On Fire (Power Rangers Samurai)

48 - Nighlok / Videogame

"What a joke!" A clown faced nighlok laughed, hanging out with three other nighlok by the Sansu shore. He had long, straight red hair and large red lips.

"That flaming failure, Ignis, could only land one hit on the green ranger before dying. She insisted on going in without much of a plan." A wheel footed nighlok shrugged, playing with a yo-yo. She had a helmet head along with padding on her knees and elbows.

"But which one of us will go next teh?" A ghostly, gray skinned and white gowned nighlok asked. She seemed anxious, as if she wanted to go last.

"Velos told us to attack at the same time. He said that's how you kill a ranger." A flannel and cowboy hat wearing nighlok kicked up his feet. He snapped open a bottle of aged Sansu water, gulping half of it down. "If Velos says something, it ought to be true. He's a nighlok of Master Xandred. Bless him."

"But what about our bet?" The clown faced nighlok laughed out of context before singing, "Yes our bet, our bet, our bet, our bet, our bet, our bet, our bet, our bet, bet, bet, bet, bet, bet, bet."

"I don't want to fight with this nut." The wheel footed nighlok rolled her eyes and continued polishing her wheels. "Let's continue with our bet. It's not like Velos cares. He's busy living it up on that boat."

"Velos cares about all of us! He's not in it for his own gain!" The cowboy hat wearing nighlok got offended. "He'll build up this river and make our world great again!"

"I like the bet. I'll go last teh." The ghostly nighlok submerged herself into the Sansu River, escaping the social situation.

~~~

"Jayden," Mia watched him whack a dummy mercilessly in his training gear. "How are you doing?"

Mia noticed that Jayden was losing confidence in his leadership. Whenever he did something wrong, he was quick to beat himself up over it.

Jayden didn't respond. He kept his gaze focused on the poor inanimate object in front of him, beating it with a wooden sword.

"I know this is how you like to let out your frustrations, but you need to talk to someone." Mia caught his sword before it could hit the dummy.

"Mia, I'm so sorry." Jayden turned to her, his voice was expressive and subtly shaky.

Jayden began apologizing for everything, letting everything he felt pour out.

Even when vulnerable, Jayden was reserved. He held back tears and tried to speak normally through his raw voice.

Mia never saw him like this before. She thought carefully about her next words, whether they unsettled or eased him.

~~~

"What are you playing?" Kevin caught Mike playing a video game on Emily's laptop.

"Tank Trouble, it's two player." Mike offered.

Kevin pulled up a chair to the desk and started to play against Mike.

Mike and Kevin were little tanks in a maze trying to shoot each other first.

"This is the second time you yelled at Lauren." Kevin tried to get used to the controls.

"I didn't directly yell at her. I said you twins." Mike defended himself.

"You never apologized for the first time too. And she looked kind of scared." Kevin said as Mike shot his tank and got a point. "Darn."

"She's nice, but frustrating." Mike admitted while terminating Kevin's tank again. "You suck."

"I'm just starting." Kevin took back the point after hitting Mike's tank. "And why does she frustrate you? Just because you don't understand her...?"

"I don't know..." Mike increased his lead by scoring another point.

"Why don't you fight like you play this tank game?" Kevin teased.

"Asshole." Mike mumbled under his breath.

"You're the asshole, at least until you apologize to Lauren and mean it." Kevin got up after losing the round. He patted Mike's shoulder and left him in thought.

Mike recognized that he didn't grow much at all. He was always driven by his emotions.

On the other hand, Kevin had worked on himself with the hopes of becoming more laidback and supportive, with a healthy amount of discipline.

It seemed the only thing Mike could beat Kevin in was a stupid videogame.

~~~

Antonio couldn't stop thinking about what he and Emily read in the archives. His questions were never answered.

And so, to quench his curiosity, Antonio watched Lauren enter her room before searching to find the book they had read.

When he found the right book and the right page, he began to read on.

The black ranger is destined to seal Master Xandred into the other world for the rest of eternity.

The book slipped through Antonio's finger tips.

What came to his mind was the awful amount of power and perfection needed to successfully pull of the ultimate sealing symbol.

Also, he thought about all of the hard work it would take to pull it off.

Lauren was the key to the plan, the only hope.

But with all of that pressure, she must've felt so lonely.