Chapter 7
At the samurai household Mia, Emily, Mike, Nariko and Mentor Ji were outside at the training yard about to watch Jayden and Kevin do a practice fight in their ranger forms. Once the two began, both were equally matched in the fight. As the fight continued on Mike said, "He's got mad skills I'm impressed!" "Yes…Jayden is one of the best that's ever been." agreed Mentor Ji
Mike looked at him shaking his head a bit, "I was talking about Kevin…He's right up there with Jayden!"
"He's so graceful with the sword." said Emily watching in complete awe
Ji nodded again, "Yes Jayden always had that quality even as a child."
"I meant Kevin."
Mia nodded in agreement with Emily "Kevin's technique is better."
"Actually they are both excellent swordsmen, practice sparring is one thing but true skills shown in battle is what really counts." told Nariko
"I'd hate to see what would happen if they really battled each other." admitted Mike
Mia laughed a bit at his confession, "That would never happen, nothing could make Kevin fight against a fellow ranger."
"He's true blue!" declared Emily
The group continued to watch the two rangers fight until Jayden finally landed a blow on Kevin which ended the match. The blue ranger panted and turned to his fellow ranger, "Good match Jayden! I obviously need more practice."
"Hey don't beat yourself over a lost point."
"Ok!" Kevin got up and ready his sword "Let go again!"
Jayden did the same thing "You're on!" and thus another sparring match began between the two.
Meanwhile in the underworld, upon his ship, Master Xandred was not pleased at the outcome of Dayu's ruined plan or the fact that Deker was standing right in front of him. "What are you doing here Deker? You expect a reward for saving Dayu? Is that why you're here?" questioned the Nighlok king
Dayu scoffed, "Huh! I didn't need saving!"
"This isn't about her…I want to go after red ranger, the new leader of the samurai…But I'm not looking to interfere with any of your plans." said Deker
Xandred walked passed him, "Do what you want, my head is pounding! I can only deal with one headache at a time!"
Deker turned to the Nighlok king, "Hmm…I see you're still suffering from when the last red ranger sealed you down here."
"Everyone of those samurai rangers will pay for my pain! When we make the Sanzu River overflow I'll watch all of them sink to the bottom and I'll finally have the Yamada princess as my bride!"
"So you have nothing else planned?"
Xandred then sat upon his cot, medicine bottle in one hand "No!"
"Oh ah oh! He answered you now go!" ordered Octoroo
With that Deker began making his leave from the boat "All right…Rest well Master Xandred and I shall continue my quest without worry."
Suddenly a Nighlok by the name of Madimot came upon the boat carrying a whip, "I'm the star around here! Bye bye Deker!"
"Get lost Madimot! You're nothing but talk!" said an annoyed Octoroo
"Hold on squid lips! I brought you a present that's bigger and badder than Deker! Don't believe me? Lets take a look!"
Deker not affected by this at all, casually left the boat having Octoroo call after him. "Deker wait!"
Madimot simply just waved at the leaving Deker "Bye bye!" he then grabbed Octoroo and guide him over to the window. "You'll forget about that rogue when you look outside!"
Both Dayu and Octoroo went over to the window just as Madimot snapped his whip. "I don't believe it! Is that what I think it is?" wondered Dayu
"It sure is! I've got the red ranger's long lost Tiger zord!" proudly declared Madimot, feeling very arrogant about his work.
Back at the household Mia, Kevin, Emily and Mike were in the kitchen, munching on some snacks when Jayden came in. "Hey…Have any of you seen Ji or Nariko?" the four rangers looked at each other then back at their leader shaking their heads. "Not since we've finished training this morning." replied Kevin
"Just where could they be?" wondered Mia
The group then heard battle cries coming from the training yard and quickly made their way there to investigate. Once arriving they saw Ji standing off to the side watching as Nariko was practicing with a wooden sword. The others except for Jayden were amazed at how very graceful and precise Nariko's sword techniques are. "Wow…This is the first time I've ever seen Nariko train…" said Kevin
Mike nodded in agreement "Yeah…I heard from Mentor Ji that Nariko was skilled with the sword…But I never thought she was this skilled."
"You gotta remember Mike, Nariko comes from a clan that has every member train to become a samurai." said Mia
"And she belongs to one of the best samurai clan to this day." added Jayden
"So basically it's in her blood to be so skillful with the sword right Jayden?" asked Emily
The red ranger simply nodded and continued to watch his fiancé intensely train. Nariko then did a back flip and smacked the training dummy before her, making it fall down. Ji began to clap and walked over to the princess, handing her a towel. "Very well done Nariko, haven't lost your touch at all."
"Thank you Ji." as she wiped her forehead, the rangers took this opportunity to go over to Nariko.
