Chapter 7: Ninja of the Forest
Out in the city, Jirou was standing on the edge of a building where he was given the Rumble Tusk Zord's Zord Star. Jirou reached into his pocket and pulled out the Zord Star and stared down at it. Jirou sighed in boredom as he stepped away from the edge of the building.
"It's been two days," Jirou said to himself. "That girl hasn't been seen since,"
Jirou put the Zord Star away and began walking towards the door. As Jirou grabbed the door knob, he looked over his shoulder towards a building with the sun reflecting off its windows.
"Why did she help us?" Jirou wondered as he opened the door.
Jirou closed the door behind him and began walking down the stairs. Back on the rooftop a person in ninja gear suddenly appeared next to the door.
"I'm surprised he couldn't sense my presence," The ninja said as she pulled her mask off. "I guess he's not as good as they once said,"
In the forest outside of the city, the other Rangers were training together without Jirou. Mason and Logan were training with their Ninja Star Blades while Beth and Jun were training in hand-to-hand combat. Jun caught Beth by the arm and flipped Beth to the ground with ease.
"Ugh, easy!" Beth said in pain as Jun let her go.
"Those monsters won't go easy on you," Jun said as she held her hand out to Beth.
Beth grabbed Jun's hand and was helped to her feet.
"After all the training we've already done you'd think we'd be ready for anything," Beth said to Jun.
"There's no end to training," Jun told Beth as she grabbed her towel.
"Yeah I know," Beth said as she leaned against a tree. "But the stuff can get tiring at times,"
Beth looked over at Mason and Logan training and watched as Logan evaded Mason's sword by rolling past him.
"Come on Mason," Logan said to Mason as he chuckled. "I know you can do better than that,"
"I'm going to make you regret saying that!" Mason shouted as he took off towards Logan.
Logan started running away from Mason and headed towards a tree. Logan ran up the trunk and easily flipped over Mason causing Mason to run into the tree. Mason fell back to the ground holding his face.
"Oh crap!" Logan said in concern as he knelt down beside Mason.
"I'm fine," Mason said as he leaned up. "It's just a scrape,"
"You better hope it is," Logan said as he helped Mason up.
"Has Jirou still not returned home yet?" Mason asked Jun as he and Logan walked over to the girls.
"Nope, and he won't answer his Ninja Comm either," Jun told Mason.
"I'm sure he has a reason to go off on his own," Logan said as he unzipped his bag.
"And what reason would that be?" Mason asked Logan.
"It is odd that he would leave right after we got that new zord," Beth said as she walked over.
"Well I'm fixing to go look for him," Mason said as he picked up his bag.
"Alright, be careful out there," Logan said as Mason walked off with his bag over his shoulder.
"I say we head back to the shop and check and see if Jirou's back yet," Jun said as she packed up her things.
"Sounds good to me," Beth said as she nodded. "I need to finish this homework anyway,"
Jun walked off with Beth and Logan following behind her and headed back to the city.
At the antique shop, Hitoshi came out from the backroom and stepped behind the counter. Hitoshi sat down in the chair and sighed in relief as the front door slowly opened.
"Welcome!" Hitoshi said as he looked over at the door.
Hitoshi raised an eyebrow when he saw no one at the door.
"Odd?" Hitoshi said in confusion as he slowly rose to his feet.
As Hitoshi walked up to the front door, the mysterious girl appeared suddenly in the backroom.
"It must be those annoying kids again," Hitoshi said as he turned away from the door.
Hitoshi gasped when he saw the girl standing in the backroom in front of him.
"Customers aren't allowed back there ma'am," Hitoshi said to the girl as he approached her.
As Hitoshi drew closer, he noticed the ninja gear the girl was wearing. Hitoshi spotted a symbol on the girl's suit causing his eyes to widen.
"Who sent you?" Hitoshi asked the girl.
"That's a rude way to treat a princess," The girl said to Hitoshi.
"Why would he send his daughter of all people?" Hitoshi asked her.
"My father didn't send me," The girl told Hitoshi. "I came on my own,"
"Then what do you want?" Hitoshi asked her.
