Author's notes - We're just over the halfway point. Thanks for sticking with me so far :). I just realised that this is the second story I've written where I reference the day that the colour mauve declared war on humanity, and the Rangers and Zordon had to deal with the event. One of these days, I'm actually gonna have to sit down and write that story, 'cause it sounds like an interesting one. Gypsymooney'sgirl - I thought that would be a neat little touch, I'm glad you noticed :). You'll particularly like one of the scenes in this chapter, I think. Son of Whitebeard - I like the way you think, actually, but that's not quite where I'm heading. Still, props for thinking outside the box :). Anyway, into chapter six!
Chapter Six
"So," Jason began, holding court in front of the crowded Shiba living room, "what do we know about Serrator?"
The Rangers and Ji all glanced to each other, everyone waiting for someone else to break the silence and speak first. Billy and Trini were sitting together on the couch opposite, while Mike and Emily were squeezed onto a single seat and trying not to look too comfortable. Kevin was on the ground in front of Ji with his legs crossed, while Antonio was standing a few feet away from Jayden, having barely left Jayden's side in the last twenty-four hours.
"He's a Nighlok king," Emily said. "He's not as powerful as Xandred, but he's pretty close."
"He's crazy," Mike added.
"Ruthless," Mia corrected, "and dangerous. He's a vicious monster."
"But a persistent one," said Kevin.
Jayden nodded. "Serrator isn't about to give up or go away," he said.
"I agree," Ji said. "You thwarted his plans once, plans he'd been working on for centuries. He's not going to forgive that."
"He doesn't sound like the kind of guy who takes defeat well," Zac said.
"Then we should assume that his end goal remains unchanged," Billy said. "That he still plans to use human despair to flood the mortal world."
"He captured us to keep us out of the way for whatever he has planned," Antonio said. "He doesn't have that luxury anymore. Whatever he's gonna do, why do I have the feeling that it's gonna be twice as bad?"
"Jayden, what do we do now?" Kevin asked.
Jayden opened his mouth to speak, but Jason stepped forward. "You say the city's been quiet ever since Xandred was petrified?" Jason asked. Jayden retreated quietly back against the wall.
"It's why we were so unguarded after we killed Serrator," Antonio said.
"Well, the first time," Mike added.
"So for the last week you guys were out of action?" Jason asked. "Then we need to play catch up. Check the newspapers, go back over the news reports for the last week, and check out local internet blogs and news sites."
"Look for anything out-of-the-ordinary or unusual," Trini said.
"Would the Nighlok really make the nightly news?" Kevin frowned.
Kimberly turned to him. "You'd be shocked," she began. "We've always found that in cities with teams of Rangers, people tend to pay attention to strange events."
"That's a great start," Jason began. "But we…"
His voice was drowned out as the house alarm began blaring. Everybody looked around in surprise, and Ji dashed over to the coffee table. "That's a gap sensor!" he shouted.
The Rangers all followed him over to the table. "Does that mean a Nighlok monster is attacking?" asked Tommy.
Ji pulled up a map of the city. "No," he replied, and everyone let out a sigh of relief. "But something's coming through. I can't see what. It's in an abandoned housing estate west of the city."
"We should go check it out," Mike said.
Jayden raised his hand. "Someone needs to stay back just in case something else happens," he said. "We've been caught by surprise once this week already."
"Good thinking," Ji said. "Rangers, split into teams and move out."
"We've definitely got out-of-the-ordinary covered," Mike said brightly.
Kimberly, Mia, Billy, Kevin and Ji had stayed back in the Shiba house while the other Rangers had teleported into the city's west. Searching abandoned houses for any signs of trouble, the Rangers had ventured into an overgrown backyard, only to find a cracked concrete path glowing red and spilling forth a puddle of foul-smelling blood-red water.
"Is that what I think it is?" Zac asked.
Emily nodded. "Sanzu river water," she replied. "Yep."
"This isn't supposed to be happening," Antonio said. "I thought we'd closed all the gaps from last time."
Trini dropped a leaf into the puddle, and watched as the leaf immediately caught alight and burned to ashes. "Interesting," she said. "The water only burns organic substances. But it has no effect on the stones or the dirt."
Jayden held his phone to his ear. "Are you getting this Ji?"
Ji's voice crackled through their communicators. "Loud and clear," he replied. "If water from the Sanzu is indeed leaking through from the netherworld, something must be terribly wrong somewhere. Hold on, William is retrieving something from his luggage. It's... it's a…" and there was a pause. "It does what?"
"It tests the integrity of dimensional boundaries in localised geographic areas," came Billy's reply.
"Of course it does," Mike said.
Standing beside him, Trini smiled. "You'd be surprised how useful that can be."
"I'm definitely getting some unusual readings, even here," Billy said. "The dimensional borders are weaker right across Panorama City."
