Chapter Rating: K+ - for mild language and mild action

Chapter Date: Monday, May 4th 2015


The next morning, the rangers took their training outside. The back yard, being at least two acres, was reserved for this very purpose. It was enclosed by tall wooden gates that backed up to the woods surrounding the entire property.

Junichi jumped straight into it with hand-to-hand combat, each of them taking turns fighting the monstrous specimen of a man.

Theo would be lying if he said he wasn't nervous. He'd also be lying if he said he thought their first fight being with Junichi really did much to show their strengths. The former was probably because he doubted himself tremendously. The latter was probably because Junichi intimidated Theo far more than he'd like to admit. Both were definitely because Theo knew how important it was that he present himself to his teammates as an expert fighter who they can rely on in battle. And, of course, he blew it when he didn't see that fist coming and fell out only two minutes into the fight.

"That could've been a blast from a monster's weapon," Oshieru called out from his place with the others at the edge of the grass, "or worse. Pay more attention."

Felix replaced Theo and the fight began. Felix kept up better than Theo had, but in Theo's defense, he probably had a little less on his mind. He always had a little less on his mind.

Junichi swung, Felix ducked. Felix faked left, Junichi followed. This continued for some time until Felix finally gave out. Theo wasn't surprised; Felix had plenty of skill and form but he wasn't the most active guy. While Theo was training until his legs were useless and his arms felt like Jell-O, Felix was vegging out in front of the television until his eyes bled and his stomach bulged from cheese puffs and actual Jell-O.

And still he had outlasted Theo.

According to Oshieru, he needed to keep both eyes on the opponent and distribute his weight evenly. They'd work on that later.

Next was Bridget. Even when she was fighting, she looked exactly the same as when she was strutting down the halls of the high school. Head held high, shoulders back, arms moving with elegance and poise. Always ready to try and make an impression. Theo thought that was something they had in common. They both cared far too much what others thought of them. Neither of them would admit it aloud, hardly even to themselves, but it was true.

Bridget lasted about the same amount of time as her brother, and went down when Junichi caught her off-guard while she was trying to do an elaborate-looking kick. Trying and almost succeeding. She seemed quite flexible and Theo was impressed with her range of motion. She probably did yoga or zumba or some kind of crap.

Oshieru complimented her technique and told her that she needed to put more power into her movements. Again, weight distribution. They'd work on it later.

Archie's test was less necessary since (they'd found out from Archie) he was trained by a close friend of Oshieru's after his dad died, and so Oshieru already knew a lot of his fighting style. The most remarkable thing about Archie, was that when fighting, he looked like he was having an absolute ball. The time of his life. Theo thought he looked like a golden retriever with its head sticking out the window of a car.

For the most part, Archie kept up well with Junichi. It was apparent that he was agile and energetic. Again, in this fight the loser went down when they were caught off-guard.

Oshieru told Archie that he lacked no strength, lacked no energy, but lacked the ability to keep his guard up. He put too much trust in his opponent. These monsters were nasty creatures, and they didn't play fair. They wouldn't wait around for any of them to collect their wits before resuming a battle. They'd just strike. And strike. And strike.

But they'd work on it later.

Emmy was up last. It was blatantly obvious from the moment the fight began that her training was very different from the other rangers'. Her technique was odd in that she really had none. Her movements were clumsily deliberate, awkwardly powerful.

Theo almost felt like he was watching a street fight, but completely unlike those you saw in movies where the thug suddenly knew how to do roundhouse kicks like Jackie Chan. No, this was more like the fights between the bad kids at school, only with less malice involved and just as much urgency. He was entranced and startled. Blue executed none of the graceful, flowing movements he was used to. Instead, she let her jabs fly with inelegant efficiency, her feet planted firmly on the ground.

After a little while, Theo thought Blue was beginning to take this fight a little too seriously, like she really was in danger and really was protecting herself. He almost (almost) feared she might take down Junichi, when her face met with the ground beneath her. It took him a moment to realize she had actually tripped and not been hit. She rose quickly to resume the fight, the bruise that was already on her face suddenly puffy and red, when Oshieru stopped her.

Oshieru must've realized that something was off about her style-Theo wasn't sure about Junichi, his face revealed nothing-because he asked her simply, "Who trained you?"

"My mother."

No one moved. Oshieru answered, less of a question, more of an accusation, "You are telling me, then, that Julia trained you in a completely different manner of fighting than that with which she was trained her whole young life?"

Emmy didn't miss a beat. "Yessir, that's about right."

Oshieru and Junichi exchanged a meaningful, confused look and they moved on with their training lessons.


Later that afternoon, the rangers were back in the large sitting room with Oshieru and Junichi. They had just finished their first day of hand-to-hand combat training, and overall their teachers were fairly satisfied with what they had accomplished so far. Obviously, they still had much to do and far to go, but it was a start.

They were all sitting around listening to Oshieru explain more about the complicated life they now found themselves in. They were to be contacted and helped along this journey by their spirit guides-Yurei. The Yurei are good spirits, sons and daughters of Tsukuyomi and Amaterasu, that come to them whenever they need help, and they're also what gives them power through their Magatamas. While their Magatamas were the comma-shaped beads that were handed down from their parents, though, their Yurei chose them.

