Weight of the World-p.r.s

26-ranger red

The next three days or so went by peacefully. There were no nighlok or sudden battles, and Brooke could just focus on healing. Which is what she did, and soon she was back in commission to battle without worrying about her side. The gashes had scabbed over completely, and soon they would be nothing but a memory. Which was great for Brooke, because she knew that she needed to get stronger still. So, once she was back in commission, she instantly started working on the despair symbol during the day, and training during the night. It was a sound plan, and she made sure not to overwork herself. Sometimes Jayden joined her, like tonight.

The glow of the moon illuminated the silver and red rangers, who stood, dressed in their training uniforms, in the outdoor dojo. Amaris was curled up on one of the concrete benches, violet eyes half-lidded as she watched the pair. Jayden was currently helping Brooke with her stances, so she didn't waver so much from the knockback of blocking a powerful attack. She welcomed the training partner, even though he was somewhat mocking her. It wasn't out of ill-intent, though, it was just friendly teasing that got responded with faux annoyance.

"Your legs are spread too far apart." Jayden pointed out, a training sword in hand. He was instructing like how he did during training, but this time his voice was softer.

Brooke moved to adjust her stance, but she barely had time to react before the training sword collided with her ankle. She let out a yelp of surprise, falling to the ground and landing on her back with a thud. "That wasn't fair, I was trying to fix it." She complained, her eyes flashing as Jayden peered down at her with a small smile.

"I know, you're doing better," Jayden praised, holding out his free hand. Brooke took it, and she felt her cheeks heat up at the praise as he helped her to her feet. "Is it because of your ankle that you don't stand correctly?" He questioned, noticing the pink dusting her cheeks. That made him inwardly grin- and was a thing he noticed. It was always praise that got her flustered, now more than ever. Which made sense, given Brooke's past, and Jayden found it endearing, it also being a way to have the upper hand.

"Uh, I don't think so," Brooke confessed, chewing on her bottom lip as her eyes flashed. "I'm self-taught, remember? I guess fifteen-year-old Brooke decided that standing correctly wasn't important." She joked, and Jayden shook his head with a small smile.

"Here, try to mirror me," Jayden instructed, settling into a fighting stance. He had dropped the training sword, which Brooke was relieved about. She was starting to get angry at the weapon after it collided with her legs or her ankles for the umpteenth time.

Brooke glanced at him and tried to copy his stance, wincing slightly at the muscles in her legs screaming in protest. They had been going at this for almost an hour and a half, and her body was starting to reach its limits. Still, she didn't tell Jayden that, as she also wanted to gain more stamina. Which she had more than a human's, but the despair symbol took a large amount of it. So, she didn't have as much as she would like for the nighttime training sessions. Jayden was lenient with her on that, as he understood that she didn't just flake out.

"Your legs are still too far apart," Jayden chided, and Brooke made a groan of annoyance, glancing at him again and readjusting her stance. "I don't think I've seen you this frustrated at training before." He teased, walking over to where she was standing.

"You haven't seen me work on the damn cage symbol, then," Brooke fired back, but she felt her heart rate increase as she heard the familiar footfalls of Jayden. He was getting closer, and her mind almost instantly wandered. However, she stopped that thought process quickly, cursing herself silently. Now wasn't the time- there was never a good time for that. "Red, if you hit me with that sword one more time, I'm gonna kick your ass." She threatened, and Jayden rolled his eyes playfully in response.

"Just helping you," Jayden remarked, and Brooke felt him nudge her back foot forward with his own. She lost her balance some but felt a warm hand grab her arm before she could fall. "I've got you- there you go. See, you did great." He praised as she settled into the stance correctly, a ghost of a smile on her lips.

"Thanks, Red," Brooke thanked, standing upright fully, a grin growing on her face. Jayden could only be concerned, and he wasn't prepared when she swept out a foot and knocked his legs out from underneath him. However, he grabbed her before he could collide with the ground, bringing her with him. The two fell to the ground with thuds, Brooke letting out a groan. "Aw, c'mon now. That's not fair." She whined, and he raised his eyebrows.

"How so?" Jayden wondered, sitting upright. Brooke did the same, brushing some of her hair out of her face.

"It just is," Brooke answered, tackling Jayden to the ground again. This time she caught him off guard and was now hovering over him, her arms and legs on either side of his body. It trapped him, but he didn't really mind, only watching as she grinned. "I gotcha now." She joked, and Jayden rolled his eyes with a smile.

Her hair and necklace hung over him, and Jayden, on complete autopilot, reached up and cradled her cheek in his hand. "You're cute." He murmured, feeling as Brooke's cheeks warmed up as she flushed pink.

"What's with you and all the praise lately? Like- I'm- I'm not complaining, but..." Brooke trailed, her eyes flashing as she averted her gaze from Jayden.

"It's fun to see you flustered. You do it to me all the time," Jayden replied, and Brooke huffed in annoyance as she let him sit up. She was sitting on his lap again, but they both didn't really mind. "Let me guess, it's only okay if you do it?" He wondered aloud, and she nodded, grinning.

"Precisely. Speaking of," Brooke retorted, tracing his jawline with her fingertips. She stopped at his chin, using her pointer finger to raise it slightly, and she immensely enjoyed the red that coated his cheeks and the tips of his ears. Jayden was sure she could hear his heart pounding, and his heart rate only increased as she leaned forward. "Goodnight, Jayden." She purred, pressing a lingering kiss to his cheek and then getting off of his lap, walking into the Shiba House as he just sat there.

What the hell? Jayden thought, his mind reeling and his face burning. That was incredibly new- and extremely flirty. His mind didn't know how to react to it, and he just sat, shellshocked. They had been getting closer- to the point where they were obviously flirting with each other. Tonight spurred that into action, as he found himself subconsciously finding any way to touch Brooke. Which was bad. Jayden knew he had to deal with those feelings... somehow. He just didn't know how to, without the risk of messing everything up. So, he just made a mental note to practice self-control. Luckily, Brooke only pulled stunts like that when they were alone, so that made things easier. Still, he let out a groan, falling onto his back again.

Staring up at the night sky, Jayden cursed the fact that he had to lead a team of power rangers at seventeen. He could only do so much to stuff his emotions down, and it was starting to get difficult. Very much so, in fact, and especially when Brooke popped back into his life. He knew that Ji had noticed as well, and it was getting to the point where Jayden had gotten the "keep personal emotions out of the mission" lecture. Which was embarrassing as all hell, but he didn't want Brooke to stop being around him. It was a sense of normalcy that he never had before- even if she wasn't particularly human and they were both samurai rangers.

The books he read never told him how to deal with this. Jayden even debated going to Mike, as the green ranger was a year older than him and presumably had some romantic advice. However, he didn't, because that would be even more embarrassing. And Antonio... well, it wasn't like the gold ranger had much expertise in dating anyone as well. So, Jayden just accepted the fact that he would have to deal with this by himself. Which he had to learn how to do. Great.

He tried shoving those thoughts aside, but Jayden really had nothing to think about. The three-day break he got from fighting nighlok caught him off guard, and he almost wished for something to happen. For something else to think about, so he didn't have to deal with this mess of emotions straight on. When there was a battle, he always had to focus on that, coming up with battle strategies and leading the team, making sure his teammates didn't get killed in the process. Now all he did was train and sometimes read archives. It wasn't very eventful, and it was boring. Even though Mike had joked that Jayden had no sense of adventure- even the red ranger got bored without having nighlok to fight.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Jayden rose to his feet, walking over and picking up his discarded training sword. Putting it back in the rack, he scanned the outdoor dojo, noticing that Amaris had presumably gone in with Brooke. Which was good, because he didn't want the white wolf seeing his crisis anyways. Running a hand through his hair, he walked back into the Shiba House and returned to his room. It was easier to just pretend like the feelings weren't there, and that's what Jayden planned to do.

--

When the gap sensor went off, Brooke couldn't be more thankful. She was starting to go stir crazy, so this was her lucky break- as long as it wasn't Serrator. That nighlok terrified her, more than she wanted to admit. He was powerful, far more so than Deker, and the fact that he had leverage over her was concerning. He had the upper hand, and Brooke was trying to find a way to stop that. She had scoured her family's archives, but found nothing important, per usual. Next up was the Shiba family's archives, but there were so many of those that she didn't know where to begin. She'll have to ask Jayden for help later. Or Kevin, as the blue ranger probably had the archives memorized at this point.

She snapped out of her thoughts when the six reached the plaza- Antonio fishing or something, scanning the area. A nighlok wasn't present, but it sure as hell smelt like it was. The scent covered most of the area, and Brooke gagged underneath her silver helmet. The helmet made things worse most of the time, and now was no different.

"The gap sensor went off right here..." Mia trailed, the pink ranger having a hand resting on her spin-sword as she scanned the area.

"Yeah, but where is the nighlok?" Kevin wondered aloud, then turning his attention to Brooke. "Brooke, do you smell anything?" The blue ranger asked the silver, who nodded.

"Yeah, the smell's-" Brooke started, but cut herself off when her senses perked at a shift in energy. "Brace yourselves!" She warned, flipping open her samuraizer and activating the brush portion. "Protection!" She yelled, drawing the symbol quickly and activating it, the translucent silver bubble surrounding the six.

Just in time, too, as a building near the stadium exploded, shards of glass and debris sent hurtling toward the rangers. Which the protection symbol blocked, preventing the team to be hit by the pieces of the building. As the debris settled, the nighlok also appeared with a call of "zip zip zip". Which was a rather strange catchphrase, especially for a nighlok that looked like a skeleton of a shark with red fur. The monsters only got weirder as time went on, and the team didn't question it anymore.

"Thanks, Brooke." Mia thanked, and Brooke nodded, the protection symbol disappearing.

"Destroying a whole building's new," Brooke muttered under her breath, her eyes flashing under her helmet. "Also, it's no problem. It's what it's made for, after all." She replied, waving a gloved hand in dismissal, putting her samuraizer in its pouch and then drawing her Wolf Kunai as the nighlok sauntered forward.

"Samurai rangers, I'm like a force of nature," The nighlok introduced itself, Brooke and Jayden sharing a look of mutual annoyance underneath their helmets. "A twister and a shark bite wrapped in one and ready for fun!" The monster added, and the team moved to rush forward.

However, they were interrupted by Antonio, the morphed gold ranger running up to the battlefield. "Hey, wait for me!" He called, stopping in front of the six.

"You're late." Kevin scolded, and Brooke snorted, spinning her kunai in her hand.

"Sorry, but this will be worth the wait!" Antonio apologized, turning his attention to the nighlok. "Hey Sharkjaw, get ready for a barracuda bite!" He threatened, unsheathing his Barracuda Blade and running forward. He began to rush the nighlok and was doing rather well, but Brooke knit her brows when the smell of machine oil filled her nose.

It wasn't coming from any of the rangers, nor the nighlok, so Brooke tensed, instantly scanning the area. Her gaze landed on another nighlok near a tree, who had a cog for a head and it's face in the middle. It seemed to just be watching, but the silver ranger still nudged the red on the shoulder. "Red, there's another one." She warned, nodding towards the cog-nighlok.

Jayden's gaze landed on the cog-nighlok and he instantly tensed. Well, this was the excitement he was wishing for. "We should focus on Sharkjaw for now, since that one just seems to be watching," He thought aloud, and Brooke nodded. "Thanks, though. Stay on guard." He advised, the pair having tight grips on their weapons.

Brooke cringed when Antonio landed on the ground in front of the team, letting out a groan of pain. She couldn't help but feel bad, but the battle still had to go on. With a discreet nod to Emily and Mia, the three female rangers stepped forward, sliding their zord disks onto their respective weapons. Spinning the disks, the blades of their weapons lit up their signature colors, the pink, yellow, and silver rangers calling out the attack names as they slashed.

"Air Wave!"

"Primate Cyclone!"

"Lone Wolf!"

The pink, yellow, and silver attacks hit the nighlok head-on, causing the monster to get knocked to the ground. Still, it picked itself up rather quickly, facing the team again. "It's time to take you losers for a spin! Tornado Warning!" The nighlok threatened, becoming a tornado. Which was hurtling towards the seven rangers at an alarming speed, and they didn't have time to react before it collided with the team and sent them to the ground.

