began to shake as the monster threw back its hands. Erika was already preparing to lunge again, ready to cleave her axe through its body with everything she had. But then the earth erupted. Grizzly, black vines burst from beneath like thorn tentacles, reaching for their prey. Erika had no time to avoid, unprepared for an attack from below as the plants snatched and grabbed her arms, binding her limbs to her body as she writhed against them in vain.
"You know what they say!" Dream-Eater cackled. "You can check out any time you like. But you can never leave!"
"Erika!" Lena cried out as she saw her friend's fate, abandoning her battle with the Cyberdrones to aid her captured friend. But Dream-Eater saw her coming, gleefully summoning fresh vines from earth to lash around her as well.
"You can try all you want, but you just can't kick up the roots!" he laughed as both Rangers desperately writhed against their bindings.
The vines squeezed Erika tighter, constricting her arms to her chest as they wound further around her body. Where first they had grabbed her, now they were snaking all over, spiraling down to hold her kicking legs while slowly constricting her head. Her heart pounded, breathing shallower and shallower as Erika's lungs struggled beneath the compression. It was growing darker, the vines covering her head beginning to obstruct Erika's vision as they consumed her in a writhing prison.
Too much! It was all too much! No matter how hard she fought, no matter what she tried, there was nothing Erika could do to escape the enclosing darkness. This thing knew everything about her, her hopes and her fears, exactly what it needed to hurt her with a world that was fully under his command. Lena's intrusion had been a reprieve at best, a vain attempt to save Erika from despair she could never escape. It was the darkness she could never hold back, never leave behind. The darkness that would always beat her.
Slowly, Erika's arms slackened as her body relented to the vines' imprisonment. With a weary head, she looked away, drooping as she surrendered to allow the darkness to consume her.
"ERIKA!"
Lena's voice sliced through the muffling vines, a desperate and fearful scream that ripped Erika from her woe. Her head snapped up, peering with a panicked look through one closing crack in her prison to see the White Ranger desperately reaching toward her. Still fighting for her despite the overwhelming odds.
"You can fight him, Erika!" Lena pleaded. "You can beat him!"
How? How could she beat a creature empowered by her own despair? A creation with more power than she could ever hope to match? Why was Lena even still trying? She had an out; she had to have! So why was she still there, trying to save a lost cause?
"Keep fighting, Erika!" Lena cried, "Keep fighting!"
"That's enough out of you!" said Dream-Eater as another vine whipped from the earth and lashed around the White Rangers' body.
NO!
Lena cried in pain as the binding squeezed her tight, a cry that twinged at Erika's heart as she pleaded for her friend. Her friend, who was going to be destroyed unless someone did something.
Unless she did something.
Thunder rumbled above like a growling breath, drawing fresh oxygen onto Erika's embers and breathing new life into the roaring flames as her eyes narrowed in determination. The monster was born of her darkness, and it could do all it wanted to her. But Erika would never let it hurt her friends.
Never again.
The clouds above were swirling, another boom echoing louder as Erika's arm ripped free with a ferocious roar, puncturing through the mesh of vines to heave her back into the light. But as she did, as Erika dragged herself free of the suffocating prison, Dream-Eater only laughed. Her helmet burst from her bonds, pushing out into the overcast sky as she gazed at the eyeless face born from within her.
But the monster had made a mistake. Lena might have brought a connection to the Morphing grid, but Erika already had all she needed. The monster was drawing from her mind, a prison from her own fantasy. It was taking her greatest fears, her strongest desires, and twisting them against her. But that worked both ways. The clouds flashed above, pulsing crimson rolling a heavy warning the grey as Erika's face hardened with renewed resolve. Once, Erika had told Abbey to stare back at her darkness and shine a light on it. It was time Erika took her own advice, to stop turning from what she was holding to.
It was time to light it up.
"You're still going?" Dream-Eater chuckled. "After all of that, you still think you can win? This is the world you're in now! As long as I'm a part of what you want, then you're never getting rid of me!"
