Legal: I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, places, events etc. Anything not covered by the above rights should be considered purely the creation of the author.
Rating: T – May be some mild adult themes.
Timeline: Taking place across the events of "Room for One More."
A/N: Until I see the episode and get a hold of some of the material from it to incorporate into the story, I just thought I'd write this little lead in to the story to amuse myself.
The Rangers were in the training yard of the Shiba House, running through their drills as Mentor Ji watched on. He had decided to let a day go by before addressing the issue of Antonio. Serena had already made a huge announcement the previous day, telling the others that she would not be staying, and so he wanted to give them a little while to decompress from that before he dealt with the possible hornets' nest of introducing a new member to the team.
He watched them all training, and even in one day, he could already see differences in the way things occurred. While every day, like every battle, was different, he normally had a pretty good bead on what level all the Rangers were at and what to expect from them, but today, there was a foreign element introduced into the mix.
Emily was training a lot harder, and was showing a lot more fire than she normally did in her bout with Mia. The recent incident involving her family had put her through quite a bit, and he had seen her go from one extreme to the other. Only a couple of days ago, she was going home to say goodbye to Serena, fully expecting her to pass away, only to be embroiled in an emotional battle against the dreaded Cursed Warrior Dekker when he attacked her family, and as part of that, having fate intervene and return Serena to full health.
Serena's brief return to action had affected Emily's confidence considerably. He didn't mean to demean her efforts, but the facts were that Serena was a stronger Samurai, and it was always meant to be her that took up the mantle of Yellow Ranger. He knew that it would hurt, but she bravely accepted the decision he and her parents had made when they told her that she would be going home. She had even helped out as much as she could, tracking down Antonio while the others dealt with the latest Nighlock. It was fate intervening again that left her in their midst. It seemed that in her time convalescing, Serena had lost a little bit of a step in battle, something that he had expected, but more than that, the Ape Zord no longer responded to her as readily as it should. It had formed a bond with Emily, one that made it unfamiliar and uncomfortable with its former master.
In the end, Serena had made the decision that they couldn't risk the time it would take for her to get back to form and that now Deker possibly considered her and their parents a legitimate target, she would be best served keeping them safe and leaving Emily on the team. He had a feeling that there may have been other elements behind her decision, but he accepted her decision, and he had to admit the effect it had on Emily. It seemed now more than ever she was determined to prove herself and make her sister proud. She was no longer there because there wasn't another option, she was there because Serena chose to surrender her position on the team to her, and by the looks of things, she was determined to make sure the faith and confidence Serena had placed in her was not misplaced.
Mia had been somewhat accepting of Antonio, something that Mentor Ji had sort of expected, given her self-appointed role of den mother to the group, but it seemed to be much more than that. She seemed to identify with him on some level. She had been one of the most vocal about the change in Jayden having his childhood friend back in his life, and she seemed to love seeing the new side to him. The two of them had spent the night preparing them all some of Antonio's stock for the whole house, something that she seemed to benefit from. Not only was it edible, it was actually very good. She had been trying to get past her problems with cooking, and had improved, but it seemed Antonio's guidance had a dramatic effect on the end result.
Mike seemed to get on well with the new arrival, and he too seemed to get renewed interest in training. He had always been self-conscious about the fact he was behind the others in his swordsmanship, but now he seemed to be heartened by the new arrival. While Antonio seemed to have much better technique, and be much more practiced, Mike was no longer the only one with an unorthodox style, or one that raised questions, and yet looking at Antonio, he seemed to take heart that it worked for him. Mentor Ji had to admit being slightly worried that bad habits would rub off on Mike, and had even seen him do some Antonio-esque moves with his bokken that day, but it seemed like the additions helped him get an edge in his session with Kevin, and even allowed him to score a few more points than he normally did.
Kevin seemed to be frustrated by the new arrival, and while he hadn't been rude or inappropriate in his protests, he had made his reservations about Antonio known. Like Mentor Ji, he had concerns that his technique raised questions about his training and his suitability to be a Samurai.
It was a way of life, much more than just learning how to swing a sword, it was about dedication, sacrifice and discipline. They needed to be willing to face impossible odds, to make the hard decisions and give up virtually everything else in their lives, and if need be, to lay down their lives. It was, in some ways, as much a religion as it was combat training, and the others had all been indoctrinated from birth. Kevin could expect any of them to face their responsibility without hesitation, even Mike, who had caused him so much frustration in the time he had known him. Antonio was an unknown though, something they could ill afford.
The thing that concerned Mentor Ji the most however was the effect he was having on Jayden. It wasn't that he wasn't training as hard as he usually did, or that he was taking things less seriously, but he seemed to be a little blinkered when it came to Antonio. Right now, Jayden was sparring with him on another mat a little way from the others. Fortunately among his possessions, Antonio had wooden practice tanto daggers. It was a style that Mentor Ji was aware of, but that he was unfamiliar with having not really practiced it much since his youth, preferring the katana.