"Nighlok!" Mike yelled, getting to his feet quickly. He tried using his sword as a way to presumably stop or slow down the tornado, but it did little to help. In fact, it did more harm than good, as a large number of sparks came from the spin-sword and the green ranger was sent backwards. He slid on the ground in front of the team, glancing at his spin-sword. "Well, that's not cool." He summarized, as the blade of his sword was almost fully worn away, rendering it useless.

"Sharks don't stop swimming, and I won't stop spinning!" Sharkjaw cackled, going into its tornado form again, and both Brooke and Jayden instantly felt worry claw at their hearts as Antonio ran forward.

"Time for me to put my own spin on things!" Antonio challenged, running forward.

"No!" Both Brooke and Jayden called in unison, but it was too late. The gold ranger received the same fate as the green, as he was sent hurtling sideways and collided with the ground.

The only good thing about this turn of events was the fact that Sharkjaw's body started greying and cracking, signaling that it was drying out. "Zip zip! Oh no, I'm drying out, you rangers got lucky, zip zip!" Sharkjaw stated, then disappearing in a crack in a flash of dark red.

The team demorphed, Brooke scanning the area once again. The cog-nighlok had disappeared from view, but the smell of machine oil still lingered in the air. That was a nighlok she's never seen- and it didn't look like a traditional nighlok. While nighlok were usually strange creatures, none of them had a mechanical theme or looked like they were made out of metal. She had a feeling it wasn't supposed to be here- like it was from a different area entirely. Which wasn't good in the slightest.

"Hey, you're muttering to yourself," Jayden called softly, snapping Brooke out of her thoughts. "C'mon, the others wanted to go get ice cream," He urged with a small smile, and she returned it with her own as they walked side-by-side. "Were you thinking about the other nighlok?" He asked, and Brooke nodded, letting out a heavy sigh.

"Yeah, something about it seems off. Like, it didn't even smell like nighlok, it smelt like a machine," Brooke answered, running a clawed hand over her face as her eyes flashed. "That's why I noticed it, to begin with. It's extremely different from a traditional nighlok, that's for sure." She concluded, shoving her hands into the pocket of her leather jacket, and Jayden knocked her shoulder with his own.

"It's going to work out." Jayden started, and Brooke grinned at him.

"Like it always does," Brooke finished, eyeing the ice cream shop as the four others- Antonio deciding to go fish, went inside. "Been a while since I've done something like this." She mused, and Jayden hummed in response.

"One time when we were little, Ji took us here," Jayden recalled with a fond smile. "And then you proceeded to trip over something and fall on the sidewalk." He added, laughing faintly.

Brooke heard his laughter and rolled her eyes with a small smile. "Glad to know you found enjoyment from me eating concrete, Red," She joked, kicking a small pebble and sending it hurtling down the street. "That screams ten-year-old boy, though." She remarked, the pair stopping in front of the ice cream shop.

"You yelled at me because I laughed." Jayden defended himself, opening the door for Brooke.

"Because you probably deserved it." Brooke fired back, ducking under Jayden's arm and entering the ice cream shop. It smelt good, and she felt a genuine smile growing on her lips when the four rangers waved the silver and red rangers over.

They were seated at one of the tables that were not made for four people, practically crowded around it. "There you two are! We were waiting for you." Emily greeted with a warm smile, and Brooke returned it with her own.

"Sorry, had a lot on my mind. That really didn't go as planned, huh?" Brooke asked, referring to the battle. She also decided to keep the cog-nighlok between herself and Jayden, as she didn't want to worry the others. Right now she just wanted to enjoy her time with them.

"It's alright! We tried our best," Mike stated with his usual carefree attitude, and it was almost infectious. It was like they were a group of six friends rather than soldiers in a war. "This is our celebration. Let's get some ice cream." He urged, a happy atmosphere surrounding the six.

After getting their ice cream, the six walked down the streets of Panorama. Well, Kevin had a carrot and a celery stick, and Mike was teasing him for it. "Kev, we beat the nighlok! This is our celebration!" He spoke through a mouthful of ice cream, and Kevin let out a sigh.

"I am celebrating, Mike." Kevin defended, but Mike was having none of it.

"Why didn't you get ice cream like the rest of us?" Mike fired back, a large grin on his face.

"Mike, stop picking on him." Emily chided, but she had a smile on her face. It was clear to see that the green and yellow rangers had gotten closer, and to say Brooke planned to use it against her was an understatement. Anytime Emily brought up Jayden, she brought up Mike. It was a way to deflect persistent questions.

"But he's eating veggies!" Mike exclaimed, grabbing Kevin's wrist, the blue ranger having a carrot in his hand.

"I've been feeling sluggish lately, Mike," Kevin grumbled, yanking his wrist out of Mike's grip. "So it's back to a strict samurai diet." He sounded proud of himself, and Mia laughed lightly at that. It was typical Kevin.

"But wouldn't you rather have mint chip?" Mike teased, waving his mint chocolate chip ice cream cone in Kevin's face. He rolled his eyes in response, so the green ranger turned his attention to the silver. "Brooke, do you always get asked if your teeth are real? 'Cause I felt bad for you." He asked, and Brooke sighed.

The cashier had asked if her canines are real, since they're longer than normal, and she had just stood there for a minute. Which was awkward, and Brooke had just nodded and paid for her ice cream without a word. "Yeah, sadly. It's worse with little kids, I got told I had "disco eyes" once by a seven-year-old. Back when I was in school I had colored contacts that were dark enough so it didn't show if they flashed, but I still stuck out. It's- watch out!" She cut herself off, spying as a car went over the side of the bridge that they were just about to walk under.

Jayden noticed too, and he put a protective arm in front of Brooke as the car crashed into the pavement. It landed front-first a couple of feet away from the rangers, who all jumped in surprise. Kevin even fell backwards, dropping his carrot and celery stick, and the car alarm blared. It was incredibly loud for Brooke, and she grit her teeth in annoyance as the sound, and the smell of smoke and car exhaust gave her a headache. Luckily, there was nobody in the car, because that would've most definitely killed a driver on impact.

"God, your senses are a lifesaver," Mike muttered to Brooke, who flashed him a pained smile and a thumbs up.

"Up there!" Mia blurted, pointing above her on the bridge. Purple blasts and workers were running away, which obviously meant some kind of nighlok.

"Let's go!" Jayden commanded, the six making their way to the bridge.

--

When the six reached the top of the bridge, there were moogers- well, not really moogers. They were robots, making mechanical sounds that grated Brooke's sense of hearing. They also smelt like machine oil, and she concluded that they were related to the cog-nighlok from before. The lack of familiarity was unnerving, and the five others seemed to share her thoughts. They all stared at the small army of robots warily, but the machines waited for them to make the first move.

"Moogers with lazers?" Emily wondered aloud, and Mike shook his head.

"Those steampunks aren't moogers," Mike stated, and Kevin nodded.

"They're machines, that explains the sound." Kevin agreed, Jayden and Brooke nodding at each other. It was still just an enemy- it could be dealt with.

"Either way, we need to stop them," Jayden commanded, his voice hard. He honestly didn't know what to do, as this was a completely new enemy, and they were even stranger than most nighlok. Still, he knew he had to lead, so he gave up the notion that he was confident. Being uneasy would just make the team uneasy.

The team took their samuraizers out of their pockets and flipped them open, Brooke activating the brush portion on hers. "Samuraizer: Go Go Samurai!" The six called in unison, drawing their respective symbols and activating them. The familiar suits appeared on their bodies, the rangers drawing their blades.

"Let's see just how tough these robots really are!" Jayden challenged, and with that, the battle began.

It wasn't a losing battle, but it was difficult. Brooke found herself putting full force behind every swing just to pierce through the robots' armor. Which worked, but it was incredibly draining. Still, Jayden kicked one of the robots towards her, and she managed to skewer it in the heart, it falling to the ground. The sound the robots made was giving her a headache, and it was adding to her frustrations, and she grit her teeth as she fought. Her wolf form couldn't help either, and she didn't want to risk breaking a claw or canine on a robot. Because while only the armor they were was metal, they were still much tougher than moogers.

"God, fuck this." Brooke panted as she and Jayden regrouped. Her arms were sore, and he seemed to be in a similar state that she was in, his chest heaving.

"Yeah, I get what you mean." Jayden agreed, the two catching their breaths and then running into battle again.

"You think you can melt 'em?" Brooke thought aloud as Amaris put up a shield to protect the two from the robots' blasts. Once they stopped firing, the translucent purple shield disappeared, the silver and red rangers running forward again.

"I'm worried it'll just bounce right off," Jayden confessed, and Brooke didn't respond, ducking over a robot's swing.

She swept its legs out from underneath it, knocking it to the ground. Raising her katana, Brooke brought it straight down on the robot's chest, blocking another robot's attack from behind. She successfully killed the thing, at least, and yanked her sword out of the robot, performing a backwards handspring and landing beside Jayden again. Her head pounded, and so did her heart, but she tried her best to ignore it. And it did become secondary as her senses perked again.

Red blasts of energy shot out and collided with the robots, causing them to fall to the ground. A large amount of smoke rose from their bodies, and both the silver and the red rangers snapped their attention to the direction it came from. Jayden subconsciously positioned himself in front of Brooke protectively, especially because of the new figure.

It was a red ranger. Not a samurai ranger, as shown by his suit, but the vibrant red almost put Jayden's to shame. The suit almost had a car theme to it, the ends of his boots looking like tires, and the blaster he was holding looked like a gas nozzle. However, he still had the traditional red and white color scheme, but that was the only thing similar about him compared to Jayden. Brooke almost found it tacky, but she didn't voice that aloud. The red ranger did take care of some of the robots after all.

"Why, hello there," The red ranger greeted, and the team made noises of confusion. "They're almost made of all metal, so your swords won't cut it! But watch this!" He stated confidently, jumping off the ledge of the bridge he was standing on. He started attacking, making quick work of the robots compared to the team.

Still, Brooke returned to her own battle, focusing on the robots at hand. Worst-case scenario- she had the upper hand. The new red ranger didn't know she was a shifter, and she kept that piece of information to herself. He may have a gun, but she had Amaris. Speaking of, the white wolf was present in Brooke's mind, her voice full of confusion.

"He is not of this world," Amaris spoke, but even she sounded unconvinced of her own statement. "He is not a foe, at least. That, I know." She added, and Brooke nodded, sparing a glance at the red ranger.

His blaster had turned into a sword, and he was currently pushing Kevin around. The red ranger was cutting down robots while avoiding hitting the blue, but Kevin was still displeased at this turn of events. "Hey hotshot, you almost took my head off!" He scolded, but the red ranger merely laughed and ran over to the next group of robots.

"Amaris says he's not a threat, but she doesn't know where he came from," Brooke explained to Jayden as they regrouped, the silver ranger and red (samurai) ranger falling into their usual routine. "Still, I'm going to keep the whole wolf thing to myself for now. Could be some hunter for all I know." She declared, and Jayden nodded.

"Stay on your toes," Jayden advised, shifting his attention to the other red ranger for a moment. When he first saw the red suit, he almost thought it was Lauren, and the fear and worry that had filled his body was immense. Now, the fear had dispersed, it being replaced with general confusion and slight annoyance.

The red ranger was cocky, no doubt about it. But it made sense, as he was the only one who could defeat the robots with little difficulty. "You guys really need to update your weapons!" He mocked, dealing with the robots surrounding Mike and moved over to Mia and Emily. "Ladies, watch this." He urged, dramatically dealing with some of the robots and then letting out a mocking laugh.

Still, his confidence faltered when a number of robots lined up and fired their blasters at him. Brooke sighed, sheathing a katana and pulling out her samuraizer, flipping the device open and activating the brush portion. She drew the protection symbol, the shield preventing the red ranger from being turned into target practice. The shield fizzled out, and he turned his attention to the silver ranger for a moment. "Thanks, Sweetheart!" He called, and Brooke just narrowed her eyes. The red ranger turned his attention back to the robots, settling into a fighting stance. "Time to get in gear!"

As the red ranger's boots seemed to rev up, and he moved without moving his feet, Brooke turned her attention to Jayden. Who had gone quiet, and she noticed the tight grip he had on his spin-sword. An emotion was radiating off him- it wasn't stress, it was jealousy. She grinned underneath her helmet at that, but still feigned ignorance as she nudged his booted foot with her own. "Hey, you okay? Don't zone out now." Brooke teased, and Jayden snapped out of his thoughts.

"Hm? Oh, yeah. I'm okay." Jayden answered, trying to shove down the irrational jealousy he felt. It was worse than with Antonio, maybe because the red ranger was, well, a red ranger.

