The Rangers' battle raged on in the streets of Kyoto as they smashed through a legion of Grinders. Matacore stood back with Argus and Prince Vekar as they watched the Rangers fight. The Prince had already been hit once by a stray blaster shot, and he was clutching the wound on his arm, whimpering as the burning sensation got to him. While he was driven by conquest and warfare, he rarely took the field himself, and seldom ever got hurt directly. He stared on as Troy and the others finished off the X-borgs and Bruisers he had brought along with him.

"You'd think you'd have learned by now, we're getting pretty good at smashing up your toys." Troy taunted him.

"So, are you going to try taking us on by yourself? Or are you just going to stand back there and sulk about it?" Jake asked him. Prince Vekar screamed out in anger at the slight.

"Are you two just going to let him talk to me like that?" Prince Vekar screamed, shoving Argus forward. "Go and get them!"

"So you ARE still hiding behind others." Gia answered. "I guess we just have to send these bully boys packing, then we can see how tough you really are!"

"I don't think so!" Matacore said as he stepped before the Prince. "Allow me!"

"You know, he does look kind of tough." Jake commented. "Maybe we could use a little energy boost."

"Let's go legendary!" Troy called out, taking a look at Matacore. He could sense that there was something powerful about him, and while they had a fair bit of power left in their suits, he didn't want to take any chances. This Matacore had given the obviously cowardly Prince Vekar the confidence to risk coming to town himself, so he figured it wasn't like having a little power boost could hurt. "Legendary Ranger Mode, Mighty Morphin'!"

"It's Morphin' Time!" The team called out together as they all morphed into the first of Earth's Ranger teams. They brought out their weapons, and all attacked Matacore, while Argus kept close to the Prince in case one of them tried to go after him again.

They quickly found that their initial thoughts about Matacore were right. They could see why Prince Vekar had trusted him to keep him safe while he risked coming to Earth to face them directly. Gia rolled to her feet, hitching her Power Daggers into a back-hand grip.

She launched herself for him, but he seemed to almost sense her coming, turning at just the right moment to slice her down, sending her tumbling away.

Jake and Emma ran at him, Emma firing energy arrows, and Jake firing blasts from his Power Axe's cannon mode. Matacore batted the blasts away harmlessly, before launching an energy wave of his own that hit like a runaway train, putting both of them down.

"Man, this guy is crazy tough!" Noah commented as he and Troy went after him, swinging their weapons with all the strength they had. Matacore disarmed them both, before he cut them down. As the rest of the team formed up around them, Prince Vekar started to applaud his henchman's efforts.

"Well done Matacore! Even powered up they're no match for you!" He yelled gleefully, momentarily forgetting his minor injury. "Now finish them off! OOOOWWW!" He started to whine again as in his exuberance he moved too quickly, exacerbating the slight burn from the energy blast he had taken.

"He's tough, but we've still got more Keys." Troy reminded them.

"I've got an idea." Noah told them, seeing the Prince standing behind Argus, crying and flailing around, clutching his arm like it was about to fall off. "You keep Matacore busy."

"Time for a little misdirection!" Troy answered as he pulled out the next key. "Ninja Storm!"

The team morphed into their Ninja Storm guise, rushing straight for Matacore. As they surrounded him, forcing him to defend against their combined attack, Noah rushed straight past them, heading for Argus and Prince Vekar. The Prince saw him coming, and realised Noah was staring straight at him. Even with the powerful Matacore on his side, he started to panic.

"Argus, protect me!" He screamed. Argus drew his sword, and moved to intercept the Blue Ranger.

"Halt right there!" He called out as Noah's sword rebounded off his own, staggering back.

"Fine, I'll take you both on!" Noah yelled as he brought up his Ninja Sword, starting to circle Argus as the Prince moved to ensure he kept his bodyguard between him and Noah.

"Choose your words carefully Blue Ranger, they may be your last!" He warned him.

"Yeah, the last guy that said something like that...let's just say it didn't end well for him!" Noah answered, remembering his battle with Skatana. Argus just rushed for him, swinging his sword.

Noah worked frantically to try and find a gap in his guard, but when he did, his sword just reverberated, and it felt like the bones in his hand were about to jump out of position. His armour was so strong; it was like hitting an anvil! The armour didn't seem to bother Argus though, he still moved like quicksilver, being seemingly everywhere at once. Noah finally fell as Argus cut him down, knocking him into his Corsair Mode.

"You're good Blue Ranger. I can see how you defeated Skatana." Argus said as he started to advance on him. "Of course, there's something you should know. He was my student! I taught him everything he knew!"

