Jayden had stepped outside for a moment while Mia took Antonio into a side room to help him with his "wardrobe malfunction." He didn't mean to laugh, he really was happy to see his friend again, but as always, he was trying too hard, and misfortune caught up with him as it regularly did. Mentor Ji came out with Kevin and Emily, finding him sitting on a bench out in the yard.
"Mia said she'd see what she can do to repair Antonio's pants." Emily said in a little snigger. While some time had passed, it was still pretty funny all things considered.
"He hasn't changed a bit." Jayden said, reminiscing about when they were kids.
"You were obviously great friends." She answered. "He really looks up to you."
"We were friends from the moment we met." Jayden told them. "It used to drive Mentor crazy when he kept coming over and interrupting practice. I lost count of the number of times he chased him off."
"I agreed to teach him some Martial Arts to help him with his bullying problem." Mentor informed them. "Unfortunately it wasn't enough for both of them."
"I told Antonio all about the whole Samurai thing." Jayden continued the story. "Ever since that, he was hooked. His dream was to become a Samurai and help me out in the battle against the Nighlocks. He wasn't born into one of the Samurai families, but he was my friend, I wanted him to be part of it so badly."
"So badly you gave him a zord?" Kevin asked him. Jayden just smiled.
"What can I say? I was six." Jayden explained. "My best friend was leaving, so I wanted to give him a going away present."
"So you gave him a zord?" Emily asked, a little shocked to hear this.
"Without my consent I may add." Mentor Ji added. "He threatened to quit training if I tried to get it back."
"I was six." Jayden reiterated. "And I was a Samurai. What else did I have to give him?"
"So if Mentor Ji were the president would you have given Antonio the nuclear launch codes?" Kevin asked. "It's just as dangerous."
"I was six!" Jayden put down again. "Sure, I know it wasn't a great idea, but...we got it back when we needed it right?"
Emily put an arm around him and smiled. Despite the embarrassing entrance, and the fact that Mentor Ji and Kevin were getting on Jayden's case about the whole zord situation, she could see that he was clearly still happy to see his best friend back.
"I still can't believe he's kept his promise all this time." Jayden told them, looking to Kevin and Mentor Ji. "You both saw what he can do. He's clearly trained hard..."
"He hasn't trained properly." Kevin reminded him. "Anyone can take a few karate lessons..."
"To be fair, it looks like he's done a bit more than that." Emily chipped in. "He might have trained differently, but surely he's proven he's good."
"That may well be, but several questions still have to be answered." Mentor Ji answered, pulling out Antonio's morpher. "We still don't know how he came by this morpher, or what power it holds. It may not be enough, or it could be dangerously powerful, in which case we need to ensure it is harnessed, or..."
"Or put away so it can't harm anyone." Emily sighed. "It's just...this war is already so hard, I guess I would like an extra pair of hands around the place."
"Mia said she's done her best with Antonio's pants." Mike announced as he came out. "We're ready to continue."
As they got up, Mentor Ji just put a hand on Jayden's chest to hold him back for a moment.
"Just remember, even though he is a friend, and you wish him by your side, just remember the dangers we face." Mentor Ji reminded him. "Would you want him to risk his life for you?"
With that, he gestured Jayden inside to continue the meeting.
On Master Xandred's junk on the Sanzu River, he had finally awakened, and as usual, he was in a thoroughly foul mood as a result of his pain. His mood was not helped in the slightest by the irritating furry worts dangling from the ceiling, chattering away inanely.
"You spend all your time researching and yet we are still no closer to our goals!" He roared. "I want answers Octoroo!"
Octoroo quaked in fear at his master's bellowing roar.
"I have no more news on Deker." He squealed. "He's vanished..."
"The seal?" Master Xandred asked him.
"We've been researching and spying on the Red Ranger non-stop, and we still know nothing about it." Octoroo told him, fearing his wrath. Xandred just made his way to a mat, sitting down and drinking some medicine.
"What of this sixth Ranger?" He asked. "Do you at least know something about him?"
He didn't. The Gold Ranger was still an unknown element in the whole affair. There was absolutely nothing about him in the archives. There were only five noble families. Mercifully, a Nighlock came spinning into the room, destroying the furry warts in a storm of blades before coming to rest on the ceiling.
"Sire, I humbly come to make a request." He announced. "The Rangers destroyed my friend Vulpes."