"Now that's how it's done in this century!" The red ranger cheered, dealing with the rest of the robots surrounding Jayden and Brooke, the machines exploding around the pair. Who wasted no time, their ranger suits disappearing in flashes of red and silver.

"Who are you?" Jayden asked, and his voice, once again, came out harsher than he meant for it to be. The rest of the team also demorphed and regrouped, the six rangers inspecting the red with expressions of confusion and caution.

"Well, I'm a power ranger, just like you," The red ranger answered, throwing his gun in the air. It landed in its holster, and Brooke raised her eyebrows, her eyes flashing. That was a neat trick, at least. "Where I come from, they call me Ranger Red." Ranger Red introduced himself, and Mike nudged Brooke in the side, who quirked a brow at him, her eyes flashing.

"Another "Red"." Mike snickered, and Brooke rolled her eyes.

She had to admit- that this was probably going to be confusing. She knew her nickname for Jayden was unoriginal, but somebody else using it? Brooke didn't expect that. She didn't necessarily like it, either- and she had to forcibly stop her body from subconsciously shifting. Which hurt, and she instantly regretted that decision. She'd never done that before- and was not planning to do it again.

Ranger Red, noticing the team's silence, started walking up to the six. "What? Oho, you're mad that I took out those Grinders for you," He chuckled, his voice then taking a much softer tone. "Well, they're robots from my dimension, I wasn't sure if your old school swords could handle them. You can call me Scott. Pleased to meet you." He introduced himself, and Jayden warily took his hand.

"I'm not sure we'll have met until I can look you in the eyes," Jayden stated, shaking Scott's hand.

"Ah, not right now. I have my reasons," Scott replied, tapping his helmet for emphasis. Which looked like a car- with decal wheels on the side, and a yellow bird beak on the front. Decal lights represented the bird's eyes, and this time, Brooke couldn't stop her eyes from flashing.

Which Scott seemed to notice, turning his attention to her. "Silver," He started, and Brooke perked up, hooking her thumbs on her belt loops. "What's your story?" He questioned, and Jayden was instantly alert.

"My story?" Brooke echoed, tapping the toe of her doc martens on the ground. With her platforms, she was nearly as tall as Scott- and Jayden, standing at 5'11.

"You're not fully human, are you?" Scott wondered, and Brooke instantly froze, her eyes flashing multiple times as her claws and canines grew in. "My point stands. You're not like anyone I've seen before, and even among your team, you stand out." He pointed out, and she didn't avert her gaze, only quirking a brow.

"Is that flattery or a general statement?" Brooke asked without missing a beat, deflecting Scott's statement with a question, and he chuckled. Truth be told- he had just put one of her insecurities on blast, and she was trying to cover that up to the best of her abilities. Still, she tried to keep her tone as neutral as she could.

"Feisty. Take it as you will." Scott chuckled, and the irrational jealousy hit Jayden at full force. He knew Brooke wasn't doing anything- in fact, she just seemed blank, but, annoyingly, he was still jealous.

"Feel free to tell him, my dear. No harm will come of it." Amaris' voice rang through Brooke's head, and she nodded.

Running a clawed hand over her face, she let out a heavy sigh. "You're right. I'm not fully human- I'm what they call a shifter," Brooke started, trying to summarize her "gift" to the best of her abilities. "Long story short- my family has the ability to shift into a wolf at will. That includes inhumane features, such as my eyes flashing and my claws and canines. It also comes with heightened senses, sense of hearing and smell, mostly. It's genetic, for the most part, and all silver rangers here have it." She explained, and Scott nodded slowly, digesting the information.

"Huh. Interesting- I'd never thought there'd be rangers in a different dimension, let alone one that isn't human." Scott remarked with a faint laugh.

It's always the red rangers, Brooke thought, shaking her head with a faint smile. "Thanks for not hunting me for sport. I can never tell with these kinda things." She joked, and she could practically taste the jealousy radiating off of Jayden. Which made her feel guilty, as she didn't mean to make him feel jealous. So, she made the mental note to talk to him when they could be alone.

"Jayden, a lot's been going on today. I don't think we should just trust him." Kevin whispered, Mike nodding in agreement.

It snapped Jayden out of his thoughts, and he made eye contact with Brooke for a moment, surprised to see guilt in her expression. Making the mental note to talk about that later, he turned his attention to Scott. "Ranger Red, you say you come from a different dimension. So, how did you get here?" He questioned, and Scott tried to respond.

However, he was cut off by Mia and Emily taking each of his arms. "Enough already! He's obviously a friend, so he can tell us everything when we get home." Emily stated enthusiastically, she and Mia practically dragging Scott in the direction of the Shiba House.

"Yeah, I'll cook you something!" Mia agreed, and Scoot looked back at the four other rangers.

"Uh, what?" Scott blurted, and he didn't get a response before Mia and Emily dragged him away.

Mike looked at the two girls and Scott, then to Brooke. "You're not gonna go with them?" He snickered, and she shook her head, rolling her eyes.

"Car guys aren't my type. Never have been," Brooke replied with a grin, discreetly glancing at Jayden and then back to Mike. Besides, only have a thing for one red ranger, she thought. While the others started walking, she grabbed Jayden's wrist, he stopped in his tracks, turning to face her. "You're jealous." She stated and watched as his eyes winded and cheeks dusted pink.

Well. There was no point in denying it at this point. "You- you can tell?" Jayden questioned, inwardly kicking himself for the stammering of his voice and the fact it rose in pitch.

Brooke nodded and watched as the pink on his cheeks darkened. "Strong emotions I can figure out, and it was either jealousy or stress," She remarked, walking up to Jayden. With her platforms, she could easily make eye contact with him and watched as his eyes landed anywhere but her face. "It's okay, Red. It's cute." She reassured him, pressing a chaste kiss to his cheek and then moving to walk away. However, he caught her wrist before she could, and she turned to face him.

"You know what you're doing," Jayden stated, and Brooke's eyes flashed as she quirked a brow.

"Do I?" Brooke teased, feigning ignorance. She enjoyed the way Jayden's cheeks and the tips of his ears were pink, and she wanted to tease him more. However, she knew she had a job to do. "This is fun, but we should go figure out what Ranger Red is doing here." She stated, and he nodded, dropping her wrist.

"Yeah, we should," Jayden agreed, and he felt significantly less jealous- just flustered. Which was fine, it was much better than the irrational jealousy. "Let's go." He urged, the two running to catch up with Kevin and Mike.

--

The seven walked through the gates to the Shiba House, Ji looking up from where he was polishing his motorcycle. Brooke still couldn't even fathom why a motorcycle, and it was fitting but not all at the same time. Emily and Mia were still dragging Scott, they had been for the past ten minutes, and the others honestly felt somewhat bad for him. However, their sympathy turned into fear quickly as Mia spoke.

"I'll get dinner started!" Mia chirped, jogging into the Shiba House enthusiastically, and the others, sans Scott because he didn't know what he was getting into, cringed.

Scott was too interested in Ji's bike, the red ranger almost transfixed. "Ooh, I thought you samurai just rode horses. Now that's more like it." He announced, and Ji shot a confused look at Jayden.

"Who's our new friend?" Ji asked, and Jayden's voice was hard when he spoke.

"That's what we're going to go find out," Jayden answered, he and Brooke walking side-by-side as they entered the Shiba House.

Which Emily finally let go of Scott's arm, and Brooke noticed the expression of relief flickering across Mike's face for the moment. Which was amusing, and Jayden seemed to notice it as well. The two shared a look as Scott started inspecting the Shiba House, taken aback.

"What in the world? Uh, you guys really do live a Spartan life, don't you?" Scott nervously laughed, obviously out of his element and overwhelmed. The slight fear and stress were radiating off of him in waves, but he was trying to cover it up with false confidence. "There's no T.V., no video games? Uh, yeah right," He muttered, walking down the hall, and Brooke didn't blame him for being on edge. She was the same way when Jayden first dragged her into the Shiba House. "Interesting. You guys really are all about being old school." Scott summarized, and Kevin seemed almost offended.

"Old school?" Kevin echoed, narrowing his eyes slightly. "Are you aware at all- that you were this close to cutting off my head?" He scolded, and Jayden let out a quiet sigh, stepping forward and crossing his arms.

"Alright. Scott- cut to the chase. Educate us." Jayden urged, and Emily nodded, her usual cheery smile on her face.

"Yeah, why don't you demorph, make yourself at home, and tell us about yourself?" Emily offered cheerfully, but Scott didn't return the enthusiasm.

"Okay, here to hunt down a robot, his name is Professor Cog. He's looking for a way to wipe out the last of the humans in my dimension," Scott explained, turning his attention to the five other rangers. "To answer your question, I can't demorph, because I don't know if I can breathe the air here. In my dimension, we've been forced to live in a dome city, just to avoid the toxic atmosphere the robots have created," He answered, letting out a sigh and clapping his hands together. "It's been a long day, so I'd appreciate some privacy. Is there somewhere I can go?" He asked, and Jayden nodded slowly.

"Uh, yeah, sure. There's a spare room down the hall to the left." Jayden offered, and Scott nodded.

"Thanks." Scott thanked, walking off, and Emily watched his retreating form with an expression of sympathy.

"Wow, I feel so bad for him." Emily murmured with a small frown on her lips.

Mike, however, was still conflicted. "I still don't trust him. And I don't like the way he looks at you." He stated, and Brooke bit back laughter, her grey eyes sparkling with amusement.

"He's wearing a helmet," Emily pointed out, a small smile growing on her face. "How can you tell?" She wondered, and Mike scoffed, but he was obviously caught off-guard.

"I could just tell," Mike stated matter-of-factly, and Emily just hummed in response, nodding.

With that, Brooke and Jayden broke off from the group, making their way to the outdoor dojo. The pair sat on one of the concrete benches, Amaris also appearing in a flash of silver. The white wolf hopped onto the empty space of the bench, Brooke scooting closer to Jayden so that she could have more space. Not that either of them minded, they enjoyed the feeling of having their sides pressed together, and Brooke felt a warm arm snake around her waist and rest at her hip while Amaris laid on her thigh.

"You think Professor Cog is the one we saw earlier?" Brooke thought aloud, running a hand through Amaris' fur. When Jayden nodded, she sighed, her eyes flashing, her claws and canines growing in as well. "He must want to make some deal with Xandred then." She concluded, and Jayden nearly screamed when he saw Ji's disappointed gaze out of the corner of his eye.

He removed his arm from around Brooke's waist, nearly shooting a glare at his mentor. We're off-duty, Jayden thought bitterly, letting out a heavy sigh as Ji walked away. Glad to know he now had that parenting in his life- though he supposed that he didn't need it before. Still, though, Jayden found it aggravating, and Brooke seemed to notice his frustration, glancing at him and quirking a brow.

"Ji's thinking that I'm getting too close to you. That it's getting in the way of the mission." Jayden answered Brooke's silent question, and her eyes flashed.

She averted her gaze from him, only admiring the silver strands of Amaris' fur. "Oh," Brooke remarked quietly, chewing on her bottom lip. She had forgotten to take that into consideration, and something akin to guilt filled her gut. "I mean- if you need me to... I can, like, leave you alone, I guess. It's okay, I don't want you getting in trouble because of me." She offered, and Jayden's eyes instantly widened, him shaking his head.

"No! I want you around," Jayden blurted, and Brooke turned her attention back to him. "I don't care, really. It's fine, I want you around." He repeated himself for emphasis, and she shook her head with a small smile, turning her gaze to the outdoor dojo.

"Wow, I'm really a bad influence on you, huh?" Brooke was partly joking, a bittersweet smile on her lips. "Like... I dunno, given everything. I didn't exactly make good choices in the past, there's some stuff only Casper knows because I'm ashamed of telling anyone else. Especially you." She laughed weakly, trying to force down the memories of nights she got drunk. The nights with somebody she regrets.

"Hey, it's alright," Jayden reassured Brooke, noticing the fact that her shoulders were shaking slightly. "You're overthinking things, it's okay. You're Brooke, and I wouldn't want anyone else by my side," He murmured, glancing over his shoulder to make sure nobody was watching before wrapping his arm around her waist again. His heartbeat pounded in his chest, and he didn't even know why. He wanted to kiss her, but he knew he couldn't. It would break so many rules that he knew he couldn't break. It would break rules he was scared to break, so he just used all his impulse control and the fact that he was scared of getting punished for getting caught. "You mean a lot to me. That's not going to change."