"Your world, my dream!" Erika said defiantly. "And there's nothing I want more than the people I love! To protect them!"
The lightning struck with a blinding blast, a deafening clarion booming from the impact as the bolt split the sky and struck her. Like a plunging knife, its sharpened point sliced through the consuming vines, carving them away with searing intensity. Erika didn't dive, didn't flinch, holding strong in offering as the raw power of the dreamlike world surged f into her body. Power in purest form, the answer to a silent call, coursing through her veins to give what she truly desired. The strength to stand, the will to go on. The power to protect her friends.
Erika made her wish, and the world gave exactly what she asked for.
Dream-Eater screamed as his vines were ripped apart, cast aside by a rippling shockwave as Erika's body was consumed in glowing light. A burning crimson consumed her form with blinding intensity, melding the power of the grid with the strength of her desire as it morphed into something new. It enlivened her spirt, for the friends that stood by her through every mistake, every harsh word, every heartache. It emboldened her limbs, standing with the confidence given by the wisdom of those trusted. It steeled her, encasing her in armor to hold strong and firm in honor of the man who did all he could to raise her.
Her friends, her mentors. Her family. Erika had all the power she needed to cast her darkness down, all because of them.
The light slowly faded, and Dream-Eater took another step back, horrified at what his own world had created. And on the blacked earth left in the lightning's wake, Erika stood there, proud and defiant, adorned in gold and crimson armor of her own design.
Its breastplate was bulky, a sturdy weight on the chest that looked like it could take any blow, while its shoulder pads looked lighter, wider in width to compensate for the thinner plating, and styled like the Sode padding of a Samurai. The legs gained some skirting, further reinforcing above the armored boots, while her helm had gained golden etching around the visor. And in her hands was a long and elegant sword, an odachi katana that was white-hot and glowing.
Without saying a word, Erika spun around, almost inhuman in speed as she swiped the blade with an effortless flick. The searing blade sliced through the captive vines like they were paper, rending Lena free in an instant as the White Ranger leaped to her teammates' side.
"Now, this is what dreams are made of!" Erika taunted Dream-Eater as she flourished the blade and struck a daring pose. "Cyber-Ronin Battle Armor!"
"What?" Dream-Eater gasped. "I didn't know you could do that!"
"You should have," Erika replied. "Your power feeds off what I want and what I can't let go. But my power comes from who I love, from those who stand beside me. And you have no power over me."
She moved before he could reply, flashing across the distance with blinding. Dream-Eater could only gasp as the blade sliced across his body, searing through the plant-like chest in a spray of blinding sparks. The monster screamed as he stumbled, but Erika was too fast to let him fall. She spun around, heaving her armored leg in a thunderous kick that sent him spinning in the air. And then, as the monster stumbled to its feet, Dream-Eater gasped in horror as he watched Erika raise the sword high and ready for the finish.
"Wait!" he pleaded. "If you destroy me, then you can kiss this world goodbye! You'll never get what you truly want!"
"I already have everything I need," Erika replied. "Cyber Armor! Lightning Strike!"
The lightning crashed down again, centering to channel through the tip of Erika's sword. And then, glowing in radiant fury, Erika unleashed upon the monster with everything she had. The energy unfurled from the slashing blade, arcs of energy cracking as it flung off the curved edge and ripped toward her foe. Helpless, Dream-Eater could only scream as the energy sheared into his body, the burning light shredding his form as he vanished into the blazing light. Still spinning from the strike, Erika turned around, not even watching as Dream-Eater toppled.
"Talk about a broken dream!" he wailed as he fell, just as Lena leaped beside her comrade and the two Rangers stood tall together.
And then he exploded.
The flares expanded in all directions, a blossoming ball of fire that shredded Dream-Eater to smithereens. As it did, another light flared from within, piercing through the smoke and flames as it continued to grow. Erika didn't look at it, she knew what it was and braced herself for what was coming.