"I came to inform the Red Ranger of something," The girl informed Hitoshi.
"Jirou hasn't been here for a few days," Hitoshi said to the girl.
"Oh I know," The girl said as she smirked. "He's been searching for me ever since I gifted him that Power Star,"
"I had a feeling one of your people was behind that," Hitoshi said as he sat back down behind the counter.
"That Power Star was one of the only ones forged on my island," The girl told Hitoshi.
"How did you forge Power Stars without the Ninja Nexus Prism?" Hitoshi asked the girl in confusion.
"We have one of our own," The girl said as she crossed her arms.
"Impossible, there is only one Ninja Nexus Prism!" Hitoshi said in disbelief.
"There are two," The girl said as she smirked. "The one on my island is much more ancient than yours,"
"And I'm only learning this now," Hitoshi said in shock.
"My Prism was the original who granted six of the most skilled ninja unlimited power," The girl told Hitoshi.
"They were the original Ninja Steel Rangers I assume?" Hitoshi asked the girl.
"That's correct," The girl said to Hitoshi. "Those warriors sacrificed their powers to defeat a powerful demon and doing so caused your Ninja Nexus Prism to be created,"
"The powers were sealed within a new Prism along with the demon who was sealed away like Norio once was," Hitoshi said as he thought to himself.
"Our Prism can still create new Power Stars from Ninja Steel," The girl told Hitoshi. "That is how the Rumble Tusk Zord Star came about,"
The girl put her mask back on and slowly approached the door.
"Once you locate the Red Ranger, tell him to meet me in the forest," The girl said to Hitoshi.
The girl vanished in front of Hitoshi and walked out the door.
"Things just got a bit more complicated," Hitoshi said to himself.
Out in the city, Jirou was walking down the street in the middle of a crowd of people. Jirou looked down in disappointment as he continued walking along with the people near him. Jirou suddenly bumped into the man in front of him causing the man to drop his phone.
"Watch where you're going!" The man shouted in frustration as he knelt down to pick up his phone.
"Sorry," Jirou said as he continued walking.
Across the street, Mason was walking around searching for Jirou. Mason heard a man across the street yelling and looked over to see what was going on.
"Hey, you broke my phone!" The man shouted at Jirou as he came up behind Jirou.
The man grabbed Jirou by the shoulder and made him turn around.
"Look, I'm not in the mood," Jirou said to the man.
"You're going to pay for the damages you did to my phone!" The man said to Jirou.
"It was an accident, I'm sorry," Jirou said to the man as he tried to walk away.
The man grabbed Jirou by the wrist.
"You're not going anywhere until you pay for my phone," The man said to Jirou.
"Alright that's enough!" Mason shouted as he shoved the man away from Jirou.
"Mason!" Jirou said in astonishment.
"Stay out of this!" The man shouted at Mason.
"No one is going to pay for that phone except you," Mason said to the man. "You're the one who was talking on your phone during rush hour,"
"You don't have to do this," Jirou said to Mason.
"Let's go before big mouth here makes things worse," Mason said to Jirou as he began walking away.
"Hey, I'm not finished with you!" The man shouted as Jirou walked off with Mason.
Jirou looked over his shoulder and saw the man struggling to get through the crowd.
"Where have you been?" Mason asked Jirou. "You've missed two days of school,"
"I was just looking for someone," Jirou said to Mason as he continued following him.
"Who do you know around here besides me and the others?" Mason asked Jirou.
"I wanted to know who it was that gave me the Rumble Tusk Power Star," Jirou explained to Mason. "She obviously knows something we don't,"
"What does she look like?" Mason asked Jirou.
"I don't know, she was wearing a cloak with a hood when I saw her," Jirou told Mason.
"That doesn't help at all," Mason said as he sighed.
Mason and Jirou's Ninja Comm suddenly began going off as they turned a corner.
"Looks like the others want us," Mason said as he walked into an alley with Jirou behind him.
Mason pressed a button on his Ninja Comm causing it to open up and reveal a screen. Hitoshi appeared on the screen.