"God, if we weren't in this damn war," Brooke laughed, blinking away tears that formed. "You... you're special. I'm going to leave it at that." She announced, and Jayden laughed quietly, using his free hand to guide her head to his shoulder.

"After the war's over, then?" Jayden remarked with a grin, and Brooke smiled, pink blooming on her cheeks as she rested her head on his shoulders.

"It's cheesy, but yeah. Maybe I'll have my emotions straight by then," Brooke answered, her smile falling. "I gotta deal with Serrator beforehand. I want to be the one to land the finishing blow." She muttered, and Jayden frowned.

He had almost forgotten about that- one appearance and the nighlok had knocked a ranger out of commission for almost a week. "I don't blame you, remind me to give you the black box when the time comes," Jayden spoke softly, and Brooke let out a quiet cheer from where she was resting her head on his shoulder.

"Oh hell yeah, I'm gonna super samurai kick his ass." Brooke cheered, trying to lighten the mood. And it did work because she heard Jayden's quiet laughter. And that was enough for right now.

It was difficult- trying to manage this stupid crush and fight a war. Brooke couldn't deny it, but she knew, once things got hectic again, she'd have to push that to the side. This was a time of peace- as peaceful as it could be, so she just allowed herself to feel things for the time being. She breathed in the smell of smoke and cologne, a smell that she thought she wouldn't label as comforting. But, it was now, and she welcomed it.

That stayed like that for a while, Brooke eventually starting to fall asleep. She felt Jayden rubbing small circles on the back of her hand with his thumb, and she wondered if he knew that was a semi-romantic thing to do, or he was just on autopilot. Knowing him, it could be either-or, and she laughed quietly, one hand buried in Amaris' fur, the other holding Jayden's hand. Who heard her quiet laughter and glanced down at her, a small smile on his face.

"What's funny?" Jayden wondered, and his voice was quiet. It was almost like if he spoke too loud, it would ruin the moment.

"Just thinking," Brooke replied, her voice equally as quiet, and Jayden hummed in response, looking down at their intertwined hands.

"Where are these from?" Jayden asked, running his thumb over the scars on Brooke's knuckles.

"Uh, I don't know, actually," Brooke replied, her eyes flashing. She raised her head from Jayden's shoulder- which he was somewhat displeased about, furrowing her brows as she peered at the scars. "That one's from when I broke a vase... I think. All I know is that they're probably from me just being stupid." She explained, and Jayden opened his mouth to respond, only to see someone out of the corner of his eye.

If it's Ji, I'm going to scream, Jayden thought to himself and mentally prepared himself for what seemed the umpteenth disappointed look of the day. He glanced over his shoulder to find Emily standing at the doorway, the yellow ranger having a sheepish smile on her face.

"Sorry if I'm interrupting something, but lunch is ready." Emily apologized, and Brooke shot her a warm smile, shaking her head.

"It's all good, Em. Thanks for letting us know," Brooke replied, and Emily nodded with her usual smile, walking back into the Shiba House. "We should probably go get poisoned, then." She stated, letting go of Jayden's hand and pushing Amaris' head off of her thigh, standing.

Both the red ranger and the white wolf seemed annoyed at this turn of events, and Brooke smiled genuinely, sticking your hands in her pockets. "Y'know, in the five years I remember of my life, I have not received this much physical affection. Let alone had a leader of a team of power rangers giving it to me." She mused, and Jayden flushed, his cheeks dusted pink.

"You deserve it," Jayden murmured, but then regained his composure. He stood from his seat, Amaris jumping off the bench as well, letting out a quiet sigh. "Let's go see what she's made for us today." He grumbled, referring to Mia's cooking, and Brooke laughed.

"Just don't eat it. That's my best suggestion." Brooke advised as she and Jayden walked back into the Shiba House. Amaris was at her side, per usual, and the two rangers mentally prepared themselves for whatever food they would have to stomach.

--

Mia's cooking was almost always bad, and it was just a fact of life at this point. And while her cooking was bad- she also made enough to feed a small army. That's what made it worse, as the others couldn't throw it out without her noticing. Brooke knew she should eat, but her sense of smell did not convey the message that this was good. It was some sort of chicken, and it smelt bitter if that was even possible. Wrinkling her nose, she stabbed the chicken with her fork warily, debating if she should even risk trying to stomach it. She was having a rather good day, and she didn't want some bitter chicken ruining that for her.

"Hey, Amaris," Brooke called quietly to the white wolf, who was laying in the middle of the kitchen on the hardwood floor. "Thoughts?" She wondered, making sure Mia's back was turned and lowering the fork to Amaris' height.

Amaris seemed rather cautious, standing up and padding over to the chicken. The three other rangers sitting at the counter with Brooke- Jayden, Emily, and Mike, watched her with amusement as she sniffed the chicken. Which she instantly had a negative reaction to, her ears flattening to her head and her fur bristling. "I would not suggest consuming that." She advised, trying to be as nice as she could, but violet eyes shone with caution as she eyed the chicken.

"Well, that settles that," Brooke announced, setting her fork on her plate. Amaris padded over, sitting in the space between her and Jayden's stools, and she instantly started petting the wolf. Who was content, her tag wagging slowly. Brooke felt a pair of eyes on her, and grey-gold eyes met blue, her quirking a brow. "What?" She wondered, her eyes flashing, and Jayden just shook his head, a fond smile on his face.

"Nothing," Jayden replied quietly, and Brooke pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows. Still, he said nothing further, only reaching down and petting Amaris as well.

Brooke didn't even have to turn around to know Scott was at the doorway, he smelt like some strange cologne with a hint of gasoline. "Hey, Scott. You coming to join us?" She asked, and he tilted his head to the side.

"How'd you know I was there?" Scott wondered, and Brooke snickered at the shock that made its way into his tone. "Also, a wolf?" He pointed out, eyeing Amaris warily.

"That's Miss Werewolf's thing," Mike announced, clapping Brooke on the shoulder, who shot him a deadpan expression at the nickname. "Don't worry, it took us all awhile to get used to it." He reassured Scott, who nodded slowly.

"And the wolf's Amaris! She's like Brooke's guardian of sorts, and helps us out in battle from time to time." Emily added, and Brooke spun around in her stool so that she was facing Scott.

"She's nice, you can pet her if you want." Brooke offered, and Amaris stood, padding over to Scott. She looked up at him, violet eyes scanning his red helmet, her tail wagging faintly.

"Can he hear you, Amaris?" Mia wondered, setting a large bowl of some kind of noodles on the counter in front of the three. They didn't smell bitter, which was good, but they still didn't smell appetizing.

Scott seemed to grow even more confused at Mia's question to Amaris, but he still kneeled down and pet the wolf. Who was very happy about this turn of events, meaning she had another person to get attention from. "Hear her?" He echoed, and Amaris' white and silver tail wagged happily.

"He does not possess symbol power, but he is also not from here," Amaris speculated, and when Scott made a noise of surprise, she laughed. "I assume that answers your questions." She remarked, her voice and eyes having a hint of amusement to them.

"Huh. Interesting- you're less Spartan than I thought." Scott concluded, directing the statement at Brooke, who performed a mock salute with two of her fingers and spun around in her stool again.

Brooke made eye contact with Jayden, who was almost scowling. So, she flicked him in the forehead, her eyes flashing as she stuck out her tongue at him. He rolled his eyes in response, but she could still see the corners of his lips twitch. The crease above his eyebrow also did disappear, so Brooke considered that a win in her book. While she found jealous Jayden somewhat cute- she didn't want him to feel bad. That didn't sit right with her.

Meanwhile, Mike seemed to have one of his "ingenious" ideas, as he stabbed a piece of chicken with his fork. "Here, have some." He offered Scott, holding the fork out, and Emily instantly grabbed his arm.

"Mike, be nice." Emily scolded, her voice barely above a whisper. She glanced at Mia, who was still dividing her full attention to cooking, so the pink ranger didn't see the games her teammates were playing.

"Guess he'd rather starve," Mike muttered, eyeing Scott's retreating form and then returning his attention to his plate. "That is genius though. From now on, when Mia cooks, I'm wearing my helmet." He declared, biting the chicken off of his fork.

Brooke looked down at her plate with a small frown. She was hungry- but she knew Mia's cooking would do more harm than good. And while she didn't want to break into her "running away" stash of protein bars she kept, she realized that she might just have to. Which was annoying, and she let out a quiet sigh, only for her samuraizer to start beeping. Not soon after, the gap sensor went off, the team sprinting into the meeting room.

Ji already had the map up, and the six rangers crowded around the coffee table. "There's no nighlok, but there's a disturbance at the waterfront," He explained, but before anybody could say anything else, they all heard the sounds of a motorcycle engine revving. "He took my bike!" Ji blurted, and Brooke laughed under her breath before turning to Amaris.

"I will head back to Sweetbrier, call on me if you need it, my dear." Amaris stated, and Brooke nodded, ruffling the fur in between the wolf's ears.

"Thanks, Amaris," Brooke thanked, kneeling down to Amaris' height. "I love you." She thought and watched as the wolf's violet eyes instantly brightened.

"I love you too," Amaris replied, her voice only ringing through Brooke's head. The white wolf nuzzled the silver ranger's cheek, then she bounced in place twice, leaping through the air and disappearing in a flash of silver.

Standing upright, Brooke glanced at the map for a moment, her eyes flashing. "I know a way." She answered the team's silent question, and Jayden nodded.

"Rangers, let's go," Jayden commanded, and the six ran out of the Shiba House.

--

The six morphed rangers reached the waterfront to find Scott dealing with Professor Cog. Antonio was also present, but he was more confused than anything. "Who is this guy? What's going on?" He questioned, and the six drew their blades.

"Fight now, talk later!" Jayden commanded, and with that, the battle began.

Honestly, Brooke found Professor Cog less scary than Deker. He was slower than the, now deceased, half-human, and that was great. The only thing that was somewhat difficult to deal with was the fact that he was mostly metal. Still, they got by, and it was rather easy compared to some of the other nighlok they fought. However, Brooke knew it was only going to get more difficult from here on out.

Blocking one of Professor Cog's swings, in which his arm looked like a screwdriver, Brooke performed an uppercut with her other katana. "So, you're working with Master Xandred, yeah?" She questioned, jumping back and regrouping with Jayden. The samurai silver and red rangers stood side-by-side, settling into fighting stances and readying their swords. Brooke even debated firing off one of the symbol power attacks, but decided against it, as it could just bounce off for all she knew.

"Yes, we have a deal. It involves you and your precious red ranger," Professor Cog answered, and Brooke narrowed her eyes underneath her helmet. Of course, it did. She wasn't even surprised, just generally annoyed that now a machine wanted her dead along with countless nighlok. The joys of being a power ranger. "And after you're destroyed, the rest of the human population will be squashed like grapes. Ask Ranger Red." Professor Cog mocked, and Scott let out a growl.

"Shut up, motormouth!" Scott spat, running forward. And that's when things started getting a little more difficult.

The team, plus Scott, all managed to get hit by Professor Cog. The robot managed to make all seven rangers to lose their bearings and charged up some attack, his cog head spinning. "Electro Turbine!" He called, called, and all of the rangers, sans Scott, found themselves on the ground.

Scott seemed fired up, and rather pissed. "You're mine, Cog!" He challenged, running forward. He tussled with Professor Cog for a couple of moments, only to be knocked back.

"And these are for you! Hypnobolts!" Professor Cog announced, firing what seemed to be large bullets at Scott. Sparks flew from the red ranger's body when he was hit, and he landed next to Jayden and Brooke on the ground with a groan.

Scott moved to run forward, but Jayden put a hand out, stopping him in his tracks. "Wait, what are hypnobolts? How do you feel?" He questioned, and Scott scoffed.

"Like fighting." Scott spat, rushing into a battle with a yell. However, it was pretty much worthless, as Professor Cog shot out a barrage of hypnobolts. They hit Scott at full force, Brooke didn't even have time to call on Amaris to make a shield before the bullets hit her and Jayden as well.

The force sent the silver and two red rangers hurtling through the air, and they landed hard on their backs. The three all let out groans of pain but regained their bearings quickly as Professor Cog walked over. His footsteps made loud thunks with every step, Brooke realized she underestimated him. He was almost like a mechanical Serrator- and that was terrifying. "You're a pest, Ranger Red. I made a deal to get rid of the samurai rangers, sending you away is a bonus!" Professor Cog exclaimed gleefully, and purple energy started circling his screwdriver arm. The energy shot out, creating some sort of purple portal at the tip of his screwdriver arm.

