On Fire (Power Rangers Samurai)

70 - Glum / Useless

"Stay still." The medic warned Emily as he gripped onto her arm and shoulder. Her shoulder was dislocated, and was in extreme pain before it was numbed.

She whimpered from discomfort and anticipation. Finally, it was a great relief when the medic popped her shoulder back in it's socket.

After the medic let go of Emily's arm, she immediately melted into her futon, feeling a bit sick.

"Do you want anything? Water?" Mike asked as he was making rounds to see who needed help.

Emily softly replied no and let him carry on.

Mike nodded and pulled the covers over Emily, tucking her in gently.

It was moments after the fight with Xandred. All of the rangers except for black and pink were in the room, and red was out cold.

Once the sky turned pitch black, all of the people involved with the samurai knew it was a sign of Xandred. Medics were immediately sent to the Watanabe house.

They had just finished treating and wrapping all of their wounds.

"Where's Lauren and Mia?" Antonio asked Mike.

Antonio had awoken from all of the commotion, and wasn't aware that they fought Xandred until now. His head and upper body were wrapped in bandages from his fight with Acies and Exspira.

"At the hospital." Mike answered. "They were both... unstable."

Mike knew Antonio wasn't there to witness Lauren getting stabbed by Serrator or Mia being flared by Exspira. He wasn't sure how to bring it up.

It was obvious why Lauren had to go to the hospital, but on the other hand, the effect of Exspira's power on Mia was quite strange.

When Mike was instructed to take Mia and Antonio home, he noticed something wrong with Mia. He decided to take her straight to the hospital, where he learned that she was actually going into shock.

"That ghost nighlok is named Exspira." Daisuke read from the archives, but the rangers didn't exactly catch her name. "She is known for her odd powers and cowardice."

"Antonio, she blasted you, didn't she? How do you feel?" Daisuke turned to him.

"A bit nauseous." Antonio admitted. "...but also guilty."

No matter how he framed it, Antonio felt like he was at blame for the entire situation.

He took Lauren outside and he got attacked. And if only he had held out in the battle a little longer against Acies and Exspira, Lauren wouldn't have revealed that she was the black ranger.

And then Xandred wouldn't have came.

And it seemed somebody else agreed with him.

"It serves you right. I don't know what you were thinking by taking Lauren out alone." Kevin scoffed. "Not so long ago, those nighlok were trying to kill us one by one. We also know that they recognize our faces."

Kevin thought about the situation many times and had given Antonio every benefit of a doubt. But still, he was furious at Antonio's lack of responsibility and mistakes.

Maybe what Antonio did and couldn't do got everyone hurt in the end. And maybe Kevin had every right to feel that way.

"Do you see Jayden over there? Whatever Xandred did to him turned his whole chest is black and blue. And he's not waking up. And that expire nighlok hurt Mia with her odd power. And Lauren was stabbed by Serrator while her spirit left her body."

"Lauren was stabbed? I-Is she going to be okay?" Antonio's heart dropped. The severity of the situation was setting in all to fast.

"We don't know if any of them are okay! All because you wanted to roller skate with humanity's only hope? What if she's going to die?"

With Kevin's heavy words, the atmosphere  became glum and mournful. Kevin sighed and left before he could say anything worse.

"Wait, Kev! Sit down." Mike tried to catch Kevin as he limped out of the room. "Your injuries!"

After Kevin left, Mike turned to Antonio, who's face reflected all of the guilt and frustration he felt.

Mike sighed.

"Let me bring some tea." Daisuke left, wanting to do as much as he could in the situation.

"Everyone has regrets." Emily spoke from across the room, looking up at the ceiling.

"I know Jayden felt frustrated that he couldn't make it in time to save you and Lauren. I was right behind him. Also, in the fight with Acies, he accidentally injured her as well. And in the end, he couldn't protect Lauren... no... we couldn't protect her..." Emily's voice drifted off, but Mike and Antonio heard every word.

"To say that everything is one person's fault would be wrong, because we all have the ability to change the course of events. And we all make mistakes and have our limits. We all share the burden." Emily concluded.

"If I'm being honest... I felt completely useless today." Mike added on. "Me and Kevin couldn't make it to Mia in time before that ex-p nighlok escaped. Since I didn't make it on time, Xandred's appearance feels like my fault."

"Also, while everyone was fighting Xandred, I was fully well but didn't fight. And when I made it to the scene, I watched Lauren getting stabbed right before my eyes. If I was quicker, I could've protected her." Mike sucked his teeth.

"I should be injured like the rest of you." Mike stared at his toes.

"Rangers," It turned out that Daisuke never left, he was just eavesdropping on the other side of the sliding door. "You are all not useless."

"Mike, you may have not made it on time to save Mia or Lauren, but you took Mia straight to the hospital instead. She may have died if it wasn't for your intuition."

"Also, if it weren't for you, Lauren wouldn't have been rushed to the hospital so quickly. And now you're helping to take care of all of your injured friends."

Daisuke slapped Mike's back. "It's a relief that you're not hurt."

"And Emily, you protected Lauren with all of your might. Is that not how you dislocated your shoulder?"

It was true. Xandred was about to shoot a powerful blast at Lauren, but Emily blocked the brunt of it while injuring her shoulder and breaking her weapon in the process.

"Things may not have went as planned, but you can't just ignore triumphs. Even the little ones."

"I had no triumphs. Really, I frolicked around then knocked out like a 1900's Disney princess. I don't think I deserve to be a ranger..." Antonio brows furrowed and teeth clenched in resentment for himself.

"That may be true, but you can't say that it's all your fault. You must understand, revealing her identity as the black ranger was a choice Lauren made for herself. She considered all of the consequences, including Xandred's appearance, and still deemed the situation worthy. Maybe she was right, maybe she was wrong."

Daisuke continued.

"Also, bringing out Xandred might have been a little more advantageous than you think. I know all of you will be fine from this battle, but Xandred and the nighlok... not so much."

~~~

Kevin had stormed away from the med bay and limped into the kitchen when he heard a knocking on the door.

Nobody ever knocked on the door, so it was quite unusual.

Since none of the servants were around, Kevin sighed knowing that he'd have to get up again.

After limping to open the door, he saw a young man with a guitar strapped onto his shoulder.

"Terry?"