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Sometimes things in life happen in mysterious ways. No set plan, no direction, and no certainty of the outcomes. With that comes trying times. Time where it's important to remain calm and trust those around you. Times where everyone must step up and do their part - no matter how little or significant it may be. Everybody could help in some way, even if that something was to stay out of the way.
This was not the case for Anna Pierce.
She had one job - distract Void Knight while Dr. Akana, Ollie's mother, set the trap for him. Nobody was fond of the bait, but Anna refused to even think about any other option. For all the times they had saved her, she felt it deep in her heart that she owed them this one assistance if it meant putting away Void Knight for good.
Anna didn't know the logistics of how the Rangers and Solon had figured out how to put him down; but they had a solid plan and Anna was just a small fraction of that plan. They went over every little detail with her a million times before Anna told them she had it.
Javi hovered, just as she expected, and she allowed it to make him feel a little better about the situation as Ollie geared her up with a communication piece in her ear so they could hear each other through the whole ordeal.
Her objective was to draw Void Knight out while Dr. Akana got the last missing piece of her device and set it out for Void Knight. Little did he know, it had been tampered with. He was not going to get what he had been trying to steal.
Javi placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before reminding her that she didn't have to do this. She smiled, assuring him that she'd be okay as she prepared to be teleported to the park. She had a model made by Izzy and Amelia of a Sporix egg with her - hoping that it would be enough to draw Void Knight out.
Anna wiggled her shoulders to release some of the tension built up in them as she started walking the park. It was an unusually quiet day in Pine Ridge Park and Anna wondered if the Rangers had planned this part too. Somehow she knew they did - and it made perfect sense.
She looked around the area, grabbing the replica of the sporix egg out of her pocket and holding it in her hand. It looked almost like the real thing. It had to work. Her second objective of the plan was to lay the egg out - and then call the Rangers hotline and pretend like there was a sighting. Void Knight and his screw always seemed to show up when there was a sighting. Afterall, they had always both been going after the same thing. The Sporix Beast - only, the rangers didn't know what he wanted him for other than to build an army.
"Anna, can you hear us?" Javi asked through the coms.
"I can hear you." she whispered back.
"Are you okay?" Zayto asked.
"Yes." she answered.
"Any of them yet?" Javi asked.
"No." she said.
"I still don't like this." Javi sighed.
"I will be okay, Javi." She tried to reassure him, knowing that nothing she said or did would make him feel any better about the situation.
She continued walking around - still feeling helpless as their plan seemed to not work at all. She was starting to feel hopeless, but then he showed his face. They stood at each other in the distance, the fake egg sat in the middle of them and Anna was not going to get in his way of letting him take it.
He stepped closer, picking up and tossing it in his hand. He then looked back at Anna as he closed his hand and crushed the replicate to dust in the matter of seconds. Anna's mouth widened, knowing she should get out of there right away but before her feet could even move, there was a large wave of energy that stemmed from Void Knight crushing the replica.
She started to turn, time moving slowly as the energy wave crashed passed her and washed over her with a weighted feeling. She suddenly felt so tired and drowsy that she could hardly keep her eyes open. She dropped to her knees and fell to the ground. Her eyes slowly fell shut and suddenly all she could see was darkness around her.
Not a single thought floated through her mind as the peacefulness of the darkness consumed everything. It was the only time Anna had ever felt so relived and calm at once. She wished she could stay in that state forever - especially when she heard the voice calling out to her. It was like a dream - a dream she wished she never would wake up from when she saw the face leaning over her.
Anna wake up. Anna you're going to be late for school - oh, you're warm. Let's go take your temperature...
Anna felt like she was being lifted off the ground effortlessly. Like she was floating on a cloud and visiting the person she missed most of all.
Maybe we should stay home from school instead...