"A vortex!" Scott blurted, looking at both Brooke and Jayden. "That will send us back to my dimension!" He explained, Brooke really didn't feel like going dimension-hopping. Nor did she really want to.

"You can't escape! Vector Vortex!" Professor Cog called, sending the vortex hurtling towards the silver and two red rangers.

"Look out!" Scott warned, and the three braced themselves for the impact of the vortex hitting them. However, it never came, and Brooke nearly let out a bitter laugh at the sight. Of course, it was the rest of the team that stopped the vortex, it was practically scripted. "They're shielding us!" He pointed out, and then, the vortex exploded.

The force sent the three remaining rangers hurtling over the side of the platform they were fighting on and into the water. Brooke demorphed on impact, her ranger suit and swords disappearing in flashes of silver. The water was cold- much colder than she expected it to be, but it didn't stop her from shifting. The brown wolf emerged from the water, golden eyes falling on Jayden, who had also demorphed, and Scott, who hadn't.

The three said nothing for a moment, and then wolf-Brooke started swimming over to the nearest dock rather quickly. Scott and Jayden watched the brown wolf for a moment, the two red rangers sharing a look of mutual confusion. "Didn't know wolves were such strong swimmers," Scott remarked, and Jayden nodded.

Brooke shifted back so that she could pull herself up on the dock, and she tried to ignore the way her clothes were stuck uncomfortably to her body. Her hair was stuck to her face, and she did not enjoy the way her leather jacket squelched when she offered Jayden a hand. He just looked up at her for a moment, and something akin to anger flickered across his face, but then he shot her a small smile.

"Thanks." Jayden thanked, and Brooke only nodded. Something in her head was screaming at her to not be nice to him, which was strange. Still, she ignored it, taking her hand and helping him to his feet on the dock. The two rangers were soaked, and Brooke was glad she didn't have her phone on her.

Scott made his way over next, and Brooke crouched down, offering him a hand. "Scott, here. Let me help." She offered, and he only looked at her hand and pulled himself up onto the dock himself.

"I don't need your help," Scott declared, getting to his feet quickly. "I'm fine." He spat, walking away from the pair.

For some reason, Brooke felt pissed. At both Scott and Jayden, and that was worrying. They both had done nothing wrong, but her mind was telling her to get angry at the two red rangers. For what, she really didn't even know, and she really didn't like the direction that today was going. She was having a decent day, and then Scott ruined- no. Scott did nothing, and she was usually more level-headed than this, plus she didn't blame the current situation on anyone besides Professor Cog. She knew something was wrong, incredibly so, and Brooke fought back the urge to lose her shit and yell at them both.

"Amaris. Something isn't right," Brooke thought, feeling as the water dripped from her clothes and hair as she followed Scott. "You can read my thoughts, right? They're... they're not normal." She added, and Amaris responded without missing a beat.

"You are correct in that regard. An outside force is influencing your emotions, and changing your perception of both red rangers. The logical explanation would be the hypnobolts," Amaris explained, and Brooke cursed under her breath. Well, that would make sense, but it wasn't good. She didn't know if she'd wolf out or not due to the irrational anger, and that could lead her to hurt herself- or Scott and Jayden, which was worse. "I will step in if you start to lose your grip on humanity- and before you do something you regret. There is no need to worry in that regard, I have the ability to take you out of a triggering location." Amaris reassured Brooke, who nodded and turned her attention to Jayden.

"The hypnobolts are probably going to start kicking in soon. Just be careful." Brooke warned, and she flinched at the venom dripping from Jayden's voice as he spoke.

"There's no need to follow me around like a pet. I'm fine." Jayden spat, and then he seemed to realize the words that came out of his mouth. He took in Brooke's hurt expression, but braced himself when it turned into one of anger, her eyes narrowing and landing on pure gold.

"Well, maybe if you didn't need to be saved all the fuckin' time, I'd wouldn't have to follow you around!" Brooke growled, her upper lip curling around her fully bared canines, and her claws were fully grown in as well, her fingernails sharp and jagged. Jayden realized this was the first time he's seen her this angry, and the fact it was at him, didn't sit right with him. Well, none of this did, and he bit back an angry remark. He just really hoped their friendship didn't end up in pieces due to Professor Cog.

"Brooke," Amaris appeared in a flash of silver, her voice stern. Still, it had a hint of worry to it, and violet eyes shone with concern. "You are not thinking rationally. Calm down." She demanded, and Brooke's eyes flashed, her claws and canines shrinking again.

"Shit," Brooke muttered, running a clawed hand over her face. "I'm sorry, Red- I... I'm sorry." She mumbled, and Jayden offered her a small smile.

"It's alright," Jayden reassured Brooke, who just averted her gaze. He had a feeling it was only going to get worse from here, and the two walked in uncomfortable silence. He would honestly take the irrational jealousy over the irrational anger- as one didn't lead to him yelling at his childhood crush for no reason.

The three rangers ended up sitting on some logs near the edge of the dock, all just going over what just happened as the sun dried their clothes- and ranger suit. Brooke was worried, extremely, because she didn't want to say anything hurtful to Jayden. Or Scott, because she knew the red ranger was trying his best. Still, she didn't voice her worries aloud, only drawing her knees to her chest. Part of her brain wanted Jayden to hold her, and the other part was making her hate him. Brooke didn't know which one was worse as her hair dried and fluffed up again. Amaris had disappeared, as she couldn't be in public places since, one, she was a wolf, and two, because she was a strangely colored wolf on top of that. Still, she was present in Brooke's mind, soothing the silver ranger to the best of her abilities.

Scott was the first one to break the silence, after almost twenty minutes of the three just being consumed by their thoughts. "Your team, they sacrificed themselves for us." He pointed out, and Brooke nodded.

"They like doing that. It's a bad habit of theirs." Brooke replied, her voice quiet, and her claws sunk into the log underneath her. She actually had to think about each word before she said it, just so she didn't say something mean and start a fight.

"They protect us because they think we're the keys to stopping Master Xandred," Jayden added. He didn't mention the fact that he actually was lying to their faces- that Brooke was the only one present who could stop Xandred. His blue eyes landed on her damp figure, and she was absentmindedly picking at some of the bark on the log she was sitting under. She was so nonchalant- and Jayden found it annoying. He wanted her to actually take things- no. That wasn't right at all, and he silently apologized to Brooke, even though he said nothing. God, this is going to be difficult.

Meanwhile, Scott let out a laugh. "Ohh," He teased, turning so he could face the pair, who had their backs towards him. "Wow, you two are pretty full of yourselves, aren't you?" He wondered, and Brooke bit back a growl.

Jayden, however, was calmer than she was. "No, it's not like that," He stated, and then he turned to face Scott, his eyes narrowing. "And before you make judgments, take a look at yourself." He snapped, and Scott, surprisingly, didn't get mad. All three rangers were obviously fighting against the hypnobolts, usually just staying quiet so they didn't say something they'd regret.

"Hey, Scott. Do you think Professor Cog sent our team to your dimension?" Brooke asked, referring to the samurai rangers.

"That's a safe bet," Scott answered, his gaze transfixed on the horizon. "But if they're there, my team will help them." He added, and the three just sat in silence again.

--

When the trio reached the Shiba House, things started going to shit, for lack of a better term. The hypnobolts had finally fully kicked in, and that started countless arguments between Jayden and Scott, mostly. Brooke was just having conversations with Amaris to keep herself sane, but the two red rangers' bickering was starting to get on her nerves. Still, she just stayed quiet for the most part, her clawed hands curled into fists and shoved into the pockets of the, now damp, leather jacket she wore. That was what she was pissed about- it seemed like whenever she wore Casper's jacket, she involuntarily went swimming in some body of water. How the leather wasn't ruined yet was surprising, and Brooke knew if the jacket or her doc martens got wrecked, she would start a fight. Hypnobolts or no.

Jayden practically crashed through the double doors of the Shiba House, his shoes tapping on the wooden floors as he power-walked. It was easy to tell he was pissed, his jaw set, and blue eyes sparkling with fury. Brooke and Scott trailed behind him, Brooke just letting him do his thing. She knew she couldn't calm him down without starting a fight.

"Jayden, Brooke," Ji greeted, but his tone turned into one of confusion when he noticed that there were only three rangers. "Where's the rest of the team?" He wondered, and Jayden honestly sounded like a moody teenager. The tiny part of Brooke's brain that wasn't telling her to hate them found it amusing.

"Sucked through a vortex, probably to where this guy came from." Jayden spat, and Scott was far less angry than he was- more annoyed than anything.

"Yeah, well, it's their fault. They got in the way." Scott retorted, walking past Jayden. Brooke was just leaning against a wall away from them both, tapping her foot on the ground. Her annoyance spiked, and she grit her teeth, biting back the urge to yell at them.

"No, they saved us!" Jayden argued, and his voice was louder than Brooke's heard it before. She flinched, but her fear turned to anger.

"Will you two be quiet?" Brooke growled, her inhumane features growing in.

Which Scott seemed to notice, and he let out a mocking laugh. "You're really trying to make yourself look intimidating, huh? Well, you're not fooling anyone here, so I'd say drop the act." He mocked, and spots decorated Brooke's vision for a moment. When she came to, she had lifted Scott off of his feet, breaking into a sinister grin.

"Do you really want to play this game, Ranger Red? Because I'm down for a little fun," Brooke sneered, her eyes blazing gold and having the front of Scott's ranger suit in a tight grip. "I can assure you, that this isn't an act. I'll prove it to you by kicking your ass, if you want." She threatened, and Jayden snapped out of his haze for a moment.

Taking in the scene, blue eyes widened, and Jayden shot a look at Ji. They both wanted to go over there and stop Brooke- but who knows how she would react to that. Luckily, Amaris was their saving grace, the white wolf appearing with her ears flattened to her head. "Brooke, that's enough!" Her voice was stern as it rang in the four's heads, and it seemed to snap Brooke out of her thoughts.

Her eyes flashed, and she set Scott down, her inhumane features shrinking somewhat. Brooke said nothing, only storming off silently and letting the red rangers argue. She knew she needed to find a way to reverse this, and she made her way to her room. Flicking on the light, she shut the door behind her and Amaris, instantly sitting down at her desk and flipping through her notebook. Amaris hopped on her bed, the white wolf laying down and keeping her violet eyes trained on Brooke.

"Thanks for stopping me," Brooke mumbled around her canines as she took a pen out of the cup holder on her desk. She grabbed the archive that was about symbol power off the stack, flipping it open and scanning the pages.

"Of course, my dear. It is part of my role as a protector- I protect the others around you as well." Amaris replied, her tail wagging slowly and rustling the white comforter and grey blanket that were on Brooke's bed.

Both of Jayden's clothes that she owned- his flannel and his hoodie, were on her bed as well, and something in Brooke's mind was telling her to return them. Which was stupid, and even despite the hypnobolts, she planned to keep them. Not being around Jayden or Scott helped her keep a level head, so she planned to stay in her room until she found a symbol that could work.

Thirty minutes later, she eventually did. Brooke let out a quiet cheer, setting her pen down and turning to Amaris. "Hey, can you hit me with this? Worst-case scenario I'll get Red to do it once he doesn't want to start arguments." She asked, setting the archive in front of the white wolf. Who peered down at it, her ears flicking as she sat up.

"I am able to," Amaris answered, sitting on her haunches. She closed her eyes, and not long after, 逆, the symbol for reverse, appeared in front of her in a mix of purple and silver. Somehow, she also activated the symbol, which hit Brooke head-on.

She instantly felt better, any anger or resentment she felt disappearing. "Thanks." Brooke thanked, grabbing her samuraizer and the archive, leaving her room. She was hoping that Scott and Jayden hadn't killed each other yet, and Amaris padded beside her. However, when she heard Scott's voice, she stopped in her tracks.

"...And why don't you just take your little werewolf girlfriend and go somewhere else!" Scott spat, and Brooke just stood in place for a moment, letting the statement sink in.