"Mason, have you found Jirou?" Hitoshi asked Mason.
"Yeah, he's right here beside me," Mason told Hitoshi.
"Well, something important has come up for him," Hitoshi said to Mason.
"What is it?" Jirou asked Hitoshi as he looked down at the Ninjacom.
"Someone from the Ishihara Ninja Clan came by the shop searching for you," Hitoshi said to Jirou.
"Does that sound like Ms. Mysterious to you?" Mason asked Jirou.
"Yeah, it has to be her," Jirou said as he nodded.
"I'll send the coordinates of where she wants to meet you to your Ninjacom," Hitoshi said as he began typing.
"Have fun on your blind date," Mason said to Jirou as he chuckled.
"It's not a date," Jirou said as he walked off.
"Whatever," Mason said as he smiled.
Near an abandoned warehouse in the city, Ripcon suddenly appeared by himself snickering. Ripcon looked towards the skyline in the distance and slowly began heading towards the city.
"It's time I make those Rangers see what a real threat looks like," Ripcon said to himself as he continued walking.
As Ripcon walked towards the city, a homeless man dropped a bottle causing it to shatter at his feet. Ripcon looked over and saw the man shivering in fear.
"Run along before I have to make things worse for you," Ripcon said to the man.
The man began screaming and ran off in horror.
"Fool," Ripcon said as he continued walking.
Out in the forest, Jirou rode up on his Mega Morph Cycle and quickly stepped off of it as it reverted back into a Power Star. Jirou looked around and saw no one around him. Jirou walked over to a tree and began looking around in confusion.
"I'm here!" Jirou shouted as he turned around watching for them.
Behind Jirou, the girl suddenly appeared crouched on a tree branch. The girl dropped down from the branch and landed behind Jirou. Jirou quickly turned around and gasped when he saw the girl standing behind him.
"I didn't expect you to show up so soon," The girl said to Jirou.
"You're from the Ishihara Clan?" Jirou asked the girl. "I've never heard of them before,"
"That's because my clan was formed after you were sealed away with Norio," The girl told Jirou.
"You're from a clan and yet you can speak perfect English," Jirou said as he walked up to the girl.
"We don't just speak Japanese on my island anymore," The girl told Jirou.
"Who are you?" Jirou asked the girl.
"Trust me, you don't know who I am," The girl said as she giggled.
"Stop toying with me!" Jirou shouted as he stomped his foot.
The girl's eyes widened as she noticed a tear running down Jirou's face.
"I know that voice from anywhere," Jirou said as tears ran down his face.
"I'm not who you think I am," The girl said as she went to pull off her mask.
The girl removed her mask and revealed her face to Jirou. Jirou began sobbing as he saw her face.
"You look just like her," Jirou said as he continued crying.
"Who?" The girl asked Jirou.
"Kiyomi," Jirou said as he wiped the tears from his face. "My girlfriend from before I was sealed away,"
Jirou turned away from the girl and began crying again. The girl placed her hand on Jirou's shoulder.
"I look like her because I'm related to her," The girl told Jirou. "She's my ancestor,"
"What?" Jirou said in astonishment.
"After you were sealed away, Kiyomi left your village," The girl told Jirou. "She was saved from a group of samurai by the original grand master of my island,"
"What happened to her?" Jirou asked the girl.
"She went with the grand master and lived on the island that is now known as Ishihara Island," The girl told Jirou. "Her and the grand master fell in love and began the Ishihara Ninja Clan,"
"So, she did end up finding someone else," Jirou said as his eyes began watering again.
"She still loved you," The girl told Jirou. "She even named their first child after you,"
"I'm sorry Kiyomi," Jirou said as he turned towards a tree and punched it. "I wanted to be with you!"
Jirou began crying even more as the girl stood beside him with her hand on his shoulder.
"Kiyomi was a brave woman," The girl told Jirou. "It's because of her that women began becoming ninja on my island,"
"Is this why you asked for me?" Jirou asked the girl.