"Wow Nariko that was amazing!" exclaimed Emily
The princess looked at them a bit surprised, not knowing that they were there watching her "O-Oh! Umm…Thanks…I didn't know I was being watched by you guys…"
"Hey don't worry we were amazed by what you did just now." said Mike
His compliment brought a smile to Nariko's face while Jayden went over to his fiancé and wrapped his arm around her waist. "Still the same as ever Nariko. I'm glad you haven't lost your touch at all."
"Thanks Jayden…" suddenly the Gap sensor went off causing everyone to look at the blinking symbol upon the wall. Nariko looked up at Jayden, "You guys better go…"
"Don't worry we'll be back as soon as possible." she simply nodded and Jayden gave her a quick peck on the lips before leaving the household with his team following closely behind.
Later the rangers returned to the household a bit injured from the fight with Madimot and unfortunately Kevin wasn't with them. Turns out Madimot put the blue ranger under a spell which gave the Nighlok total control over Kevin, just like he has control over the Tiger zord. Nariko was waiting in the living room as Ji entered with the rangers after Jayden had explained to him what had happened. "This isn't good it's going to be very hard to break that spell over the Tiger zord and Kevin." told Ji
Both he and Jayden stopped in the hall way to watch Mia, Emily and Mike head into the small dojo room. The red ranger then look back at his mentor, "We need a plan."
He entered the living room followed by Ji. Once seeing her fiancé, Nariko immediately stood up and went over to him. "Jayden! Are you ok?"
He cringed a bit as the princess touched the side of his stomach, "Y-Yeah…Just a bit beat up that's all…"
"I heard you and Ji talking about Kevin and the Tiger zord…Is it true?"
"Unfortunately…"
"Jayden you must be prepared to make tough choices if need be." reminded Ji
The red ranger nodded, "I know Ji…" He then noticed Mike, Emily and Mia looking at them and turned to the samurai mentor. "But lets figure out a way to break the Nighlok's hold on Kevin before it gets to that."
Minutes passed and the Gap sensor went off again. Mia, Emily and Mike quickly ran into the living room to find Ji and Nariko looking at the map of the city upon the table. "Mentor, Nariko where's Jayden?" asked Mike
"He's already gone to battle the Nighlok." answered Ji
"Are you kidding me? What about Kevin?"
Ji looked away from the green ranger who went over to the samurai mentor. "The Nighlok will make him fight Jayden!"
"Hopefully that won't happen but it is our duty to protect people…He may have no choice…"
"There's always a choice this is bogus!"
"Have faith in your leader Mike." said Nariko
The green ranger couldn't help but angrily sigh only to have Mia gently grab his arm, "Mike we have to help Jayden."
"And hope Kevin comes to his senses." added Emily
Mike sighed once more and soon followed the two girl rangers out of the household to the area where Jayden headed off to.
An hour passed and Nariko was nervously pacing around the living room, waiting for the rangers return. Her head immediately snapped up at the sound of the door opening and rushed into the hall way to find the team just entering the household. "Jayden!" exclaimed Nariko, she ran to her fiancé and threw her arms around him hugging the red ranger tightly who embraced her back.
Once they broke away, the princess turned to Kevin and hugged him also "Kevin! I'm so relieved you're all right!"
A bit surprised by the sudden affection Kevin smiled and hugged Nariko back, "Thanks for caring Nariko…"
The two broke the hug, letting Emily go over to the princess "Hey Nariko do you want to play a board game with Mia, Mike and me?"
"Sure why not?"
"Let's play it in the living room! Come on!" the two girls laughed and headed back into the living with Mia and Mike following, leaving Jayden and Kevin alone.
Once they began having fun with the board game Kevin and Jayden took this moment to have a talk with each other. "After today I don't feel much like playing with the others…" sighed Kevin, feeling much regret about today's event.
Jayden patted his friend on the back, "It wasn't your fault that Nighlok was the one playing games and using us as the pieces." the red ranger then looked at the white disk in his hand. "Tiger is one of our toughest ally and even he couldn't resist that spell."
"But I raised my sword against you!" said Kevin
"And I raised mine against you…Sometimes we can't avoid putting each other at risk."
"But we have to do what's best for the greater good…"
Jayden lightly nudged the blue ranger, "Hey you sound like Mentor there."
Mia then turned to the two guys, "Hey! We're starting a new game! Come on!" the two rangers smiled and got up, heading over to the group who had gathered around the table. Kevin pulled out his folding zord, "All right but I'm blue."
"Yeah I think we all agree that you're the best one to control that." said Mike
Kevin held out his hand "Just hand me the dice." the green ranger chuckled and handed his buddy the dice thus beginning the game. Jayden took his seat next to Nariko, gently kissing her head. His affection made her smile and snuggle against his side to watch him and the other rangers play the board game together in peace.