He could remember Antonio and Jayden playing together as children, it was heartening to see. Jayden didn't really have many friends, but the two of them had been inseparable at one time. It always made him smile when he watched them playing together, and he was happy to allow it, giving Jayden a welcome distraction from his training and the responsibility that he would one day face. He never even minded when Jayden insisted that Antonio be trained with him because he was getting bullied at school, or even when he had broken protocol by introducing him to the zords. He had been an especially welcome part of Jayden's life following his father's death. Antonio had been there at a time when he needed someone. Mentor Ji had done everything he could, but having someone his own age to talk to had helped Jayden a lot back then. It was a sad turn of events that Antonio's father had accepted a job in another city, requiring him to move away. It had hit Jayden so hard, he hadn't even made a fuss by the time he realised that the Octozord was gone, believing that it would find its way back to them in their time of need.
Although they were both only children when they parted ways, but looking at them now, it was like they never had. Jayden had never had many friends as a result of his duties to his training, so in some ways it was understandable that he had such fond memories of his first true friend, even after so many years apart. However, he was so happy to see Antonio again that Mentor Ji was worried that it would cloud his judgement on the issue of him becoming part of the team.
There were a number of things that concerned him about the new arrival. For one thing, they had no idea exactly how good he was, or the exact extent of his ability. It had been around fifteen years since he had left the Shiba household for the last time, and while it was clear that he had trained in Martial Arts elsewhere in that time, to what level still had to be established. His dedication and commitment were still potentially in question. He hadn't been back in all these years, so he had no idea if Antonio would stick around when things got hard. Finally, the last thing that troubled him, a question he really wanted answered, where exactly had he gotten those powers from?
Jayden and Antonio reached something of an impasse in their bout, Antonio having locked their blades in a stalemate. Jayden just smiled at his long time friend as they parted.
"Alright guys, I think that's enough for just now." Jayden announced. Just then the Lion Zord ran out of the house, chasing the Octozord playfully. Emily just watched the cute display as they circled the Red and Gold Rangers in their game.
"Oh, that is adorable!" She gushed. "They remember each other too."
"It looks like you're not the only one who got an old friend back dude." Mike added. Antonio smiled as he heard them say that. Just like Antonio and Jayden, the two zords had spent some time getting reacquainted, and had spent a lot of time playing with each other all round the household.
"Yeah, Octozord was so excited when I told him we'd be coming home." Antonio commented as it came over and landed on his shoulder.
"I have a question. Why exactly do you call it Octozord?" Kevin asked him. "It only has six legs, it's clearly a squid."
"What can I say; I was six when I named it." Jayden explained with a little smirk. "I didn't know the difference."
"Besides, what else would you have us call it? The Calamari of Doom?" Antonio teased him as he started to make his way off the mats and reached for a towel. Jayden had been reaching for the same towel, and just looked to him, shrugging and handing it to him. "Thanks."
"Don't mention it." Jayden replied, gesturing to Mentor Ji as he smiled. "Alright guys, remember that Mentor's arranged a meeting for lunchtime, so hit the showers, get changed and take a little time. We'll gather at 1, so your time's your own until then."
"Yeah great." Emily sighed. "By the time I've done my math assignment, it'll be time for lunch. That's really relaxing."
"It's just part of balancing an education with being a Samurai." Mia assured her, putting her arm around her. "Besides, you only have a couple of credits left to get. It won't be long."
"It feels like it." She commented. Kevin looked to the others, placing his bokken back on the rack.
"I think I'll go practice some symbols." He told them as he walked off. Mike just stretched out his shoulders.
"Well I have a date with Halo online." Mike chipped in. "There's some kid from Norway that's online around about now that's been talking a lot of smack. I intend to show him what gaming's all about."
"Good luck." Jayden replied as Mike made his way to the showers. He looked to Antonio who was still mopping himself down with a towel. "I still can't believe you actually kept your promise."
"Hey, I take a promise to my best friend very seriously." Antonio told him. "I think it's the least I can do after you helped me out at kindergarten."
"You were being bullied." Jayden commented with a shrug. "Protecting the innocent is kind of what I was trained to do right?"
"Jayden, Lewis was sitting on me in the sand pit and forcing me to eat sand." He reminded his friend. "I'd had my lunch stolen every day before you came. I have you to thank for preventing my growth being stunted."
"Yeah, but still...we were six." Jayden stated as he put the weapons away. "Fifteen years is a long time. I would have thought you'd have forgotten all about that by now."
"Not with this guy around to remind me." Antonio chuckled, stroking Octozord as he looked back to Jayden. "I know Mentor Ji and the others are a little unsure..."
"We'll discuss it at the meeting." Jayden interrupted him. "This is a pretty important decision Antonio. You saw what happened when the team was thrown out of balance."
"Yeah, your new girlfriend." He teased Jayden. The Red Ranger gave him a dark look.
"She is NOT my girlfriend." He insisted. "Serena's a great Samurai, you saw her in action yourself, but the team as a whole, we need to be sure it'll work. If anything unbalances it..."
"I guess the stakes are pretty high." Antonio commented. "I heard about all the Nighlock attacks on the news. It took me a while, but I came as soon as I could."
"Well I appreciate the offer of help at least." Jayden assured him. "But you know that it isn't just my decision."
"And if it was?" Antonio asked him. Jayden just smirked at him.
"I guess I could use a little more convincing." Jayden replied, throwing him his wooden tanto and snatching up a bokken.
"Oh you want more of this?" Antonio asked him, throwing his sweat towel at him playfully. "Bring it on!"