"It was Serrator," Jayden said. "Thanks to the time he tried to crack the planet open, the dimensional walls must be a lot weaker than normal."
"According to my device, the walls are healing," Billy said, "just not as fast as they otherwise should be. The damage Serrator wreaked must've been substantial."
Antonio looked around the group. "You guys know what this means, right?"
"Yeah," Jayden said. "One single great spike of despair might be all Serrator needs to tear the dimensional walls open again. Worse still, Serrator probably knows this."
Jason gestured around the garden. "Can you guys do some magic to lock this place up?" he asked. "We can't have anyone stumbling onto this by accident."
"Absolutely," Jayden nodded, and turned to Mike, Emily and Antonio. "C'mon guys…"
"And while we're here in the city," Jason continued, "we should at least have a look around."
While the Rangers split up and fanned out across the city, Kimberly took the opportunity to check the messages on her phone. She'd just replied to one of her employees when Ji stepped past.
"Everything all right?" he asked.
Kim slid the phone back into her backpack. "Just checking on the café back home," she said, then paused. "I don't know if it's encouraging or disheartening when they can survive without you."
"Ah," Ji said. "The goal of every mentor is to one day become irrelevant. All it means is that we've done our job well."
"Thanks," Kimberly said. "And thanks for putting us up here."
"You're welcome," Ji replied. "Although it may have been against my better judgement, I must admit it is refreshing to hear the Shiba house full of voices again. Will you be joining Kevin in the dojo?"
"I was just gonna stop by the kitchen and get something to drink," Kim said.
"Be on your guard," Ji said softly. "Mia's in there."
Kimberly frowned but nodded and went to find the fridge. As Ji had said, she found Mia in the kitchen standing by the bench. A recipe book lay open in front of her, with various pots and jars on the counter around her.
"Oh Kim, hi," Mia said. "I wanted to cook a feast for you guys!"
"That's so sweet," Kim smiled. "But at the moment, I'm just needing a glass of water," and she grabbed a glass and went to the sink.
"Well can I interest you in my sardine and mustard milkshake?"
Kim stepped back around the counter. "I think the water will do for now."
"Fair enough," Mia said. "I can't find the mustard. They must've hidden it."
They heard footsteps behind them, and turned to see Kevin step into the kitchen. Spotting Mia behind the counter, he froze mid-step.
"Kevin," Mia began, "do you…?"
"Sorry Mia, I just had lunch," Kevin said quickly, then turned to Kim and mouthed, 'run'. As he retreated out of the room, Kimberly's expression fell, and she turned to Mia.
"What was that about?" the older Pink Ranger asked.
Mia sat down on the stool beside Kim and lowered her voice. She looked around to make sure nobody was listening, and then leaned in close as if confessing a dark secret. "I'm a terrible cook," Mia said softly. "They think I don't know. It's not that I don't try! I have such great ideas for flavours and tastes, but it never really works out how I want it to."
"I'm sorry," Kimberly said. "I guess the others don't want to hurt your feelings."
Mia nodded. "I expect so," she said. "It's kind of them. It's just, my parents were great warriors and my brother is studying to be a doctor. In his spare time, he's a rock-star. It's so hard to not be good at something, you know?"
"So it's easier to keep pretending?" Kim asked.
"Exactly," Mia said. "I don't know. I guess I'm worried they'll think I'm useless if I can't do this."
Kim leaned forward. "Can I tell you something?" she asked.
"Of course."
"In all these years of being the Pink Ranger," Kim began, "I've fought gods, monsters and demons. I stepped foot on faraway worlds, I travelled through time, I stopped alien invasions and protected civilisations that don't even exist yet. I saw some horrible things, but also some pretty awesome things. Then there was the day the colour mauve declared war on humanity."
Mia's eyes went wide, and she laughed. "What?"
"Yeah, that one's a long story," Kim said. "The point I'm making is, throughout all those crazy adventures, you know the one thing I could always count on? My friends at my back. Your friends love you. I can see that. They're not gonna make a huge deal about you not being a perfect cook, I promise. That's not how friendships work."
"You're sure?"
"You see Billy?" Kim asked. "The smartest guy in the Universe? It took him years to learn how to cook."
"Really?" Mia breathed. "I don't believe it."
"He'd get so frustrated," Kim said. "He'd tell us it was basic chemistry, and it should've been second nature to him. He's still not great, but he's better than he used to be. Look, it's okay to fail. To not be good at stuff. I know, 'cause when I was your age, there were plenty of things I wasn't good at. Knowing your strengths is important, but so is knowing your weaknesses. It gives you something to focus on, goals to aim for. It lets you know what you are talented at. You'll get this. I know you will. You just have to give it time."
"You really believe that?" Mia asked.
"Absolutely," Kim said, and smiled warmly. "You're the hurricane Mia. Don't ever forget it."