Werewolf girlfriend. Well, that's new- but she didn't really mind, and part of her just wanted to wait for Jayden's response. But, Brooke knew she shouldn't let the two red rangers fight for any longer, so she just shook her head with a small smile. She made her way to the meeting room to find Ji at his wit's end, and she flipped open her samuraizer quietly, activating the brush portion. Scott and Jayden were too caught up in their argument to see her draw the symbol, Jayden obviously caught off guard by the "werewolf girlfriend" comment, as his eyes widened slightly before narrowing again.

"She's not my-" Jayden started, but was cut off by Brooke, who had finished drawing the symbol in the air.

"Symbol Power: Reverse!" Brooke called, activating the symbol, and it hit the two red rangers, successfully snapping them out of their hazes from the hypnobolts. The two obviously seemed taken aback, as silence fell over the pair as they regained their bearings, Jayden being the first. Blue eyes met grey, Brooke having a triumphant smile on her face as she shut her samuraizer. "Glad to see everyone's back to normal." She announced, clapping her hands together once.

"...Right. Thanks, Silver." Scott thanked, and Brooke waved a hand in dismissal, walking into the meeting room and taking her usual seat.

"We should probably go over what in the fuck just happened, and why Professor Cog wanted us to hate each other," Brooke announced, and Jayden nodded.

With that, the pseudo meeting began, the silver and two red rangers sitting around the coffee table as they threw out speculations at each other. Amaris was curled up on one of the cushioned seats, her presumably falling asleep. Brooke found that cute, and she stroked the top of her head as she chimed in here and there. It was nice to look at her childhood friend and not be filled with irrational hatred, and Jayden seemed to feel the same way.

"Could he have wanted us to kill each other?" Scott thought aloud, Brooke and Jayden blinking at him owlishly. "During the battle, Cog said that he and Xandred had a deal to get rid of you two. It would be much easier for him if we all ended up killing each other." He explained, and Jayden nodded.

"We'd be doing the nighlok's job for them," Jayden added, leaning forward with his hands intertwined.

"Well, what about the next battle?" Brooke wondered, her eyes flashing. "We probably shouldn't let him know that we figured his plan out right away. We still have the upper hand right now," She mused, tapping her foot on the floor. "I'm thinking that we should almost act like we're still under the hypnobolts when Professor Cog shows himself again. Then at the last moment, we can sweep the rug out from underneath him, so to speak." She offered, scanning Jayden's face and Scott's helmet. They didn't seem displeased about the idea, which was good, and after a couple of moments, the two red rangers nodded.

"It's a sound plan," Scott agreed, turning his attention to Jayden. Who was silent for the most part, his brows furrowed. "What? Don't be getting cold feet now." He teased, and this time there was no malicious undertone. It was all friendly.

Jayden shook his head with a small smile. "No, I'm not. I'm just thinking about the fact that we have to fight each other." He confessed, and Brooke perked up.

"I have an idea, it's just going to take some of my symbol power," Brooke announced, breaking into a grin. This was going to be fun.

--

After explaining her plan to Scott and Jayden and making all the preparations, Brooke stood in the outdoor dojo, dressed in her training uniform. Her open samuraizer was in her hand, the brush portion flipped as she took a deep breath and shook out the tension from her muscles. She always had to mentally prepare herself when working in the despair symbol, so she didn't just give up right away. It wasn't that late, actually, and Scott was out riding Ji's motorcycle, much to the older man's dismay. Brooke didn't know what Jayden was doing, and they haven't talked much since the hypnobolts incident. Which was fine, she let him have his space, and she also knew he'd come out sometime tonight.

"Werewolf girlfriend," Brooke muttered to herself, starting to draw the cage symbol. "God, I wish. Despair!" She activated the symbol, and this time she was prepared for the explosion. She was sent tumbling backwards, but she quickly rolled over her shoulder and hopped onto her feet again. Brooke found herself grinning at that, and the hope that tonight wouldn't be so bad made itself present.

That hope got crushed an hour in. The explosions were somehow getting more powerful, and Brooke now had wood burn from skidding on the wooden part of the outdoor dojo so many times. Scott had returned to find her picking herself off of the ground and muttering curses under her breath- and he just let her be. He didn't know what was going on, and he didn't necessarily want to know. He just walked into the Shiba House as Brooke hit the ground again in a flash of silver.

Pain flared from her back and arms, and Brooke resisted the urge to scream after she hit the ground again. It wasn't even the headache that was bothering her or the pain, it was the symbol itself. It was difficult and draining, both mentally and physically. Still, it needed to get done, so Brooke just picked herself up off of the ground with a grunt. Picking up her samuraizer, she drew the symbol again- the symbol that wanted to make her claw her eyes out, activating it. She got sent to the ground again, and the cycle repeated itself for almost another hour.

Brooke knew she shouldn't overwork herself, as she had a battle to fight tomorrow, but it was almost an addiction. It was a self-destructive tendency that she couldn't shake, even when she was back in school. Back then it was honors, AP, and DE classes, and she was almost swamped with work every night, and now it was the cage symbol. The cage symbol was just more harmful- as it caused physical pain on the regular. It was still the same cycle, and Brooke let out a heavy sigh as she stared at the night sky.

Sometimes she wondered what it would be like if she was mentally stable. She knew she'd probably be in bed if she was, because that's presumably what Scott and Jayden were doing. Amaris was also somewhere, and Brooke knew that the white wolf was flickering due to her running out of symbol power. This was a repeating pattern, one that happened almost every night, when Jayden wasn't up for night training. Which was fine, he had an important job to do and she didn't want him to be overworked. Brooke wanted him to be happy.

"Figured you'd be out here," Jayden greeted, not surprised to see Brooke laying on her back in the outdoor dojo. It had become predictable. "How's it going?" He asked, couching next to Brooke as she forced herself to an upright position.

Her body didn't like that at all- and as if on cue, her nose started bleeding. "Well, you can probably guess," Brooke muttered, wiping the blood off her face and onto the pants of her training uniform. Once the smell of blood cleared, she knit her brows as a different scent filled her nose. It wasn't bad, it was just some sort of spice- with a hint of smoke. It was Jayden, but not the scent she was used to. "This is going to sound weird, but, did you change your cologne or something? You smell different." She wondered, and he knit his brows, realization then dawning on his face.

"I forgot about your sense of smell, you caught me off guard," Jayden laughed, sitting next to Brooke. Not close enough to suggest anything bad- because he was sure Ji would just appear if that happened. "But, to answer your question, I did. Got sick of the old one, but I'm surprised you picked up on it so fast." He answered, and Brooke's eyes flashed as she resisted the urge to just sniff him.

"You smell like Casper does- but with smoke. That's how I can pick your scent out so easily, it's always the smoke, but it's not like, cigarette smoke. It's smoke from a fire, which makes sense, given you're the red ranger and all. But, it's nice. You smell comforting if that makes sense... I'm rambling, aren't I?" Brooke cut herself off, and when Jayden nodded, she let out a groan, flopping on her back. Her face burnt in embarrassment, as she realized she just talked about what Jayden smelt like, with him sitting next to her. "Sorry, and I know that's a kinda weird topic, I didn't mean to provide an analysis on what you smelt like." She apologized, her voice quiet as she inwardly screamed- out of all things. His scent, and she told him it was comforting.

"It's alright, it's interesting, honestly," Jayden reassured Brooke, peering down at her and watching as she had her mini-crisis. "What'd I smell like before?" He wondered, and that was a question he'd never thought he would find himself asking. Though he never thought that he'd be listening to his childhood friend talk about how he smelt- and interested in it.

"Like a forest- but with the smoke," Brooke answered, mumbling some. "It was clean, kinda crisp I guess? This one's warmer, but they're both comforting." She added, her eyes flashing as Jayden wore a small smile. It was an indirect compliment, and he enjoyed being called comforting.

"I'm glad you're comfortable with me around." Jayden murmured, brushing some of Brooke's hair away from her forehead. She just stared up at him for a couple of moments, processing what he said- and the fact that he was warm.

"Well... yeah, we're friends," Brooke replied, but it was clear that she didn't know how to react. She wanted Jayden to hold her- and not let go. Still, she didn't voice that out loud, only sitting up and wearing a small grin. "Surprised Ji hasn't, like, appeared and been disappointed in us yet." She joked, lightly nudging Jayden's shoulder with her own.

Who let out a groan, rolling his eyes. "Don't remind me," Jayden grumbled, and he did not like the look of mischief on Brooke's face. "What're you planning now, Brooke? You have that look on your face." He questioned, and she waved her hand in dismissal.

"I mean, two people who are alone in the dark is kinda suspicious." Brooke joked with a grin, and Jayden rolled his eyes, heat rushing to his face. He knew about the implications of what she was saying, and it made him flustered. He didn't even know why.

"Brooke," Jayden started, and Brooke quirked a brow at him, her eyes flashing. "I- I... you know what, nevermind. Goodnight." He stammered, pressing a kiss to Brooke's forehead, leaving the outdoor dojo before she could really process what was going on.

Well. Brooke didn't know what just happened, but it was almost amusing. She's never seen Jayden so embarrassed before that he just... left. Letting out a quiet laugh, grey-gold eyes landed on her samuraizer, and her mood instantly dropped. She still had work to do.

--

The next morning, Brooke, Ji, and Jayden were crowded around the coffee table, the map of Panorama opened on it. Brooke was standing next to Jayden, and he smelt nice, the new cologne he was wearing was almost intoxicating. At least for her, and she really didn't know what that was about. Still, she wasn't really complaining, but shook those thoughts out of her head and focused on the task at hand. She was a soldier- and soldiers usually don't focus on things like the cologne their leader was wearing. She needed to focus, especially now. The plan was about to start, and Brooke knew she had to act like she hated Jayden. No matter if he smelt nice or not.

"An army," Brooke blurted, her eyes flashing as her claws and canines grew in. "This is probably what Xandred and Professor Cog are going to send to take over Panorama." She concluded, and Jayden nodded. She also memorized the location on the map- it was up a mountain, but it was one of the easier ones to climb, plus, she could cut through the woods, and that would fit her time down by half.

When Scott strolled up, the plan was in motion. He glanced at the map, taking in the location and seemingly getting into character. "Piece of cake," He announced, then glancing at the two other rangers. "Oh, for me, at least. For them, I'm not so sure." He mocked, and Brooke was already almost out of the Shiba House.

"Amaris, can I run that distance without it exhausting me?" Brooke thought as she flipped open her samuraizer and activated the brush portion, starting to draw the familiar symbol.

"You have the ability to." Amaris confirmed, and Brooke grinned.

Excellent. She activated the symbol, the silver ranger suit materializing on her body as she reached the outdoor dojo. Brooke knew Scott and Jayden would have to take the long way, and she broke into a sprint, crashing through the wooden gates. She saw a flash of red, which was most likely Jayden summoning a horse, but then turned her attention to the woods. Her bones cracked and popped, and she shifted, the brown wolf crashing through the underbrush and running into the woods. As she ran, she heard the faint sounds of Ji's motorcycle, which Scott was presumably riding, but it soon became out of earshot.

She forgot how much she missed this. Claws sunk into the soft topsoil as wolf-Brooke ran through the woods, easily jumping over fallen logs and dodging holes. Her senses made everything more enjoyable, her golden eyes shining bright as she navigated the woods with ease, recalling times when she ran this path for fun. She also knew both Scott and Jayden had the advantage of speed- but she could make shortcuts in terrain that was not navigational for horses, let alone motorcycles. Running through the woods always got her adrenaline pumping, and she was sure just to use the energy that she reserved for shifting. She didn't want to wear herself out before the battle even began, after all.

She burst through the woods, planning to just run straight across and make a beeline up the mountain, but was amused to find Scott and Jayden just making their way up. The two red rangers spotted the brown wolf as she sprinted across the path and disappeared back into the woods, fluffy brown and white tail flying behind her. It was when the game began, a race between a wolf, a horse, and a motorcycle. Brooke also knew she could use Amaris- but that seemed almost like cheating, so she planned to use it as a last resort.

Not that she planned to fall behind the two red rangers, that wasn't an option here. Brooke also needed more things to tease Jayden with, so beating him and his horse in a race seemed like an excellent idea. Speaking of, she eventually saw him in the woods- well, heard him. It was the sound of the horse's hooves on the ground, and it sounded almost menacing, so she picked up the pace, not bothering to look behind her. She knew Jayden wouldn't hit her, but wolf-Brooke didn't stay around long. Once she surveyed her surroundings, she changed courses, heading further into the woods. Her plan to just make a straight path up was working incredibly well, and there were little obstacles, even if she was somewhat climbing up the mountainside.