"You want revenge?" Master Xandred asked him.
"If it so pleases you my lord, I would be honoured for the opportunity to avenge Vulpes." He replied. Master Xandred just waved him off.
"You may go." He replied.
"Thank you my lord." The Nighlock replied, before leaping out of the window into the river.
Back at the Shiba House, Antonio was sitting on a stool, waiting for the others. Unfortunately the way the hook had torn the trousers, it couldn't really be repaired. It hadn't separated a seam; it had torn the cloth, meaning the trousers would have to be replaced. Mia had just stitched up the hole so that Antonio would be able to walk to wherever he was staying without his ass hanging out for all to see. Everyone sat around the table, at which Mentor Ji took a breath, preparing to begin.
"Antonio, clearly you have trained." He began.
"I mostly trained myself." He admitted, figuring that they were trying to ascertain how good he was. "That being said, I did seek training wherever I could find it. Dad was happy for me to do stuff to keep me out of trouble, so he let me go to gyms and dojos anywhere we went. I learned from anyone I could. I've got black belts in karate, judo, jui jitsu..."
"One of my favourites." Mike said with a smile, before getting a disapproving look from Mentor Ji. "Sorry. You were saying Antonio?"
"The tanto, I just kept practicing what I had seen as a kid. I got so far, but just when I thought I couldn't learn any more by myself, I found an old cell phone someone had lost, and I noticed that Octozord responded to it when I pressed the buttons. Eventually, I realised that I could communicate with him through texting. That was when he revealed he could teach me how to access the power of light, and everything fell into place."
"Octozord taught you?" Mentor Ji asked him, pulling out the morpher. "With this?"
"Yeah." He replied proudly.
"What I don't get is how come it's a morpher?" Mike asked him. "How did you come by those awesome powers?"
They all looked at Antonio intently. It was one of the main questions they wanted an answer to. He shifted a little in his seat.
"I've always been good with gadgets." He told them. "But I met this one..."
Just then, the Gap Sensor sounded. The Rangers all looked to Mentor Ji as he pulled up the map, finding out where the attack was.
"Go!" He announced. Antonio just held up his hands.
"Let me go with you." He stated. "I can help!"
The others all looked to Mentor Ji, waiting for his judgement. He just shook his head.
"I'm sorry Antonio, but it's impossible." He answered. "It's simply too dangerous to send you out there without the formal training."
He stood up, looking a little stunned.
"But...all I've ever dreamed of is being a Samurai!" He told him. He looked to Jayden pleadingly. "Jayden, tell him how you made me a Samurai."
Jayden found himself unable to look his friend in the eye. He had worked hard, that much was clear. He had to have sacrificed so much for fifteen years in order to come to the Shiba House not only willing, to be a Ranger, but to even have somehow created his own powers. However, Mentor Ji had a point. This was dangerous, and while they were fortunate that Vulpes had been caught off-guard by Antonio's arrival, there was no guarantee the next one wouldn't be ready for him.
"I'm sorry Antonio, but Ji's right." Jayden sighed. "This isn't little kids' stuff anymore."
As they ran out, the others couldn't help feeling sorry for Antonio. His best friend, the one he had sacrificed years of his life to honour a promise to, had just crushed his dream. Antonio looked to Mentor Ji.
"The Octozord was not Jayden's to give away and we may need it." He continued, before putting away Antonio's morpher. "And I'm keeping this."
Antonio just shook his head and held out a hand to Mentor Ji.
"You have no right." He replied. "The Octozord isn't mine. It sucks, but that much is true. The morpher is mine though. I want it back."
"Antonio..."
"I found that phone. I made the morpher, it's my property!" He insisted. "You have no right to keep it."
Mentor Ji was reluctant, but he couldn't deny what Antonio had said. Strictly speaking, the morpher was Antonio's property, and as such he had no right to withhold it. He threw it back to Antonio.
"I am sorry about this." He replied. "You understand."
"Sure." He sighed, putting the morpher away as he left.
In another part of town, the Rangers arrived to find the Nighlock terrorising an unfortunate civilian.
"Let him go!" Jayden called out.
"Ah, I thought causing a little trouble would draw you out." The Nighlock responded, before rushing towards them, his swords at the ready.
Antonio meanwhile was back at the jetty, dangling a fishing line lazily in the water. It was lonely without the Octozord by his side.