Anna could see her mother, smoothing back the hair on her face she sat on her bed. Her mother looked just like she had remembered her. They had the exact same eyes - a beautiful golden chestnut color, and their hair was just a darker tone. Anna had always looked just like her mother and being in this dream - this memory, felt so right, but she knew it was nothing more than that.
She wished she could talk back, but she could only stare. She could only stare at the one person she wished was still around. She'd always miss her mother, and she knew there was nothing she could ever do to bring her back, but that didn't stop her from wanting to stay in this dream with her forever.
If she hadn't started feeling the weight that was holding her down, starting to lift off her, she would have sworn the dream was real. She started being pulled from the state she was in, and reality started flooding back in.
She groaned as she barely opened her eyes, seeing the faces of everyone standing around her. Anna let them fall back shut, trying to slip back into the dream but the voices kept her from doing so.
"Give her some space, everyone." Solon ordered.
"Anna, are you okay?" Javi reached up and gently touched her face like her mother had done in her dream. She slightly smiled at his touch as she reached up and placed her hand on top of his.
"Is he gone? Did you guys defeat him?" Anna asked, opening her eyes slowly and looked right into Javi's.
"We did," Javi said, "How are you feeling? We're not exactly sure what he did to you, but Solon told us that as soon as we defeated him, you started to wake up."
"I just felt like I was sleeping -" she paused, deciding to not tell him the rest.
"Let's take it easy then." Javi said as she helped her slowly sit up.
"Is everyone else okay?" Anna asked him.
"We're all fine." he said, "Void Knight is no longer a threat. The morphin master -" Javi trailed off, "They... we, we have new powers. They revealed themselves and restored our powers."
"Wait, you have to explain everything to me right now..." Anna listened.
"To destroy Void Knight, we had to trap him in the morphin grid... resulting in us destroying our own powers..." he explained.
Anna listened to the entire story with her full attention. She felt like she had only been in the dream state for a little while, but according to the timeline of Javi's story, it was more like hours.
She scratched her head and cleared her throat, throwing her legs over the side of the table she had been resting on. Everyone rushed over to her, checking on her the same way that Javi had done.
Everyone had so many questions for each other and they all took their time answering them while they all rested.
Now that Void Knight was no longer a threat, the rangers didn't know what was to come next. They claimed the Morphin Masters had given them their powers back because their mission was not finished - but none of them knew what was still out there. All they knew was they'd have to wait until that time came and they were called back to action.
In the meantime, they tried to enjoy the rest of their summers as best as they could. They had spent so much of their time fighting against the Sporix Beasts and Void Knight, that they hardly had the chance to be the teenagers they were. They had a long list of plans and such little time to complete them, especially with Anna and Izzy getting ready to go back to school.
Javi walked Anna home that night of their last battle, and stuck around for as long as she could before her family came home. She was still a little shaken up over the entire day, and was still extremely exhausted from whatever spell he had casted over her. Javi didn't want to leave her - just as she didn't want him to go anywhere.
"I'm sorry we had to use you as bait." Javi cleared his throat and broke the silence.
"Javi, I wanted to help." she grabbed his hand.
"I know... but look, you got hurt in the process." he sighed.
"I didn't get hurt. I just went to sleep." she reminded him.
"Same difference." he shrugged.
"I'm okay, I promise. I knew you guys were there to protect me like you always do." Anna said.
"We'd never let anything happen to you." he looked over at her.
"I know." she nodded.
"Do you think what's coming next is worse than Void Knight?" Javi wondered.
"I don't know," Anna shook her head, "But whatever is coming next... you guys can handle it. Just like you had handled all of this. The Morphin masters chose you guys for a reason."
"I think you're right." Javi sighed again.
"I know I am." Anna smiled, wrapped her arm around his and looked at him, "Pine Ridge needs your protection now more than ever. Until we know what's coming next, we have to make sure that things move as smoothly as possible with little interruption."
"We'll do our best." Javi smiled and leaned down, giving her a soft kiss on her forehead.
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