The end.
Something touched her hand; Lena taking Erika's grip into her own. A sign of solidarity, of understanding. Of knowing what it was that Erika was giving up. Like a crashing wave falling upon the shore, the light consumed them, and Erika opened her eyes.
The sterile lights were blinding, and she bolted upright with a sudden gasp. Groaning as she rose to sit, there was a strange sizzling coming from her chest, and Erika looked down to see the device that had jumped at her that morning. Only now, it was steaming, wires crackling as its function fried. A moment later, its clasp relinquished the last of its grip on her chest and tumbled uselessly to the floor.
Rubbing her eyes as the rest of her senses returned, Erika slowly adjusted to where she was. She was morphed, back into her regular suit, with the armor having vanished with the Dream World. Her helmet had dematerialized, exposing her face to the air-conditioned cool of the underground lab. Beside her, Lena was also stirring in her White Ranger uniform, groggily rising and smiling to see Erika awake and back in the world she belonged.
"Welcome back," she smiled.
"Thanks for coming to get me," Erika replied in kind.
"OH MY GOD!"
A heartbeat later, all air was expelled from Erika's lungs as Valerie threw her arms around her, squeezing her so tight she may never let go. And with tears reaming from her eyes, Erika did the same.
"I thought I'd lost you," Valerie sobbed. "I thought…"
"Hey, there's no way I'd leave this world behind," Erika smiled back. "Not when it's got you in it."
As, at last, her girlfriend let her go, Erika turned to the station to see Jessica watching and smiling with relief. But as glad as Erika was to see her, the real her, her attention quickly drew to the scenes unfolding behind her, of the Rangers locked in a furious battle. Her friends were still out there, fighting for their lives. Fighting for her. And now she needed to return the favor.
A silent look with Jessica and Lena was all she needed, and even as Erika turned to Valerie, no explanation was needed.
"Go get 'em, Tiger," Valerie grinned warmly as Erika leaped to her feet with Lena by her side.
"Jess?" Erika decided. "Send us in. It's time to get back to action!"
The light burst down around them, the digitizer whirring to life as it converted them to data and beamed them across the city. The helm formed around their faces, concealing them behind their visors as the light touched down, and the two girls leaped into the fray.
Neither wasted any moment, splitting off to engage their foes. Lena leaped to assist Miguel and Zeke, improving the odds against Arc-Knight. Erika made for Ender, locked in battle with Ray, Hilary, and Abbey. The architect of her torment.
"Now, what do you call this?" Erika announced proudly. "Throwing a birthday party without the guest of honor? That's just rude."
"Erika!" Ray realized with relief.
"You're okay!" Abbey realized.
"We knew you could do it!" Hilary congratulated.
But Ender, on the other hand, looked far from excited about her sudden arrival.
"You?" he gasped. "What are you doing here? You should be-!"
"Sorry, Ender, I just wasn't a fan of your gift," Erika smirked. "I'd ask for a receipt, but I already broke it."
She lunged into the air, ripping her pistol free of its holster as she opened fire. As red ribbons of energy unfurled from her blaster, her teammates took their queue, adding the weight of fire to unleash it all upon Ender. Shocked and confused, the monster maker had no time to respond, gasping as the energy coalesced into a single inferno that sent him soaring. As he crumbled to the ground in a steaming heap, a second explosion sounded in the distance. Moments later, ArcKnight came flailing toward him, crashing into the ground beside his ally.
As both henchmen hobbled to their feet, the Rangers reconverged, standing proudly at their leader's side as Erika glowered over the pair of them.
"Now," Erika decided as the Power Axe flashed to her hands. "Let's really make it a party."
Seeing the inference from the sudden appearance of Power Weapons, Ender shot ArcKnight a terrified look. An instant decision.
"This fight is not over!" ArcKnight growled.