And it worked flawlessly. Brooke shifted back when she reached the top of the mountain, unsheathing her Wolf Kunai and instantly hopping into battle with some moogers and grinders. She had won the race- even with the speed disadvantage, and she felt rather proud of herself for doing so. She was wearing a grin underneath her helmet, and it only grew wider when Jayden, then Scott, made their way to the battlefield.

"You're both late!" Brooke mocked, cutting down one last grinder and then turning to the two red rangers. "I'm surprised, really. Aren't the red rangers supposed to be the "high and mighty" ones?" She snickered, spinning her kunai in her hand. While Jayden stayed quiet at her taunts, they egged Scott on, making him "angry". Obviously, it was all acting, but Professor Cog didn't know that just by watching the three.

"This is my battle!" Scott declared, his hands curling into his fists at his sides for a moment. Then he quickly drew his blaster, pointing it at Brooke, who was nonchalant about the whole thing, throwing her kunai up in the air and catching it. "This is my fight- and mine alone. Just go back to your dojo with those swords of yours. They're useless, and so are you two." He spat at the silver and red rangers, and with that, the mock battle began.

"Useless, huh? You'll be useless, lying dead on the ground before me!" Brooke threatened, catching her Wolf Kunai, and, without missing a beat, throwing it like a throwing knife at Scott. It barely grazed his helmet- as she had missed on purpose, and she drew her katanas as her kunai reappeared back in its sheath on her hip in a flash of silver.

Honestly, if they weren't acting, Jayden would be worried. As Brooke sounded genuine about her threats and radiated a menacing aura. She had one katana pointed at Scott, who had his blaster locked on her, and the other at Jayden, who had his spin-sword pointed at Scott. The three rangers were obviously hesitating, thinking things over on how they wanted the battle to go. They obviously didn't want to hurt each other and weren't planning to, but they still had to make it seem convincing.

"Destroy each other!" Professor Cog commanded, and Scott hesitated for a moment, but then fired at Brooke.

Amaris put up a shield to protect Brooke from some of the shots, and she wasted no time, ducking behind moogers and grinders as she made her way over to Scott. Jayden was as well, but the two intercepted each other, their blades clashing against each other as they almost sparred. It was like training, but they were trying to dodge Scott's shots as well. So it was just training on steroids.

Brooke deflected a shot with one katana and blocked Jayden's strike with another. She also silently thanked him for helping her with her stances, as the swing that would usually make her arms buckle, didn't, and she kicked him away. She made her way over to Scott, and his blaster turned into his Street Saber, blocking her swing. Jayden also joined the fight, the three rangers dodging each other's attacks and returning with their own. Sometimes they just missed each other on purpose, but Professor Cog and the nighlok watching the battle didn't seem to know the difference.

Which was great, and Brooke soon had her katanas hovering in front of Scott and Jayden's throats. "Two against one is hardly fair," She challenged, hopping back when the two rangers swung at her. "I appreciate you two fighting over me though, really boosts my confidence!" She teased, and frankly, it was all just because Brooke found it somewhat fun.

However, it got to the point where it wasn't very fun anymore. Jayden knew Brooke's weak points, and he used them against her, his spin-sword colliding with her side. More forcefully than he meant to, and he felt guilty as she fell to the ground. Brooke had to then block Scott's swing at her as she laid on her back, jabbing with the sword that didn't block his swing. It nicked him in the stomach and caused him to stumble back, and she hopped to her feet quickly. Jayden attacked her again, but she did a backwards handspring, landing a couple feet away from the two red rangers.

"Professor, your hypnobolts worked perfectly!" The nighlok praised as the three rangers ran at each other again.

"Yes, humans are so easy to manipulate!" Professor Cog mocked, and Brooke sheathed her blades and shifted.

The brown wolf lunged, knocking Jayden to the ground with ease. Silently apologizing to him, wolf-Brooke slashed at his chest with her claws, wincing at the number of sparks that flew from her claws coming in contact with her ranger suit. She felt guilty, but it was all part of the plan, and she hopped off of Jayden, shifting back and turning her attention to Scott. As his Street Saber turned back into his blaster, she drew her Wolf Kunai. The two rangers attacked at the same time, and Brooke grit her teeth as the blast came in contact with her chest. It hurt, but presumably less than her kunai being thrown at Scott's chest, where it had made contact.

"Yes, victory!" Professor Cog cheered, and Scott let out a laugh.

"Ha! Not a scratch!" Scott declared, holding Brooke's kunai in his hand. He was unharmed, and so were the other two rangers, Brooke helping Jayden off of the ground.

"You could've held back with the claws, Brooke," Jayden complained, but it was all playful. "But the protection symbol worked great." He reached into his ranger suit, pulling out a small piece of parchment that had the protection symbol written on it in ink.

"Hey, I got shot at too, so all's fair," Brooke retorted, pointing a finger at Jayden, who laughed faintly. "Thanks for the shield, Scott." She thanked, turning her attention to the other red ranger and pulling a necklace off of her neck and dropping it on the ground. It was made out of some sort of steel and had easily absorbed the shot Scott made at her chest.

"Your plan worked perfectly, Silver." Scott praised, taking out a protection symbol paper from his suit as well. He threw the Wolf Kunai back to its owner, Brooke catching it with ease.

She spun the kunai in her hand before sheathing it, shaking out the tension from her muscles. "I try my best," Brooke responded, and she knew it was just the beginning. There was still the nighlok and Professor Cog to deal with, and she and Jayden also had to get their team back.

Scott turned his attention to Professor Cog, his tone mocking. "Nice to see you, Professor Cog! And thanks for treating the fake-out to me." He greeted, pointing to himself with his thumbs.

"Good try with your mind control bolts," Jayden started, he and Brooke walking over to Scott. The silver ranger stood in the middle of the two red rangers, Scott resting his arm on the top of her helmet. "But, you should really think about who you're hitting. Something was off when I realized I was hating my childhood friend for no reason." He stated, glancing at Brooke, who nodded.

"There's a symbol power for everything, so it was easy finding a way to reverse the hypnobolts' effects. It was just a matter of not killing each other in the process," Brooke added, flashing Professor Cog a thumbs up. "It was kinda easy once we all knew what was going on. We're humans, you can't try to reprogram us that easily." She snickered, and Scott nodded. His arm was still resting on the top of her head, and she just let him, sharing a look with Jayden underneath their helmets.

"That's the last time you'll make a fool out of me. Sargent Tread?" Professor Cog threatened, then turning his attention to the nighlok, who let out a grunt.

"Attack!" Sargent Tread commanded the moogers and grinders, the robots and monsters running forward.

The three rangers instantly jumped into battle, cutting down moogers and grinders with ease. The three moved in silent harmony, Scott dealing with most of the grinders while Brooke and Jayden dealt with most of the moogers. It wasn't long until a large number of the robots and monsters were cut down, but Brooke perked at the sound of motorcycle engines. She turned her attention to where the sound was coming from, narrowly dodging moogers on grinders- which had turned into motorcycles. Scott also got hit by one of the mooger-motorcycle combos, him flying through the air.

However, before he could hit the ground, Jayden pulled his samuraizer out of the pouch on his belt, drawing a symbol. "Symbol Power: Red Pony!" He called, activating a symbol.

Brooke's eyes widened underneath her helmet at "red pony", her glancing at Jayden nervously. "Red- if it's a fucking horse- oh." She cut herself off as Scott landed in the driver's seat of a bright red car, which she didn't even know that symbol power could be used to summon a car of all things.

"Don't worry, I saw how scared you were earlier, when you were running in front of me," Jayden remarked, the two running and jumping on the back of the car.

"Shut the hell up. It was menacing, okay?" Brooke retorted, feeling as she flushed underneath her helmet. Especially as Jayden laughed, and she debated pushing him off the car as Scott started driving.

Brooke didn't, however, and she just focused on cutting down moogers and keeping her balance on the car. Jayden was doing the same, him cutting down moogers on the left as she cut down moogers on the right. Them keeping their balance was pretty easy, as Scott was a good driver, which made sense given the car theme to his ranger suit, and managed to keep the car steady. Even as the car gained speed, Brooke's helmet finally doing one good thing and blocked out the car exhaust.

"You can't outrun us!" Scott taunted, Brooke and Jayden cutting down more moogers as he drove into a group of them.

"I've got it," Brooke reassured Jayden, hopping off of the back of the car and onto a mooger's motorcycle. She cut the monster down and hopped to the next one, the cycle repeating itself three times. There was also a mooger piggyback riding a grinder, but she cut the two down, letting out a quiet cheer. That cheer turned into a noise of surprise when she saw Sargent Tread speeding towards her, the nighlok holding large wheels and using them to propel itself towards her. "Fuck." She muttered under her breath, silently calling on Amaris and getting ready to teleport out of there.

However, it wasn't needed, as Brooke felt a hand around her waist, and she let out a yelp of surprise when she got picked up. However, she soon realized it was Jayden, silently thanking him as she turned her attention to Sargent Tread. She drew her Wolf Kunai, getting ready to throw the weapon, and Scott seemed to have the same idea.

He drew his blaster, holding it out to Jayden from where he was in the driver's seat. "Destroy it," Scott commanded, and Jayden nodded, taking the blaster out of his hand. As he rounded a corner and straightened the car out, Brooke raised her kunai like a throwing knife, and Jayden readied Scott's blaster.

"Time to pop your tires!" Jayden threatened, and Brooke laughed as he fired, throwing her kunai. They both made contact with Sargent Tread, causing the nighlok to lose grip on its wheels and collide with the ground, smoke rising from its body.

Scott instantly stopped the car, the three rangers hopping out of it and onto the ground. "I'll finish it!" He challenged and moved to run forward, only to stop in his tracks when Professor Cog spoke.

"Rangers, it's your turn!" Professor Cog announced, firing off more hypnobolts.

"Amaris!" Brooke yelled, and the translucent purple shield appeared, blocking the hypnobolts. Which was great, because she didn't feel like fighting with Jayden anytime soon.

Who gave a one-use-only shark disk, and while Jayden went to Super Samurai Mode and Scott went into Shark Attack Mode, Brooke just kind of... stood there. Which was somewhat awkward, but she couldn't even use Shark Attack Mode because of her Wolf Kunai. The weapon couldn't change into the shark zord, but the black box could attach to the kunai. Which was good, as her family was the ones who helped make the talisman, and she just hoped she got the black box soon. Brooke wanted to feel the burst of power the others claimed to feel when they went into Super Samurai Mode. Most importantly, she wanted to destroy Serrator in Super Samurai Mode, just to shut the nighlok up, for the most part.

"Brooke! Can you handle Sargent Tread?" Jayden asked, and Brooke nodded, readying her katanas.

"On it!" Brooke replied, and while the two red rangers ran towards Professor Cog, she ran towards Sargent Tread. Leaping into battle with a yell, she landed a strong downwards strike on the monster.

The move she had used was one of Jayden's staple ones, and he noticed this, wearing a small smile underneath his helmet. As he and Scott sent Professor Cog flying backwards, Brooke did the same to Sargent Tread, the nighlok and robot landing next to each other on the ground, smoke rising from their bodies. The silver ranger regrouped with the two red rangers, and the trio snapped their heads towards the sky.

Brooke's eyes winded underneath her helmet as her senses went haywire at the amount of power that was buzzing in the air. Her first thought was Serrator, and she went to call out a warning. However, it wasn't needed, as a vortex opened in the sky. The six samurai rangers appeared from it, the team lining up in their usual line, with Brooke on one side of Jayden and Scott on the other.

"So, you missed us?" Mike greeted, and Jayden nodded.

"Like you wouldn't believe," Jayden replied, and Mike laughed at that. It honestly felt good to have the team back, and while Jayden enjoyed his time alone with Brooke- the dojo was empty without the six others. Even if they were nosy and bad at eavesdropping, he had missed them.

Emily ran up to Scott, the yellow ranger patting the red on the shoulder. "Scott, your team says hi!" She remarked, and he laughed faintly.

"Let's deliver the final act!" Brooke cheered, and Jayden nodded, motioning for the eight rangers to run forward. The two red and silver rangers landed the finishing blows on Professor Cog, striking their victory poses as he and Sargent Tread blew up.

Once the nighlok and robot were defeated, Scott and Jayden went out of Shark Attack and Super Samurai Mode, leaving the two red rangers in their traditional suits. Brooke was instantly crowded by Mia and Emily, the silver ranger making a noise of surprise at the sudden attention.