With the cries of seagulls and the smell of the ocean strong in the air, Jayden and Antonio wandered down past the Panorama City wharves, nodding greetings to the fishermen sitting by the docks. Antonio stopped to check what some of the fishermen had been catching, and Jayden wandered on without realising it. Looking up, Antonio lost sight of Jayden and glanced around frantically for a second, before spotting him and racing over to catch up.
"Hey," he scolded, catching his breath as Jayden turned to him. "Don't walk off on me like that. It's not safe."
"Worried you're going to lose me?" Jayden asked.
"I almost did, once this week already," Antonio replied, and Jayden heard the note of fear in his voice. "I don't want to risk losing you again."
Jayden smiled, and nudged Antonio's shoulder with his own. "I'm not going anywhere, I promise."
"Well I'm sticking by you, just in case."
"I'm glad," Jayden said. "Still, there's twelve Rangers in town. I think we're going to be okay."
"It is good they're gonna stick around for a while," Antonio said.
"And they've been doing this so much longer than we have," Jayden added. "I feel like we could learn a lot from them."
Antonio nodded and glanced along the dock. Seeing a familiar face, he waved. "Hey, Mr Olsen!" he shouted. A fisherman with a grizzled salt and pepper beard turned to the boys and smiled. "Mr Olsen is one of the first guys I met when I moved here," Antonio explained. "He owns an electronics shop on the other side of town."
"So why is he fishing in the middle of the afternoon?" Jayden asked.
"Hmm," Antonio murmured. "Good point. Hang on a second," and he jogged over to the edge of the dock. "Hey, long time no see."
"Antonio," the fisherman said. "It's been a while. Where have you been the last week? You missed some good days."
Antonio shifted on the spot nervously. Sure, he thought. Be a Ranger. Impress Jayden. Oh, and lie to your friends! Nobody ever mentioned that part.
"Out of town," he said quickly. "How come you're not at the shop today?"
"I can't open right now," Mr Olsen replied. "The place is still a crime scene. The police are going over the shop with a fine-toothed comb. It's got 'em stumped, and me too."
Antonio frowned, and sat down beside him. "What happened?"
"Oddest thing you've ever seen in your life," Mr Olsen said. "I went in two days ago to open up, same as every morning. But when I opened the door, they were gone. Every video camera in the store had vanished overnight. Even the display ones had been taken, and they'd been bolted down."
"I'm sorry. I hope they catch the thieves soon. How'd they get in?"
"That's the thing," the fisherman continued. "The whole place was locked up tight. The windows were shut. It's like the thieves slipped in through the crack in the door. And I haven't had a robbery in thirty years. It's dreadful."
Antonio looked away for a minute, deep in thought. "I'm sorry Mr Olsen," he said. "But listen, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later." Climbing to his feet, he jogged back over to where Jayden stood waiting.
Jayden saw the look on Antonio's face. "What's wrong?" Jayden asked.
"I think I found a clue," Antonio replied. "Call everyone."
Jayden nodded, and raised his samurai phone. "Jayden to all points," he began, "Antonio's got something," and he fell silent while Antonio relayed the story he'd just heard to both teams.
"But stealing electronics," Tommy's voice crackled, once Antonio had finished. "Why? For what purpose? It's not like Serrator needs to make money fencing them."
"It does sound like an odd thing to target," came Ji's voice.
"But no human criminal could've possibly broken into the shop by slipping under the door," Jayden replied.
"Serrator always was a bit left-of-centre," Mia added.
"That's what I was thinking," Antonio said. "Serrator likes modern tech. He always has. He armed the Moogers with those laser cannons, which is why we needed the Bullzooka. Then there was the fair ground teddy bear. He has a habit of thinking outside the box. I don't think we should put it past him."
"So whatever Serrator has planned, he wants to record it," Jason said.
"Or he needs an audience," Mike chimed in.
The low rumble of distant thunder suddenly rolled down out of the sky. Jayden and Antonio looked up to see dark clouds drifting down from the mountains. By the water, several fishermen had already started packing up.
"Either way," Jayden said, "let's head home before the storm hits. See you guys back at the house." Letting his morpher fall, he and Antonio jogged away.
The storm that followed was violent but brief. Windows across the city shook with every crack of thunder, while forks of lightning lit up the sky. Thankfully, the storm quickly moved out to sea but left steady rain in its wake. As the night grew darker, the twelve Rangers sat around the living room having dinner, listening to the rain and comparing the leads they'd spent the afternoon chasing down.
At Kevin's urging, the Samurai Rangers retreated into the dojo after dinner for the first full training session since their return from Castle Inabikari. Still working on the house's warning systems, Antonio wished them a good night and disappeared inside. Letting his dinner settle, Jason joined them but sat down at the edge of the room with his back against the wall to watch the younger Rangers train. Hearing footsteps, he looked up to see Tommy sit down beside him.