"But they do say no one likes a crasher," Ender admitted. "So, we'll see ourselves out. Hope you don't mind a parting gift!"
The two of them vanished in a flash of light. Almost immediately, the other Ranger rushed to Erika, cheering at her return and grateful for her safety.
"Uh, guys?" Jessica's voice said nervously through the coms. "The thing that was on Erika's chest just started beeping!"
"Get it out of there!" Hilary commanded. "Use the Digitizer. Function Force Eject!"
The sound of typing, a whirring from a machine with a sudden high pitch. Moments later, A tiny flash blipped in the distant city sky, followed by a much brighter flash of green. And then, like waking from a nightmare, the ground quaked as an enormous Dream-Eater towered above the city streets.
"You know what they say!" he cackled as he gazed upon his fresh stomping grounds. "If you don't get the roots, they just grow right back!"
"Great," Erika grumbled. "Now it's everyone's problem."
But she'd no sooner expressed her dismay when a hand comforted her shoulder, and Erika turned to see Ray's gold helmet looking at her. Behind him, the other five Rangers all stood together, ready to take on the challenge.
"It's okay," Ray assured her. "You don't have to face it alone."
"You've got us to help you," Abbey agreed with an affirming nod.
"Yeah," Zeke nodded. "We'll just need a lot of weed killer."
They were right, she did. And with her team by her side, Erika felt like she could take on the world.
"Then let's trim this plant," Erika decided as she tapped into the com. "Jess?"
"Way ahead of you," came the cheerful reply. "Deploying Zords!"
The air was filled with the roar of engines, seven mighty machines thundering from their stations as the Zords rocketed into view. The Rangers wasted no time, leaping high into the with a cheer to take their seat and immediately begin docking. As Erika's hands gripped the wheel, her display lit up, signals from the teammates that they were ready to begin. Ready to form the Megazords.
The vehicles steered in perfect synchronicity, taking positions alongside as they began to shift and whirr. As the Street Racer docked, Erika's chair shunted backward, spiriting her up the main shaft and into the unified cockpit as the other four did the same. As her chair locked in place, Erika's eyes looked around at the people beside her. Abbey, her total opposite, who at the same time perhaps knew her better than anyone. Zeke, solid and dependable, a rock that Erika knew she could always lean on for support. Miguel, whose own inner turmoil perhaps rivaled her own, knew the path of bad decisions and had walked away just as she had. And Lena, her former enemy who'd risked her own soul to stand by Erika's side as she faced her own worst fear. Her teammates, her friends.
Her Power.
"Cyber Crash Megazord!" the team declared, "Online!"
The Megazord's feet quaked the ground as the team steered it forward, Dream-Eater turning to unleash a mighty cackle.
"You think that's going to be enough?" he laughed. "Keep dreaming!"
"Don't forget about us!"
The ground tremored with another quake, and the monster whipped around and gasped as the second mechanized warrior rose to challenge it.
"SigmaDrive Megazord!" Ray and Hilary declared together. "Online!"
The man who had been her guiding light, who'd help Erika stare into the darkness and never blinked. The woman to whom Erika owed her power, a harsh speaker truth nonetheless devoted to her growth. Her mentors turned teammates.
Ready to stand and help Erika face the monster from within.
"It's like I told you," Erika smirked. "You've got your power, and I've got mine."
"What?" Dream-Eater gasped, suddenly realizing the two-pronged attack coming his way. "I can't do anything out here! This is a nightmare!"
"What do you say, Erika?" Ray asked. "Ready to turn this guy mulch?"
Erika shared a knowing look with her friends, Abbey, Zeke, Miguel, and Lena, all nodding firmly in agreement.
"Time to cut the roots!"
The Cyber-Crash charged, rockets flaring as it shot across the distance and slammed a mighty punch into the monster. As the Megazord moved past, Dream-Eater had barely recovered as the SigmaDrive closed in, slamming its fist into the face once more as both Megazords turned and readied their final attacks. The Cyber-Crash shot upwards, blasters hot and glowing as the SigmaDrive feet clamped for stability and its cannons emerged from its arms.