He had dedicated so much time, so much effort to becoming as good as he possibly could, all to fulfil a promise he had made as a child. He had longed to be a samurai ever since Jayden had first told him the truth about who he was and his legacy. It was his one driving force throughout his whole life. While other kids dreamed of being rock stars or playing in the NFL, he was dreaming of the day he would fight by Jayden's side as one of his Rangers.
Now though, his dreams lay in ruins. Mentor Ji had heard his pitch, and yet he still refused to allow him to join the team. He had sacrificed almost his whole life for nothing.
"I can't believe I wasted all that time." He muttered in a self-pitying manner. "I worked so hard for this."
"You give up too easily." He heard a voice from behind him say. He turned his head only to see a dark-haired stranger in white robes behind him. Jayden had told him about Deker when they were catching up. As he reached for his morpher, Deker just gestured to the roll that concealed Urumasa. "I wouldn't recommend that."
"What do you want?" Antonio asked him. Deker made his way around beside him and sat down next to him on the jetty. As he lowered himself, Antonio could see a look of pain on his face. He had a few visible cuts and bruises still, and it was clear he was hurting.
"Do not worry; I have no intention of harming you." Deker assured him. "I saw your battle with Vulpes. It was impressive."
"Thanks." Antonio replied.
"I also know that you are not at the battle the Rangers are having right now." Deker told him. "I would like to know why."
"I'm not a samurai." He sighed. "It's not my war."
"What do you mean you aren't a Samurai?" Deker asked in response.
"My family isn't a samurai family." He clarified. "I wasn't born into it like the others."
"Do you think that makes a difference?" Deker asked him. "Tell me, do you know what the samurai were?"
"They were nobles." He answered. Deker nodded.
"How do you suppose they became nobles?" Deker asked him. "Do you think that the families just appeared as 'nobles'?"
"What do you mean by that?" Antonio asked him.
"Every family was a peasant family at some point." Deker explained. "Nobles owned land."
"I barely own this cart." Antonio said, pointing to the cart behind him.
"They didn't ask for their lands or their titles." Deker continued. "At some point, either they took their land by force, or they were awarded their titles and lands as military honours. Either way, they did not become samurai by asking for it."
He turned to the Gold Ranger.
"They demanded it, and then they took it." He pressed on. "If you want to be a samurai, you must do the same. Words only go so far."
With that, he got up slowly, hissing in pain. Antonio got up as Deker started to walk away.
"Why did you tell me this?" He asked. Deker stopped and looked to him.
"You know what I want with your friend." Deker replied. "If his team is stronger, it preserves his strength. It will make our eventual dual all the more satisfying."
"So...we're not gonna fight or anything?" Antonio asked. He just shook his head.
"Not today at least." Deker assured him. "I still have some healing to do."
As he was about to leave though, he paused.
"Which reminds me, next time you see that pretty Yellow Ranger, give her a message from me." Deker stated. "Tell her, she impressed me."
With that, he walked away. Antonio felt a little strange about the whole encounter, this was a man that wanted to kill his best friend, but he hadn't made any moves, so he couldn't justify attacking him. He did, however, make a point. He had asked to be brought onto the team. Clenching his fist intently, he grabbed his fish cart and started to head towards the Shiba House with a purpose. This time, it would not be Mentor Ji's choice. He would show them he should be a samurai.
Meanwhile, back at the battle site, things were not going well. Four of the Rangers were already down as a result of the Nighlock's surprising blade attacks, and Jayden was being beaten back.
"Full body blade!" It called out as several blades erupted from its body. Jayden guarded as well as he could, backed up to a pillar with nowhere to go. The blades slammed all around him, pinning him in place. It was then that good fortune smiled on them. He watched as the blades recoiled.
"Uh oh, lucky for you I'm drying out." He announced. "I'll be back."
As he disappeared, the others got up and made their way over to Jayden.
"Man, that was brutal." Mike commented. "That Nighlock had some moves."
"What are we meant to do if he comes back?" Kevin asked.
"Hope when he gets to the Sanzu River he rusts?" Emily suggested.
"We need a new strategy." Jayden told them. Mia stepped forward.
"Maybe the best new strategy is a new Ranger." She suggested. Jayden just nodded.
"Maybe you're right Mia." He replied. "Maybe you're right."