"You okay?" Tommy asked.
"Just tired."
"It's more than that though," Tommy said. "We've been doing this for a decade now. I know when something's really bothering you. I can see it in your eyes."
Jason sighed, and Tommy realised for the first time that Jason was watching Jayden. "This is definitely a young person's game," Jason replied. "I'm doing that control freak thing again, aren't I? Taking over this morning, I mean. I thought I'd gotten past that. It's so hard to switch off."
"You care about those kids," Tommy said. "They know it comes from a good place." He frowned. "Except maybe Kevin. I cannot figure him out."
Jason laughed. "I'm just worried about Jayden, I guess."
Tommy leaned in close. "When Mike told us what had happened to the Samurai Rangers, I saw that look in your eyes," he began. "You would've moved Heaven and Earth for those kids. We've met other teams of Rangers before, so I don't get it."
"I owe Jayden a lot," Jason replied. "You remember that night ten years ago, there in front of the Park Hotel? When you guys fought Oni and we told Sagasu to leave Jayden and Ji alone?"
"Apparently he listened. Ji told me they never saw Sagasu again."
"But that was the first time I really got it," Jason continued. "Watching you guys shoot down from the sky and fight off all those demons, that was the first time I ever saw the Rangers how everyone else sees them. It was like looking at us through Jayden's eyes. It was the first time I ever got what the Power Rangers mean to people." He broke off as Jayden helped Mike and Emily through a complicated series of steps. "I feel like I owe him for that."
"That's fair enough," Tommy replied. "But what are your strengths? Don't worry about being a Ranger, man. Be a teacher. I know you're good at that," and he stood up. "I'm gonna turn in. See you in the morning."
Billy was sitting in the shadows on the patio watching the rain when Trini stepped outside to join him.
"I talked to my parents," Trini said. She sat down beside her husband and leaned back against his chest. "Ryan's fine. He's missing us, but he's doing okay. I told them we'd be home soon. Apparently we'll need to build a new toyroom for all the things they bought him today."
Billy laughed. Behind them, the door slid open again and Antonio stepped out.
"Hey guys," he said, and they saw he was tinkering with some wiring. "Do you mind if I join you? It's cooler outside."
"Not at all," Trini said.
Antonio made himself comfortable on the bench beside theirs. "So I gotta ask the golden question," he began, without taking his eyes off the device in his hands. "Do you ever miss it?"
"Miss it?" Trini repeated.
"Being a Ranger," Antonio replied. "Fighting badguys and stuff."
Billy and Trini swapped glances. "Maybe that's how the other Rangers feel, but it's never felt like that for us," Trini replied. "The idea that you're either a Ranger or you're retired, one or the other."
"Being a Ranger might not be a big part of our lives anymore," Billy explained, "not with careers and a family. But we're still Rangers. We always will be. I don't believe we ever miss it because every day is one more adventure."
Trini reached down and took Billy's hand. "And we're lucky we get to share it with each other."
"Some days it's hard," Billy nodded, meeting Antonio's gaze. "But it's never not worth it. Not for one picosecond."
The Gold Samurai Ranger grinned. "Aww, that's sweet," he said.
"What about you?" Trini asked. "Mike told us how you built your own morpher. That's pretty impressive work."
"I've always liked tinkering," Antonio replied. "Ever since I was a boy when Jayden gave me the Octozord. I've been fascinated with how things work."
"It's always pleasant to have a hobby," Billy nodded.
"Oh no," Antonio said quickly. "My heart belongs to the sea."
"Fishing, you mean?" Trini asked.
"Yeah! I grew up by the coast. It's in my blood. I always loved the peacefulness of just you and the water. It's nice to have that."
"It sounds relaxing," Trini said.
"It sounds time-intensive," Billy added. "With the daily Nighlok attacks, when do you get the time to enjoy it?"
"At first I thought it'd be easy to juggle everything," Antonio said. "But the threats got bigger and scarier, and I ended up with less and less time to do anything other than fight monsters. You guys used to do this all the time, you'd remember what it's like. It took me ages, but I finally figured out that I needed some time for me. Otherwise I'd just burn out, and then I'd be no good to Jay or anyone."
"So how did you solve your dilemma?" Billy asked.
"With no time, I made time!" Antonio exclaimed. "Every couple of days, I took an hour in the morning and an hour in the evening. When your life gets busier, time to stop and catch your breath doesn't just happen by itself. You have to make it happen. It's all about figuring out how to adjust."
He nodded, satisfied, and Billy and Trini exchanged knowing smiles.
"Do you mind if we sit here and keep you company a little while longer?" Trini asked, as Billy wrapped his arms around her.
"Of course not," Antonio smiled.
And the three Rangers sat there and listened to the rain together.
To be continued.