"It doesn't have to be like this!" Dream-Eater cowered. "Maybe we can talk this over?"
"In your dreams," Erika smirked before giving the command.
Twin sets of beams erupted from the Megazords, piercing the air as they seared toward their target. Caught between, Dream-Eater had nowhere to go, crying in terror as the attacks collided.
"CryptoShred HyperCannon!" they called from the Cyber-Crash.
"SigmaDrive Blasters!"
"FIRE!"
Like a whelming wave, the light consumed Dream-Eater's body in a blinding flash. Smoke seared from within as the colliding energy convulsed into a growing ball, incinerating the plant monster before culminating in a fiery blast. As the light faded, Dream-Eater stood there, singed and staggering, and was already toppling as he howled his final words.
"It's all my fault! I let my dreams be dreams!"
And then he exploded. The Cyber-Crash had barely touched down as the surging fire ripped out in all directions, blossoming into a blazing flaming that expanded in all directions. When the smoke subsided, nothing remained, the sinister plant reduced to nothing but ash. And the two Megazords stood there, side-by-side, all seven Rangers strong together. From her seat in the cockpit, Erika couldn't help but smile with a fresh lightness in her chest that she'd never felt before. The feeling of a shifted weight, a load lifted. It wasn't gone, but it was easier.
Because she had her friends to help her.
"You're looking all clear on my end," said Hilary. Having completed her physical examination, she turned to check with her husband. "Anything you want to take a look at?"
But Ray just shared a knowing look with Erika before shaking his head. "Nothing we can't talk about on Monday."
Any other time, Erika would have been annoyed at the fussing, frustrated by hovering and needless checking. But after the day she'd had, she couldn't help but feel grateful. She knew why they were doing it; she knew what it meant. And Erika couldn't help but feel warmed in knowing how much they cared.
Finally giving her clearance, Hilary nodded to the five other teenagers waiting impatiently at the edges of the lab. The all-clear had barely been given when they rushed to Erika's side, swarming her from all sides to engulf her in a doting group hug. And as their arms enraptured her, Erika's smile only grew, reveling in the overwhelming love of her friends.
"I got you this," Abbey said, producing a wrapped box when the others had finally stepped away. "I know you're not big on gifts, but I couldn't resist when I saw it."
Erika raised an eyebrow as she began to pull at the tab, tearing the wrapping from the outside before removing the lid. She had no idea what she'd been expecting, half anticipating a need to feign gratitude given the harsh separation of taste between them. But instead, Erika gasped in unexpected joy as she saw what had been folded inside.
It was a jacket, a soft, matte leather that was dyed to a striking red and styled to be an almost perfect match for her old back one. Tears in her eyes, Erika looked up at Abbey, the friend who she'd now been through so much with.
"I hope it's your style," Abbey said nervously. "I know it's your color. When I got a close look at your wardrobe, it made me realize how dark it all was. Hopefully, this gives you a chance to maybe bring out something brighter."
But Erika had already pulled it from the box, pulling off her old, battered jacket to replace it with her friend's gift. A fresh look for a fresh her. The darkness wasn't gone, but it was smaller, leaving room to show more color.
"It's perfect," Erika grinned, throwing her arms around Abbey in a grateful hug as soon as she'd fixed the jacket on her.
"We should probably get going," Val advised. "Don't want to keep him waiting."
Right!
With a final, gratifying embrace, Erika bid a tearful farewell to her friends and teammates before departing from the lab with her girlfriend. Soon after, the two of them were ascending the steps of Erika's building as they began their climb to the apartment.
"You scared me today," Val admitted.
"I'm sorry," Erika replied. "I didn't mean-."
