Kevin arrived at the beach, looking out over the vast ocean. He always felt at home near water, even before his father taught him that his destiny was to control it. He had quite literally been introduced to water before he could walk.
His parents used to take him to the beach every weekend, and they had a pool in their back yard which they took him swimming in every day, even when they needed to supply him with floatation devices or his father had to carry him in his arms because he was too young to physically swim himself. In hindsight, he knew now that it was just to get him used to the presence of water from an early age, yet another part of the training that had encompassed his whole life, but it had also led to a life-long obsession with his dream of swimming in the Olympics.
He pulled out the blank power disk, and held it in his hand as he kept watch for the Swordfish Zord. Mentor Ji was sure it was around here somewhere, indeed, he had said it had been sighted. He paused for a moment and blinked as he thought about that choice of phrase for the first time. It had been SIGHTED." Who by? Who had seen it? Mentor Ji and the Rangers had been in the academy all day, and he knew that they had been there all night as a result of the nightmare following "fajita night". He had never thought about it before now, but thinking about it, he imagined seeing a one hundred foot metal swordfish swimming around would likely raise some eyebrows. If someone outside of the Rangers had seen it, he imagined it would have been in the news by now, or at very least, on Youtube.
He suddenly became aware of the fact that he was exposed out here. He wasn't morphed, and while very few people were around this part of the beach, preferring the comfortable, sandy, sun-drenched parts, he considered the fact that he might be seen trying to lure a gigantic swordfish to the shore and considered morphing, at very least to conceal his identity from any unwary explorers. This thought was interrupted though as he saw it leaping out of the ocean, higher than a skyscraper. It was absolutely immense. Even at this distance, he could see it clearly. It was bright cyan in colour, and shone in the sun. As it plunged below the depths, it raised almost no wake, slicing through the surface with ease. Suddenly, all thoughts of his identity were lost as he once again became focused on his task. Pulling out his Samuraiser, he scrawled a symbol in the air, at which a fishing rod appeared in his hand. Mounting the blank power disk on the spindle, he cast out his line. He would have the Swordfish Zord in no time, and in doing so, not only would he bring them a powerful weapon, but he would ensure that he would never have to hurt Mia by telling her the truth about how awful her cooking was.
As he got a bite, he smiled and spun the power disk, hoping to reel it in, and fought with the rod as it pulled him towards the water, only for the line to snap. The Swordfish had pulled away from him. He sighed and repaired the line as he considered his next choice of symbol to use. Clearly, this would take a lot longer than he thought.
Indeed it did. His clothes were sticking to him from his sweat as he continued to cast line after line into the water. He hadn't brought water, sun block, or even a hat. He knew it was a hot day, but he hadn't counted on the whole thing taking this long. He was sure he'd have caught it by now, and he would have returned to his friends with their new weapon, but so far it was always just out of reach. He didn't know exactly how long he had been out there, but it felt like days, and his arms and legs felt like lead. Heat stroke was beginning to become an issue, and he was sure he was dehydrated.
He didn't know why it wasn't working; he was trying every symbol he could think of. Lure, capture, catch, reel, hook...he was starting to run out of ideas as quickly as he was running out of strength in the unrelenting heat. As he cast one more line, trying the capture symbol one more time, his vision began to blur, and his knees started to buckle under him. He tried to remain upright, casting his thoughts to his friends, his family, indeed, the very world, to all the people who were depending on him to capture the zord, but eventually exhaustion overcame even his iron will, and he collapsed. As he passed out, he was sure he saw a pair of boots approaching him.
When he woke up, he found himself in some kind of ramshackle shelter. There was a couple of camping tables around, covered in camping gear and fishing supplies. As he rose, he could see a slightly scruffy looking man a short way off. He was a big guy, in a brown cardigan and khaki trousers, with dark brown, curly hair. As he turned towards Kevin, he could see that he had a round, kind face, covered in messy stubble that suggested he had been out here for a couple of days. He appeared to be cooking something.
"What happened?" Kevin asked him.
"You fainted." He answered bluntly. "I didn't want to leave you out there to roast."
He was still weak, but Kevin knew how important his mission was. He was grateful to the stranger for helping him, but he couldn't afford to stay until he was back to full strength.
"Thanks for all your help, but I really have to go." He told the man gratefully. "I have to catch a fish."
"I say that every day." The fisherman laughed in response as Kevin's Samuraiser bleeped. He just squinted at the curious young man as he answered it. All he could hear was Kevin's side of the conversation, something about his friends being poisoned.
"Seriously, thanks for everything, but I have a swordfish to catch." Kevin told the fisherman before running off. The fisherman just shook his head and went back to what he was doing.
Emily leaned across, placing her wash cloth in the bowl and wringing it out, her hand touching Mike's as she did so. She looked up his arm, finding him looking back at her through weary, slightly reddened eyes. She smiled weakly.