"Not necessarily," The girl said to Jirou. "I came to warn you about something else,"
"Warn me?" Jirou said in confusion.
"Before telling you, I should at least introduce myself," The girl said as she stepped away from Jirou.
"Alright then," Jirou said as he wiped the tears from his eyes.
"I was named after your once true love," The girl told Jirou. "I am Princess Kiyomi Ishihara of the Ishihara Ninja Clan,"
Jirou's eyes widened in disbelief as Kiyomi stood across from him.
"And like you Jirou, I am also a Power Ranger," Kiyomi said as she revealed a Green Ninja Power Star.
"No way!" Jirou said in astonishment. "I thought there were only six Ninja Power Stars!"
"Originally, yes," Kiyomi said as she nodded. "The Ninja Nexus Prism on my island created this Ninja Power Star when our island was attacked centuries ago,"
"So there are two Ninja Nexus Prisms?" Jirou asked Kiyomi.
"That's correct," Kiyomi said as she nodded. "The Prism on my island is the original, and the island was the home of the original Ninja Steel Power Rangers,"
"Then how did the one in my village come about?" Jirou asked Kiyomi.
"When the original Rangers were defeated, the last ounce of their powers was used to forge the Ninja Nexus Prism," Kiyomi told Jirou. "In deep space the powers formed a new Prism and incased it in Ninja Steel,"
"That kind of explains how the Prism creates these new Power Stars for us then," Jirou said to Kiyomi. "It's using the power from the previous Rangers,"
"No one knows where the Prism on my island came from," Kiyomi said as she leaned up against a tree.
Jirou reached into his pocket and pulled out his Ninja Power Star.
"So I'm not the first to use this power?" Jirou said as he thought to himself.
"You will definitely be the last," Someone said to Jirou.
Jirou's eyes widened as he quickly turned around and saw Ripcon approaching him.
"Ripcon!" Jirou said as Ripcon continued walking towards him and Kiyomi.
"I won't be losing this time," Ripcon said as he pulled out his swords from their sheaths.
"Stand back," Jirou said to Kiyomi.
"I might be a princess, but I'm still a trained ninja warrior," Kiyomi said as her right hand began glowing.
Jirou looked down at Kiyomi's hand and saw a blue and silver Ninja Battle Morpher appear in her hand.
"What's this?" Ripcon said in confusion.
Kiyomi revealed the Green Ninja Power Star to Ripcon as she smirked.
"Another Power Star!" Ripcon said in astonishment.
Kiyomi placed her Power Star in her morpher.
"Ninja Spin!" Kiyomi shouted as she spun the star.
A green vortex of leaves surrounded Kiyomi causing Jirou to back away from her. A green flash briefly lit up the area causing Ripcon to shield his eyes.
"She actually is a Ranger!" Jirou said in amazement as he saw a Green Ranger standing in front of him.
Kiyomi pulled out her Ninja Star Blade and took off running towards Ripcon.
"Let's see what you can do princess!" Ripcon shouted as he swung his swords at Kiyomi.
Kiyomi rolled past Ripcon and evaded his swords.
"I can't let her take on Ripcon on her own," Jirou said as his morpher appeared in his hand.
Jirou placed his Power Star in his morpher and quickly spun the star as he ran towards Ripcon and Kiyomi. Jirou instantly morphed and swung his sword at Ripcon. Ripcon blocked Jirou's sword and knocked him aside by slashing him across the chest with his other sword.
"You are pathetic!" Ripcon shouted at Jirou.
Kiyomi ran up behind Ripcon and struck him across the back with her Ninja Star Blade. Ripcon rolled away from Kiyomi and quickly turned towards her.
"Lucky scratch," Ripcon said as he snickered.
Jirou ran over to Kiyomi and prepared for Ripcon to make another move.
"Please tell me he was what you were warning me about," Jirou said to Kiyomi.
"Not entirely," Kiyomi said as she took off running towards Ripcon once again.
Jirou groaned in frustration and ran off behind Kiyomi towards Ripcon. The two Rangers swung their swords at Ripcon but were quickly blocked by Ripcon's two swords. Ripcon kicked both of the Rangers and sent them falling back to the ground.