He explained that their Yurei could choose them at any time, even when they were small children, but they could not contact them until they were called to fight, and still they may not contact often.

"I am glad to say, though, that each of your Yurei have made themselves visible to me, and it is time now to tell you of them," Oshieru looked them each in the eyes with his piercing stare, "Sons of Tsukuyomi; your spirit, Theodore, comes from your Yurei, Daiki, spirit of Justice; your spirit, Archer, comes from your Yurei, Souma, spirit of Loyalty; your spirit, Felix, comes from your Yurei, Isamu, spirit of Courage."

They each nodded in turn, but couldn't keep their eyes from brightening and the smiles from their faces. They had their very own spirits, spirits that had chosen them. It was the thrill of suddenly being a part of something much bigger than themselves that had them all excited.

Oshieru continued, "And daughters of Amaterasu; your spirit, Bridget, comes from your Yurei, Kimiko, spirit of Nobility; and lastly, your spirit, Emmeline, comes from your Yurei, Michiko, spirit of Wisdom."

They all looked at each other, eyes wide, pure pride coursing through their veins.

Oshieru explained a few more things to them, from the alarm that would sound whenever there was a monster spotted in the area, to the rules of the house. "No staying out past 10:00 on your days off. No leaving the gates without permission. You're expected to keep your room clean and to do your part around the house. Absolutely no pursuing your fellow rangers romantically-that's a rule that they tend to bend, but then if they didn't, Felix and Bridget would not be here. Well, neither would Theodore or Emmeline, for that matter."

This caused a round of chortles and raised eyebrows.

Emmy looked to Theo confusedly. "Why wouldn't we be here?"

He chuckled. "It seems my dad and your mom were kind of a 'thing' way back when."

Emmy raised her eyebrows and laughed a little. This was news to her.

Oshieru smiled serenely at the teens, and suddenly remembered something. "Oh! One last thing."

He led the way out the back door and across the yard to a storage shed near the tall fence. As the rangers filed in behind him, they saw lined up before them five solid lumps beneath several large tarpaulins. Junichi removed the tarps with a huff and revealed five shiny motorcycles in each of the rangers' respective colors.

Felix ran a hand over the black cycle. "Sweet! It's not a Harley, but..."

Bridget stared at the pink cycle from afar with sparkly eyes. "So. Pretty."

The rest of the rangers had similar reactions of excitement.

Oshieru explained, "With these motorcycles you'll be able to travel from place to place while being invisible to Tsuneo's monitors. So to both people and monsters, even if you are morphed, you'll just look like kids riding motorcycles."

Oshieru allowed them to revel at the cycles for a few more minutes before leading them back inside, and finally dismissing them. "You should all take the rest of the evening to finish unpacking your things, if you could show Emmeline to her room, and rest well. You'll need it."


Emmy sighed to herself as she scanned the room she now called home. The walls were mostly bare and were painted a light beige, the floors were the same light pine hardwood as the rest of the large house. The two tall windows on the far side of the room were covered in long curtains the same color as the walls. Her suitcases were set to the right of the door, just in front of a large chest of drawers, and her books stood where she stacked them, on a short shelf between the windows. The bed was double-sized, made of the same wood as the rest of the furniture and floors, and was covered in a light blue down comforter. Perhaps the only thing decorative in the room was the blue throw pillow sporting the Japanese kanji for Emmy's Yurei, Wisdom.

Preparing to turn in for the night, Emmy placed her grandmother's quilt on her new bed, and unpacked the last thing: her photos of her family. She placed them all one-by-one on the low table beside her bed; Jude, smiling a wide, gap-toothed grin; Flynn, laughing out loud as his uncle fell for one of his pranks; Asher, a quiet but proud smile on his face as he was presented an art award; Her father helping her learn to ride a bike when she was small; Both of her parents, herself, and her brothers one Christmas before Jude was born, back when they were mostly happy.

A soft knock on the open door interrupted her reverie, and she turned to see Theo shyly standing in the doorway.

He rubbed the back of his neck. "I-uh... I just wanted to say-uh-sorry. Sorry about this morning. I-uh-didn't mean to be such a jerk. And I'm really sorry."

When he saw that the only answer he was getting was a mildly amused smirk, he stuttered, "And anyway, even with the-uh-well, you know, your face still... is-uh-pretty... uh-I mean, it's not-not bad?"

She shook her head but couldn't help a small laugh. "Yeah, well. Yours ain't that bad either."

A slight blush crept up his cheeks, but he looked down to hide it. He just answered with a smile and a nod, and quickly exited back to his own bedroom.

She shut her door behind him, climbed into her bed, and thought about her new life. Maybe she was leaving behind a family that she loved more than anything, and maybe that scared her terribly. But, maybe she was getting something new, a new life, new friends.

Friends. The word scared her and excited her at the same time. She had never been good at making friends, and she had been especially bad at keeping them.

But, maybe...