"I thought you preferred frozen peas." He commented, raising a small, weak laugh from her.
"Only for bruising." She responded as she lay back, placing it over her forehead. "That Nighlock was pretty nasty. I can't believe he poisoned us."
"Yeah, when they fight fair and just kick our asses at least we have a shot." Mike agreed. "I'm sure Kevin would say poisoning's underhanded and dishonourable. Something about being felled by unseen forces and all that kind of stuff."
He felt Emily's hand creeping across, taking his softly and smiled.
"I feel awful." She told him. "Do you think it'll pass?"
"I don't know. Mentor Ji said something about needing a cleansing force like the Swordfish Zord." Mike told her.
"Let's hope he's a good fisherman." She muttered.
"Tell me about it." He groaned. "I haven't felt this bad since last night."
"You were sick last night?" They heard Mia's voice ask weakly from the other side of the room. Mike and Emily looked at each other a little alarmed as they realised she had heard them. Just then, the Gap Sensor sounded. Mentor Ji pulled out his communicator, and they saw Jayden getting up from his bed, shifting from the bed to the wall quickly, unable to support his own weight for any length of time.
"Kevin, we have another attack." He informed the Blue Ranger, before turning to see Jayden. "Jayden..."
"You heard the Gap Sensor. We have a Nighlock to fight." Jayden said stubbornly. His determination was admirable, but was also one of his most self-destructive traits. He could barely stand, much less fight. Mentor Ji grabbed him, trying to hold him up.
Back on the beach, as he listened to his communicator, Kevin couldn't hear exactly what was going on, but could hear some kind of argument going on in the background. Eventually, he heard Jayden's voice.
"Kevin, don't worry about me, the Mentor's exaggerating." He began. Kevin didn't need to see him to hear the weakness in his voice and realise that it was probably Jayden who was exaggerating to put his mind at rest. "Just concentrate on your mission. I didn't just randomly choose you for this mission. I chose you because of your commitment and discipline. I know you can overcome any obstacle."
"I won't let you down!" Kevin stated, putting away his communicator, his determination renewed. He knew that Jayden would never quit, no matter how sick he was, and so he had to man up and do the same.
He continued to cast line after line, once again feeling his frustration building as he racked his brains for an answer. He was trying every symbol he could imagine, but he couldn't think of anything that would lure the swordfish onto the line. He felt a jolt of energy that sent him falling to his knees, and a pair of hands grabbed him. He looked up, seeing the fisherman behind him.
"Sit down." He told Kevin, fetching a flask from his belt. "Drink this."
As Kevin gulped the cold, soothing water furiously, the older man just looked at him curiously.
"Young man, why are you doing this to yourself?" He asked him.
"I have to bring in a swordfish, but my symbol power..." His words tailed off as he realised he was about to expose his secret to a stranger. Although he doubted this man had a direct line to the National Enquirer or anything, he knew it was still against the code to reveal himself. "What I'm doing isn't working."
"So why make yourself sick?" The fisherman asked in response. "There are plenty of easier catches than..."
"This one is special! My friends are counting on me!" Kevin blurted out. "I need to catch it, and I need it now!"
The fisherman just sighed and picked up the rod, handing it to Kevin.
"Then it's time for you to bring in that swordfish." He told him. Kevin was about to cast his line when he thought of something.
"Bring in?" He asked under his breath. A ghost of a smile came to his lips and he tried a new symbol, casting out his line one last time.
Feeling the Swordfish bite, Kevin spun the power disk, struggling to keep his footing on the loose rocks. He felt the fisherman's hand on his shoulder and took it as a comforting gesture. With one last pull, it flew out of the water, causing both men to tumble to the rocks. Kevin held up the rod, and the swordfish vanished inside it. The rod disappeared, and in a flash of light, the disk took on a new, cyan colour, just like the swordfish. Kevin smiled as he stared at the disk.
"It's on the disk, I did it!" He called out. The fisherman just looked between him and the disk in amazement.
"Just what kind of swordfish is that exactly?" He asked.
"I told you it was special." He replied as he ran off, eager to rejoin his friends in battle. The fisherman got up from the rocks, smiling at he pulled out a communicator.
"Mentor Ji, it's me. He got it." He stated. "He had every reason, every opportunity to give up, but he didn't."
"It's not in his nature. Kevin is true Samurai." Mentor Ji replied. "So you did everything as I asked?"
"I suggested he quit, I gave him as little help as possible, and I let him figure out the lesson on his own." He answered sagely. "He truly could be one of the greats."
"Thank you for all your help old friend." Mentor Ji responded.
"We're always here for the Samurai." The fisherman assured him with a proud grin. "We always have been, and we always will be." With that, he hung up; looking down the path Kevin had taken.
"You're one of the best I've seen kid." The fisherman declared. "That Nighlock doesn't stand a chance."