Noah just gulped as he heard this. Skatana had been the toughest opponent he had ever taken down. To know that Argus had been the one that trained him, he didn't even want to think how good Argus had to be. He watched as Argus' sword started to glow, and he created a crescent of pure energy in the air.

"Solar Flare!" He called out, swinging his sword, and creating an x-shaped energy blast straight at him. Noah hit the ground hard, and could feel his power levels falling fast!

"Defeated, defenceless and all alone!" Prince Vekar announced, finally having the courage to speak now that he saw Noah on the ground. "And you thought you could defeat me? Argus, obliterate him!"

"Yes boss!" Argus said obediently as he started to walk towards Noah.

The Blue Ranger looked around as he heard some explosions from behind him, and saw his friends on the ground too. It looked like they weren't faring much better. Noah clutched his energy blaster tightly in one hand, while he brought up his sword. He knew that if his plan was to work, he needed to make it work now, before it was too late.

He rushed towards Argus, one hand behind his back as he swung around his sword. Argus just prepared for the attack, and as he saw Noah coming, moved to counter, and hooked Noah's blade, ripping the sword from his hand.

Noah took that moment to enact his plan, bringing around his other hand. Instead of a sword, Argus found a gun coming at him, straight into his face, blasting him at point-blank range. He clutched his face, his optics momentarily knocked out by the blast. He would recover his vision.

The blast had winded Noah, and he had dropped his blaster, but he saw he now had a clear path straight to Prince Vekar. Summoning up all the strength he had, he ran straight at him, launching himself into the air and slamming his knee straight into his face. As Noah tumbled to the ground, all but spent, the Prince clutched his face, screaming like his face had almost been torn off. Noah could see some blood, and knew he had broken the Prince's nose, but in addition to that...he could swear he saw tears.

"My face! Anything but my face!" Prince Vekar screamed. He pulled his hand away from his face, seeing blood on his hand and started to wail in a childish manner. "Ah, help me! Argus! Matacore!"

"The Prince is hurt!" Matacore declared as he shoved Troy out the way, running over to the Prince's side. "We must retreat!"

Argus and Matacore grabbed Prince Vekar, at which they all started to glow, before teleporting away. Troy helped Noah to his feet, at which they all de-morphed.

"That was way too close!" Jake commented.

"Yeah, that Matacore guy seemed to know what we were doing before we did." Gia agreed.

"Argus is tough too." Noah grumbled.

"They were wiping the floor with us." Emma agreed. "If the Prince hadn't shown his true colours..."

"I saw how he reacted when we shot him." Noah interrupted them. "I figured he's the kind of guy that likes to hurt other people, but he clearly can't handle it when someone fights back."

"Typical bully." Gia agreed.

"We got lucky this time, but I have a feeling it won't be long before they're back." Troy told them as they started to look around. "Any ideas how we're going to find the Tengen Gate?"

"Well, we know it's outside the city, somewhere in the mountains." Noah reminded them. "It's not much, but it's a start."

"This is going to be a long day." Jake sighed as they all struck out on their journey.

Meanwhile, outside the city, Lauren had finally stopped running, hunching over to catch her breath.

She looked around, satisfying herself that no one had followed her. She hadn't even stuck around long enough to see if the Rangers had destroyed the invading Armada forces. She had succumbed to her fear and run off, leaving them possibly to their fate. She felt ashamed, disgusted with herself that she would abandon them like that, even knowing that without her Ranger powers there was potentially not much she could do to help, that wasn't the way she had been raised.

She pulled out a bottle of water, and took a long drink, before replacing the cap and starting back along the path. She couldn't see the city anymore, but she was sure that if she couldn't hear explosions, never mind giant monsters, then it was likely the Rangers had succeeded in taking care of the invaders. She wished she could be certain, but she couldn't bring herself to turn back, to face that kind of danger. Hell, she couldn't even bring herself to face the situation she was in back home. That was why she had grabbed her bag and ran.

It was a few more miles, but eventually she found her way to the mystical barrier which kept the temple hidden from sight. To anyone that didn't belong to one of the Samurai bloodline, or have a personal invite to the temple, all they would see was forest. Like the Mystics, the Samurai knew how to protect their sacred sites. Anyone else walking through this forest would find themselves walking in circles until they finally ended up walking away. Lauren though found herself standing before the massive gateway. As she approached it, she knocked on the gate, and waited for one of the attendants to open it.

Eventually, the gates opened and a man in a robe approached her. As soon as he saw her, he immediately came to her side.

"My Lady?" He asked her. It wasn't every day that the current Shogun turned up on their doorstep. Lauren took a deep breath.

"I need somewhere to stay." She told him. "Daisuke..."