"It's not your fault," Val cut in before Erika could offer an unwarranted apology. "It's the people terrorizing this city. I guess it just hit home what you do, the danger you're in. I'm so used to seeing you walk out of it in one piece that I think I stopped considering what might happen if you didn't."
At the top of the stairs, Erika stopped, gently taking Valerie's hand in comfort as she turned to sincerely face her.
"Hey," she said. "I got out. And if they come at me again or anyone else, we'll get through. And they're not coming for you because they know better. They know I won't let them. And as for that stupid dreamworld they trapped me in, that was never going to hold me. Not when I have you in this one."
And then, after sharing a deep and passionate kiss, Erika stepped toward the apartment and pushed open the door.
"There's the birthday girl!"
There, Ken Nishimura stood, beaming with pride and a conical party hat on his head as Erika stood at the threshold. The room was filled with balloons and streamers; the lights dimmed low to fill the apartment with ambiance. Three dinner plates were on the bench, neatly placed before an enormous cake. It likely would have taken him all afternoon to get everything ready once he was done with work. All for the daughter who would always be his baby girl, no matter how old she grew.
For a moment, Erika stopped, catching herself as she stared at the celebration with an unnerving sense of Deja Vu. Because this wasn't her first celebration of the day, not even her first with him. But as Erika stared at her grinning father, so eager to celebrate the end of her eighteenth birthday, the difference became clear to her just as quickly.
This one was real.
The man before her was her dad, someone not around as much as he wanted but who made the most of the time he had. The man who had never given up on her, even when Erika had herself. The man who could say with a glance what would otherwise take a thousand words. That he was proud of her, awed by who she had become, and that he loved her with all her heart.
The man that Erika's mother had foolishly and selfishly left, a loss that was nothing but her own. And if that woman was dumb enough to leave a man as amazing as Ken Nishimura, then Erika had to accept that leaving her daughter was a mistake just as foolish. That it was her fault that she left, not Erika's. And that Erika's life was better for it, not worse, no matter what.
And then, as Valerie took her arm and tears began to well for what felt like the millionth time that day, Erika beamed back at her dad and stepped across the threshold.
"Sorry I couldn't be around this morning," her dad apologized. "I hope your friends helped make up for it."
"That's okay," Erika said, shooting Valerie a knowing smile. "It was certainly a day to remember."
"The jacket's nice," he commented. "Did you get anything else?"
And as she replied, Erika leaned back in her chair, feeling the weight lift off her shoulders as she smiled with blissful delight.
She was content.
No, not content; happy. Far happier than Erika could remember being in a very long time. She had a father who loved her and a girlfriend who saw her darkest parts and refused to look away. She had friends that stood by her side, and mentors to help her be better every day.
As long as there was love in her life, then Erika had more than she ever wanted. And for the first time in her life, Erika finally allowed herself to accept what she deserved.
"No," she replied with an earnest smile. "But that's okay; I have everything I need."
NEXT TIME:
With Scolex making moves on Lakeview as a businessman and attacking the Rangers as Xaviax, Hilary scrambles to give the team an edge against their enemy. In chasing the files, she infiltrates a business under the billionaire's shadow in hopes of gaining a glimpse at their nemesis' plans. But her split attention puts Ray in danger, and the long nights begin to take their toll.
With Scolex's tendrils stretching out across the city, it's only a matter of time before Hilary's options run out. But has their enemy already anticipated her sleuthing? And even if she learns the truth, just what exactly will her obsessive pursuit of information truly cost her?
Her health?
Her sanity?
Her marriage?
Find out Next Time on:
POWER RANGERS
SERVER FORCE
How the Rabbit Hole Goes
Power Rangers: Server Force is a fan-made team of Rangers, and not explicitly based on any other existing Rangers or Sentai property, with artwork character models created through Hero Forge.
Power Rangers- Sever Force updates on Tuesdays and Fridays. If you like what you read, you can always drop a comment to let me know and don't forget to subscribe/ follow to find out the second I update.