"Not even two Rangers can stop me," Ripcon said as his swords began glowing.
"What's he doing?" Jirou asked Kiyomi.
"He's using one of his secret techniques," Kiyomi informed Jirou.
"Double Sword Doom Strike!" Ripcon shouted as he swung his two swords vertically and then horizontally.
A fierce energy wave created by the slashes flew towards Jirou and Kiyomi and struck them in an instant causing an explosion. Jirou and Kiyomi crashed into the trunk of a tree and fell to the ground in bad shape.
"This is too easy!" Ripcon shouted as he approached the two Rangers.
"Jirou, use this," Kiyomi said to Jirou as she handed him a Power Star.
"What does this thing do?" Jirou asked Kiyomi as he slowly rose to his feet.
"Trust me, you'll like it," Kiyomi said as she gave Jirou a thumbs up.
"Alright then," Jirou said as he placed the Power Star on his Ninja Star Blade.
Jirou spun the Power Star causing a bright light to fill the area.
"What's going on here?" Ripcon said in confusion as he was blinded by the light.
Jirou's Ninja Star Blade transformed into a new sword in his hand as armor was formed on Jirou's upper body. The light slowly faded away and revealed Jirou holding a new sword with ninja stars in its blade.
"Whoa, what is this power?" Jirou said in confusion.
"That's Ninja Master Mode," Kiyomi said as she rose to her feet. "A Power Star I made before coming here,"
"I don't care if you're wearing fancy armor now," Ripcon said as his swords began glowing once again.
"Use the Ninja Master Blade's final attack," Kiyomi said to Jirou.
"How do I do that?" Jirou asked Kiyomi.
"Like this!" Kiyomi said as she pulled the ripcord.
The Ninja Master Blade suddenly began roaring like a chainsaw as the ninja stars on the blade began spinning viciously.
"Double Sword Doom Strike!" Ripcon shouted as he sent another energy wave towards Jirou.
"Here goes nothing!" Jirou shouted as he swung the Ninja Master Blade.
The Ninja Master Blade sliced through the energy wave causing it to fizzle away.
"Impossible!" Ripcon shouted in disbelief.
"Now it's your turn!" Jirou shouted as he ran towards Ripcon.
"Wait!" Ripcon shouted as he dropped his swords.
"No, I'm making sure you fall!" Jirou shouted as he prepared to swing the Ninja Master Blade at Ripcon.
"You won't kill me!" Ripcon shouted at Jirou.
"Oh yes I will!" Jirou shouted as he swung the sword at Ripcon.
"Then you'll have to kill your very own brother!" Ripcon shouted as he transformed into a human.
Jirou stopped his attack as the spinning blades were an inch away.
"I'm your brother," Ripcon said to Jirou.
"Seiji, impossible!" Jirou said in disbelief.
Jirou demorphed in front of his brother as Kiyomi stood back watching.
"No, you can't be my brother," Jirou said to Ripcon.
"Jirou, he is your brother," Kiyomi said as she demorphed.
"You knew?" Jirou asked Kiyomi as he turned towards her.
"That's what I was going to warn you about," Kiyomi told Jirou.
Seiji began smirking as he snuck up behind Jirou.
"I'm not the same little brother I once was!" Seiji shouted as he slashed Jirou across the back with one of his swords.
As Seiji laughed evilly, Kiyomi watched in horror as Jirou fell face first to the ground.
"Oh no!" Kiyomi shouted as she saw the deep cut across Jirou's back.
"I'm the reason why the Takayama Ninja Clan is no more!" Seiji shouted at Jirou. "After you left, no one cared about me!"
Seiji turned away from Jirou and Kiyomi and began walking away.
"I'm going to prove to them that they made a big mistake," Seiji said as he transformed back into Ripcon. "Oh, and Galvanax sends his regards!"
Ripcon teleported away leaving Kiyomi alone with Jirou in the forest.
"Jirou, hang on!" Kiyomi said to Jirou as Jirou lied on the ground unconscious.