"Master Daisuke is currently overseeing the training of some of the initiates." He informed her. "Would you like somewhere to freshen up after your journey?"

"Thank you." She replied as the attendant took her bag.

"My Lady, you don't know how pleased I am to see you." He told her. "We received a call from your brother. He said you disappeared. All of the other Samurai are looking for you. They will be overjoyed to know..."

"I do not want them contacted." Lauren told him. He just looked puzzled.

"But your friends, your family, they believed something dreadful must have happened to you." He informed her. "Jayden said you left without a word..."

"If I wanted anyone to know where I was I would have told them." Lauren snapped at him a little too forcefully. She looked away, ashamed at herself for the way she was treating this man. He just wanted to serve her as he had been sworn to do. "I just...I came here because I needed some space, some time to myself to figure something out."

"Of course my lady." He answered. "Is there anything else you need?"

"Have a physician report to my quarters." She told him. The attendant stopped dead.

"Are you alright?" He asked. "Are you...?"

"I am uninjured." She assured him. "I would just...I would just like to see a physician."

"As you wish my Lady." He replied as he showed her to a room. He opened the door, and placed her bag just inside the door as she went in. "I will inform Master Daisuke of your arrival when he is available. Do you require refreshments or...?"

"No, that will be all." She answered. "I would like to rest after my journey."

"I'll bring it immediately." He told her as he closed over the door. Lauren went over to the bed, before flopping down onto it. By the time the physician came to her room, she was snoring loudly.

He carefully manoeuvred her into a more comfortable position before covering her with a blanket and leaving her to rest. She'd had a long journey, and he didn't need to be Daisuke to see that something was weighing heavily on her. For now, he would let her rest.

Back on The Armada Command Ship, Prince Vekar was taken at his command to the medical bay. His screaming echoed the entire length and breadth of the ship, and to anyone on board, they would have thought that he was on death's door. Inside the room however, it was a very different story.

"The burn on his arm...it is barely a surface wound." The physician told Lavira as they went aside to get some instruments while Argus and Damaras stayed at Vekar's side to try and calm him down.

"My face, they disfigured my face!" Vekar screamed as his attendants tried to reassure him. The physician just looked to Lavira, his brows furrowed.

"His nose is broken!" He said sceptically. "It isn't even broken that badly. Once I re-set it, he should be fine in a couple of days once the swelling goes down!"

"You can tell him that if you want." She stated. The physician just gulped, realising what it sounded like. The truth was that he was saying the Prince was over-reacting. He had seen far worse injuries suffered in training accidents. Of course, he wasn't exactly in a hurry to tell the Prince, who as a child had once had a play-mate's hands removed because he had defeated him in a board game, that he was behaving like a baby.

"I merely wished to express...the emotional trauma is making his injuries seem worse than it is." He told her. "If the Prince would just calm down, then the emotional and psychological trauma those savages caused..."

"I will speak with the Prince." She told the physician. "You just see to his physical treatment."

As she went to the Prince's side, she found Damaras frantically trying to reassure him that he would keep his arm.

"The physician told me that the Rangers have underestimated your strong constitution." Lavira told him. "I am sure someone less powerful than yourself would already have perished."

"They have dared to disfigure and..."

"We have the finest of physicians available." She reminded him. "He has assured me that you will not have any lasting scars. It is the emotional trauma..."

"Those...those savages tried to kill me!" He screamed. She just made a soothing shooshing sound as she administered a sedative.

"Allow the physicians to do their work." She told him. "Let us exact vengeance on your behalf."

As she, Damaras and Argus left the room, Damaras just looked to her.

"Emotional trauma?" He asked her. "They barely touched him."

"Do you think I'm going to tell him that?" She asked in response as they went to the bridge to plan their next move, closing the infirmary door to shut out the Prince's whining as they went.

Back at the Tengen Gate, Daisuke had finished up his lessons, and had been informed of Lauren's arrival. He got to her room, finding a physician outside. The physician stood up and approached Daisuke.

"Have you...?"

"She was awake briefly, and insisted on a check-up." He told him.

"How is she?" Daisuke asked.

"She is uninjured." The physician replied. He drew in closer to Daisuke and whispered something in his ear. As they parted, Daisuke just looked to him, looking a little confused.

"Then why is she here?" He asked.

"I do not believe the problem to be medical in nature." The physician said in a deep sigh. Daisuke nodded in understanding.

"I would like you to do something for me." Daisuke told him. "I have heard reports that the Corsair Rangers have been spotted in the city."

"Master?" The physician asked.

"I have lived far too long to believe in coincidences." Daisuke told him. "Have one of our agents in the city extend them an invitation."

"It will be done Master Daisuke." He told him as he left.