"You have to tell us everything later!" Mia urged, and Emily nodded.

That caused Brooke to furrow her brows underneath her helmet, then she pieced it together. Jayden. Of course, they would think something would've happened, even though nothing did happen. The only thing that she did was make a suggestive innuendo, and that just had made him embarrassed. "Nothing happened, but alright." Brooke sighed, glancing at Jayden, and he instantly shifted his attention elsewhere when the two made eye contact through their helmets. He was like a grade-schooler, and it was cute.

"Now it's time for us to fight the real battle. Get ready, rangers." Jayden advised, the team forming their line again. There was an army of moogers, even giant ones, in front of them, and they outnumbered the eight one hundred to one. Still, they didn't falter, even when the moogers started charging at them. "Time to call in the calvary." He announced, and Brooke nearly screamed as she landed on a war horse behind him.

Cursing Jayden with every word she could come up with, Brooke was glad her gloves were thick enough so that her claws couldn't poke through them. Because they were fully bared, and so were her canines, giving her a lisp as she spoke. "For what purpose did you do this?" She questioned Jayden, wrapping an arm around his waist tightly so that she didn't fall off. He didn't even smell good anymore- it was just mostly sweat and smoke. Which was annoying, as she was now stuck riding a horse, just praying for dear life that Jayden didn't let her fall off.

"It's alright, you won't fall," Jayden reassured Brooke, his voice quiet, and she grumbled something underneath her breath. He enjoyed the feeling of the hold she had on him, and then inwardly kicked himself for it. Now wasn't the time. Regaining his composure, Jayden urged the horse forward, Brooke letting out a yelp. "Red Ranger, ready!" He called, and four of the five others did their calls as well.

Noticing that it was her turn to speak, Brooke let out a heavy sigh. "Silver Ranger, uh, ready!" She stammered, and when Jayden laughed quietly, she let out a growl. "If I'm going down, you're going down with me. Keep that in mind." She threatened, drawing a katana and sweeping it like a scythe, cutting down moogers.

"I'm sorry." Jayden apologized, but Brooke could tell he wasn't actually sorry at all. There was a hint of amusement to his voice, and oh did she want to send him to the ground. However, they would instantly get assaulted by moogers, so she didn't. The wish was still there, though.

"Shut up and fight, Jayden," Brooke grumbled, tightening her hold on Jayden. She swept her katana out, more moogers falling with squeals, and he did the same with his spin-sword.

"Hey, at least you're facing your fear," Jayden remarked cheekily, and Brooke didn't say anything in response. He could almost feel the fear and annoyance that was radiating off of her body, and the hand that was holding onto him was shaking. That actually made him feel guilty- and he made the note to do something to make up for it.

The pair stopped in front of two spitfangs- which were a bluish-purple, and Brooke tensed when she felt her senses perk. "Amaris!" She called, her voice cracking, the translucent purple shield appearing, and blocking the spitfangs' attacks.

Blue shots also hit the spitfangs, Kevin wielding his Hydro Bow as he stopped beside Brooke and Jayden. "Go get General Gut, and leave this to us!" He urged, and Jayden nodded.

"You got it," Jayden responded and felt as Brooke's grip tightened as the horse galloped through the army of moogers. "It's almost over." He reassured her, and she grit her teeth underneath her helmet.

"Y- yeah. The fighting's- the fighting's the easy part," Brooke agreed, stuttering, and her fully grown in canines sunk into her bottom lip. It hurt, but she couldn't will them away. Even when she and Jayden hopped off of the horse, to her relief. Taking a deep breath and regaining her composure, she drew her second katana. "We're here for you, General!" She challenged, putting on the mask of false confidence to hide her fear.

General Gut lived up to his name, as he had a large, well, gut, and some shoulder armor. He was tall, taller than both Brooke and Jayden, and wielding an ax-staff. "Red and silver rangers, the invasion can't be stopped. Why don't you surrender now?" He mocked, and the two rangers readied their swords.

"You don't know us very well, nighlok." Jayden retorted, and with a discreet nod to Brooke, the two rangers ran forward.

It was tough, Brooke couldn't deny it. General Gut presumably had super strength, and he swung at her. It was an attack that should've been easily blocked, but the kickback sent her skidding backwards. Still, she managed to stay on her feet and rushed into battle again, dodging Jayden's Fire Smasher and General Guts swings. Eventually, she got hit, and it sent her crashing to the ground, her katanas flying out of her hands. Smoke rose from her body, and her arms shook as she tried to push herself up. It was pretty much useless, and Brooke's warning call died in her throat.

Jayden, who had gotten kicked back and then stunned by General Gut, had to endure one of the nighlok's swings head-on. His Fire Smasher turned into his spin-sword in a flash of red, landing tip-first in the dirt. Smoke rose from his body, and he clutched his chest, making a noise of pain.

"Hah! I'm glad you decided to face me two to one," General Gut sneered, Brooke and Jayden struggling to pick themselves off of the ground. "The great leader of the samurai rangers and his right-hand woman shouldn't fall to just anyone. It's only fitting that you two fall to me, a truly great leader." He stated proudly, and Brooke was surprised to find Amaris appearing beside her.

"Get up my dear, we still have the battle to fight," Amaris commanded, but her voice was soft, still holding its motherly tone.

"Am I in peril?" Brooke groaned, but she gathered enough strength in her arms to push herself up. Her body screamed in protest, but she slowly stood up, wincing at the pain in her muscles. Her legs throbbed- and all of the running around finally got to her.

"No, you are not. However, as I am a protector, so are you. You assigned yourself that role a long time ago," Amaris answered, and Brooke nodded slowly. That made sense, and now would be the time where she had to fulfill her role as a protector. "To cut through General Gut's armor, there is a technique that can be used. It requires a large amount of symbol power, but you are more than capable." She explained the attack to Brooke, who drew her Wolf Kunai.

Sliding the wolf and moon disks onto the weapon, Brooke sprinted forward. As General Gut struck downwards to presumably cut Jayden's head off, she blocked the swing. Her arms wavered, but she grit her teeth and stayed strong, Amaris running over to Jayden's side and nudging him to his feet while Brooke managed General Gut.

"Amaris, is- is she alright?" Jayden breathed out, forcing himself to his feet and yanking his spin-sword out of the dirt.

"Brooke is just fine, she just needed to find her strength again," Amaris mused, her ears flicking as Brooke kicked back General Gut. Her attacks were stronger now, each strike calculated as she dodged and parried the nighlok's attacks. "She assigned herself as a protector long ago- and it is her role to fulfill." She added, and Jayden nodded.

He didn't really know what that meant fully, but he didn't have the usual feelings when someone protected him. Perhaps this time was different because it seemed genuine. It was not because of him being the red ranger- it was because he was Jayden. And that fact alone caused a small smile to work itself onto his face, and he felt a sense of pride fill his chest as Brooke blocked another one of General Gut's swings.

"I'm not letting anyone fall to a nighlok with delusions of grandeur!" Brooke yelled, and she pushed General Gut's ax to the side, bringing her gloved hand up to the two disks on her Wolf Kunai. She spun them, the leaf-shaped blade lighting up a brilliant mixture of silver and purple. "I'm not letting anyone I care about fall! Wolf Kunai: Night Hunting!" She screamed, slashing with her kunai. It left a trail of purple and silver in its wake, and night fell on the battlefield.

The others stopped their fighting and made noises of confusion, especially when silver wolves appeared, glowing in the dark. The wolves' pupilless eyes were a blazing gold, multiple wolves materializing on the battlefield. In unison, all of the wolves raised their heads to the sky, letting out bone-chilling howls that turned bursts of silver energy. The battlefield was illuminated by silver for a moment, but then stopped, all of the moogers being defeated.

"No! I won't see it end this way!" General Gut exclaimed, and a mocking laugh rang out across the battlefield.

Brooke stood in front of General Gut, her Wolf Kunai still glowing as she slowly walked forward, it being the only source of light besides a full moon hanging in the sky. "Don't you get it? I won't fall- I haven't then, and I won't now. I'm ending this show, once and for all!" She vowed, performing an upwards strike that caused General Gut to go up in an explosion, and while he did so, she struck her victory pose, performing a bow.

The sun rose again, and Brooke threw her kunai up in the air, catching it with ease and pointing it at Jayden. "You owe me. For the horseback ride, and now this." She joked breathlessly, and Amaris was flickering from where she stood beside Jayden.

"I know I do, and I'll get back to you on that," Jayden murmured, wrapping an arm around Brooke's shoulders and giving her a congratulatory side-hug. "Team, it's not over!" He called, going into Shark Attack Mode as the team regrouped.

General Gut went into his second form, looming over the team, who soon went into megamode and formed the samurai battlewing megazord. The six performed a flying slash, and the attack quickly finished the nighlok off. Which was strange, and Brooke knit her brows underneath her helmet.

"Something's not right, that was too easy," Jayden stated, and his statement was confirmed when General Gut reappeared.

"I'm back!" General Gut cackled, and a snake shot out from his stomach. Which was a mix of creepy and disgusting, but Brooke didn't focus her thoughts for very long.

The snake shot out and made contact with the battlewing megazord, which caused sparks to fly and the cockpit to shake. It also caused them to lose three zords, the battlewing megazord turning back into the samurai megazord. Which was annoying, and Brooke changed from the cockpit of the samurai megazord to the cockpit of her wolf zord in a flash of silver. The "low on symbol power" headache was starting to form, but it became secondary.

General Gut wouldn't stop his assault on the samurai megazord and the wolf zord, the six having trouble maintaining their balance. However, Jayden seemed to have an idea, because Brooke heard him yell through the comms, and she watched as the shark zord disengaged. It bit the snake off of General Gut's stomach, and the five original rangers formed the samurai shark megazord.

"Let's show him what a team can do! Brooke?" Jayden called through the comms, and Brooke took her megablade out of the control panel, unfolding it.

"Yessir. Let's overthrow this leader!" Brooke challenged, spinning her megablade in her hand once and pointing it at the sky.

"Shark Zord: Slash!"

"Full Pack!"

The two attacks successfully destroyed General Gut, the samurai megazord, and wolf zord striking their victory poses. As they did so, Brooke mouthed along to Jayden's usual finishing line.

"Samurai Rangers: Victory is Ours."

--

Scott and the six samurai rangers stood in the subway station, which was, apparently, how he dimension hopped. Which made little to no sense, but Brooke didn't question it. She was just happy to be wrapping things up and wanted to take a shower and go to bed. But, she still wanted to wish Scott goodbye, as the second red ranger became almost a friend in the short amount of time they've known each other. So, she just fought back her exhaustion and wore a small smile on her face.

"Okay, well, it's time for me to take the fight back to my own world." Scott declared, holding out a hand. Which Jayden took, the two red rangers shaking each other's hands.

"Thank you, for helping us save the city." Jayden thanked, and Scott laughed.

"No, thank you. Look, if Professor Cog had succeeded, my world would've been in big trouble. You guys are pretty good," Scott praised, but soon he was back to being cocky and confident. "Even if you're tragically old school." He teased, and the subway then dinged, signaling it was leaving soon. "Well, it's time to go." He declared, and when the team said their goodbyes and started walking away, he stopped Jayden by grabbing his wrist.

"Everything okay?" Jayden asked, furrowing his brows, and Scott dropped his wrist, wearing a smile underneath his helmet.

"Good luck with her," Scott remarked, motioning to Brooke with a nod. She was laughing at a joke somebody made, revealing her longer canines while her grey eyes sparkled with amusement. Jayden glanced at her then back to Scott, who snickered and tapped his helmet. "Look, I may have the helmet on, but I'm not blind. I see the way you two look at each other." He answered Jayden's silent question, who shook his head with a small smile.

Guess it was more obvious than he thought, but Jayden didn't really mind at this point. "Thanks. She means a lot to me." He thanked, and Scott laughed.

"Oh, I can tell," Scott teased, and Jayden rolled his eyes. "Do you love her?" He asked, and Jayden made a noise of surprise, blue eyes widening and heat rushing to his face and the tips of his ears.

He looked back at Brooke, who made eye contact with him, flashing him a smile and a thumbs up. He returned the smile, turning his attention back to Scott. Jayden then sat in his thoughts for a couple of moments before coming to a conclusion, his voice quiet as he spoke.

"Yeah. I do."