Back at the shop, Jirou was rushed down into the base while Mason and Logan carried him. Beth, Jun and Kiyomi walked down into the base behind them and saw Mason and Logan set Jirou on a table. Hitoshi ran over with a first-aid case in his hands and quickly opened it.
"I need to seal the wound before he loses too much blood," Hitoshi said as he began digging through the case.
"Hang in there man," Logan said to Jirou as he and Logan stepped away from the table.
"What happened out there?" Jun asked Kiyomi.
"We were attacked by Ripcon," Kiyomi said to Jun.
"Ripcon did this to him?" Mason asked Kiyomi.
"Yes, but only when Jirou was distracted," Kiyomi told Mason.
"Why would Ripcon just randomly attack Jirou?" Logan wondered.
Beth looked over at Jirou in concern as Hitoshi worked on sealing the wound across his back.
"Ripcon isn't just who he appears to be," Kiyomi said to the other Rangers.
"What do you mean?" Jun said in confusion.
"He's someone who was very close to Jirou," Kiyomi said as she turned towards Jun. "He's Seiji Takayama, Jirou's younger brother,"
"No, that can't be true," Jun said in disbelief.
"That would at least explain why Ripcon works for Norio though," Beth said to everyone. "Norio is related to Jirou too,"
"Looks like Seiji was just following in his great-great grandfather's footsteps," Mason said as he leaned against the wall.
Hitoshi sighed in relief as he sat a tool down on the table.
"I got it sealed and now I just need to bandage it up," Hitoshi said to the others.
"And who are you again?" Jun asked Kiyomi.
"Princess Kiyomi Ishihara of the Ishihara Ninja Clan," Kiyomi said to Jun.
Mason began chuckling.
"What's so funny?" Beth asked Mason.
"It's just funny that she's a princess," Mason said as he smiled.
"Now's not the time for jokes," Logan said to Mason.
"Fine, I'll stop," Mason said as he rolled his eyes.
Kiyomi walked over to the Ninja Nexus Prism and gazed at it.
"It really is just like the one back home," Kiyomi said to herself.
Kiyomi pulled out the Ninja Master Mode Power Star and sat it on the desk beside her.
"I'm going to leave this Power Star for you to use," Kiyomi said to the other Rangers.
"Are you leaving already?" Beth asked Kiyomi.
"I need to return home for now," Kiyomi said to Beth. "I will return when the time comes,"
Hitoshi looked over at Kiyomi and watched her exit the base.
"How's Jirou doing?" Jun asked her father.
"He should be fine after resting for a few days," Hitoshi told Jun. "We'll need to wait on the cut to heal too,"
"How long will that take?" Logan asked Hitoshi.
"A few weeks most likely," Hitoshi said as he wiped his hands off with a rag.
"Then we'll need to take care of Ripcon when he shows his face again," Mason said as he smirked.
"I doubt Ripcon will show up again until Jirou is back out there with us," Jun told Mason. "He obviously wants to fight Jirou one on one,"
"I guess you're right," Mason said as he sighed.
"I don't care what Ripcon wants," Beth said as she clenched her fist. "I'm not going to stand by and watch Jirou get hurt by his own brother,"
"Neither am I," Logan said as he nodded.
"We're a team, we always stick together," Mason said to Jun.
"Fine, we'll help Jirou stop his brother," Jun said as she sighed.
Hitoshi looked back over at Jirou.
"Hurry up and get better, your brother will be waiting," Hitoshi said to Jirou.
On Cosmo's ship, Ripcon walked into the control room where Galvanax was sitting by himself. Ripcon snickered as he walked in front of Galvanax and crossed his arms.
"So, you've been hiding your true identity this entire time," Galvanax said to Ripcon as he rose to his feet.
"That's right," Ripcon said as he nodded. "I followed in your footsteps,"
"The next time you go down to Earth, I want you to make sure that idiotic brother of yours is no more," Galvanax said as he clenched his fist.
"Oh don't worry, I won't toy with him anymore," Ripcon said as his eyes began glowing.
