Author's Note: After this chapter the sequence of episodes change. Enjoy.
Disclaimer: No copyright infringement intended in the making of this series. I simply own my OCs and anything that is not recognizable from the show. Power Rangers belongs to Saban.
Shout Outs: Big shout out too: Optima99 and TealTorch for adding this story or me to any of their alerts. Appreciate it mate.
Warning: Be nice. Constructive Criticism is welcome. Flamers are not. To me haters are nothing more than jealous little people that wish they were as good as others; jealousy is not a good trait for anyone. If you hate, do remember that you are only adding to my reviews, your words will not hurt me.
Title: The Little Samurai
Summary: A Samurai's life was dangerous; he knew that better than anyone. But with his best friend thrown into the mix, Jayden will do everything he can to protect her.
Ava turned the tiger disk over in her hands, before turning her attention to the beetle and swordfish disks that lay on top of a navy velvet cloth on the wooden table in front of her.
Jayden had called a meeting before breakfast to discuss who the disks would belong to; she had a sneaky suspicion that he had already chosen Kevin to keep the Swordfish, he had caught it after all, and she just hoped he considered Mike for the beetle.
"Now that we have discovered three of the lost disks," said Mentor, as he approached the rangers carrying a leather bound book from the bookcase. "We have a new power at our disposal."
"Beetle," Jayden said, listing each zord in turn. "Swordfish, -"
"Tigger!" Ava giggled holding the white disk up for her friends to see. "It's better than Tiggy!" she added, seeing the looks on their faces.
Emily grinned at her best friend as Cheetah wandered into the room and jumped up onto her lap, she spied the disks on the table, pounced and sniffed them in turn.
"I don't think Cheetah approves," Mia said, as the cat nudged the Beetle disk with her head.
"Cheetah doesn't approve of any of the zords," Ava answered, scooping up the ginger feline and scratching under her chin. "She's very territorial and protective, aren't you, Princess?" she added in a baby voice as the cat swiveled her head back to look up at her human.
The feline let out a small noise and pawed at Ava's face.
Kevin smirked. "Yeah, she's a real vicious predator," he chuckled.
Ava scowled and stuck her tongue out. "Zip it, water boy," she teased. "Cheetah hasn't had breakfast yet..."
"She does get pretty testy when she hasn't eaten," Mike nodded, vouching for the White ranger, and reaching over to pet the ginger feline. Cheetah had taken a great liking to Mike, especially after she had seen how he acted around her two main humans: Ava and Emily.
Ava giggled at the Green ranger, before turning her attention back to Jayden, who was trying to get the conversation back to the topic at hand.
"Together these three disks allow us to form the Samurai Battlewing," the Red ranger said once he had everyone's attention again, Ava was still fussing and playing with Cheetah, but he was used to her short attention span, and therefore didn't really need to reprimand her for not listening.
Opening the book in his hands, Mentor showed the rangers a picture of a bird-like zord.
"Wow," Mike nodded in amazement. "That looks like one powerful bird."
"Yes," Mentor nodded. "Thanks to these disks. So each one has to go to the person we believe is truly ready to help pilot the Battlewing."
"Since the Tiger zord belongs to your family, Av," said Jayden, "you get to keep him..."
Ava blinked and looked up. "Cool," she said, grinning at the white disk in her hand. She thought that she felt it vibrate against her skin, as if the tiger was growling in approval of Jayden's selection.
"The swordfish," Mentor said, as Jayden reached for the blue disk, "goes to Kevin," the blue ranger looked stunned at the decision, but accepted the disk with a smile, "who caught it, and therefore has a connection with it. We've decided that the beetle..." Mentor continued, as Mike prepared himself for the orange disk.
"...should go to Mia," said Jayden, passing the final disk to the Pink ranger. Mike's face fell at the decision, and he glowered at the table, cracking his knuckles as Emily and Ava exchanged looks from across the room. They knew, better than any of the others that Mike had had his heart set on the beetle disk, and now he had lost it.
~*Little Samurai*~
After the meeting, Ji set about the kitchen to make breakfast, he presented four out of six of his Samurai with sushi, Ava had cereal (because she didn't eat fish) and Mike had opted to skip out and headed out into the back garden to train. The others could hear his grunts and yells through the open door, as he practiced with his spin sword.
"Wow," Kevin said as he looked up from his breakfast. "What's come over Mike? I'm not used to seeing him train so hard."
"He's actually been working really hard on his symbol power," Ava said as she finger-fed Cheetah some fish from the plate in the middle of counter, she smiled as the cat's tongue lapped at the bits that clung to her fingertips, before petting her affectionately and kissing her furry head.
Jayden was watching her from the otherside of the counter, but Ava was so focused on Cheetah that she hadn't noticed.
"I think he wanted that disk bad," Emily nodded looking to Mia.
"I know," the Pink ranger sighed. "I felt kind of guilty taking it instead of him."
"Don't feel bad," Mentor said from the kitchen. "Your hard work is one of the reasons we have chosen you. I've told Mike, he needs to work just as hard."
"But he's been trying," Emily defended.
"Yes," Mentor nodded, "and I believe he has it in him. But until he learns to listen, he isn't ready."
Ava looked away from her father and caught Emily's eye; they knew Mike, better than most of the team, they knew that he struggled in his training, they knew that he was trying to be as good as Jayden and Kevin, they knew how difficult coming to the Shiba house was for the Green ranger; they knew everything, but it seemed - at the moment - what they knew didn't matter.
~*Little Samurai*~
"Hey, what's going on?" Jayden frowned as he looked around at the civilians in the middle of town. They were either running around, or sitting on the floor, crying and pounding the pavement with their fists.
"Everyone's so glum," said Mike, "it's like they've all decided to become Kevin!"
The Blue ranger turned in his room-mates direction.
"Hey!" he whined.
"Mike, be nice," Ava said, nudging his shoulder.
"Yeah, Mike," Kevin nodded. "Be nice!"
Ava frowned and turned the Blue ranger.
"What are you?" she asked. "A parrot? I don't need an echo!"
Mike chuckled as Kevin shook his head, turning his attention to the Nighlok that had just shown up. "Speaking of parrots," he said, pointing out the blue bird to the others. Although he wasn't that hard to miss.
"Isn't it wonderful?" the Nighlok said. "Such delicious depths of despair from my rain. They're so lucky. They get to experience the purest, the cruelest, and the loveliest misery of all the loss of hope."
"That's horrible," Emily gasped.
"Yes," the Nighlok said, happily. "It is, isn't it?"
"We've got to get rid of this guy," said Mia.
"And fast," Ava nodded.
"Oh, we will," Mike said, punching his fist into the palm of his hand.
"Oh," the Nighlok cried, as if seeing the Rangers for the first time, "what an ugly sunny outlook you have, especially when the forecast calls for rain. My rain of pain."
"Not going to happen, Nighlok," Jayden said. "Let's go!"
"Yeah!" the others nodded, drawing their spin swords and racing towards the monster.
"Enough talking about the weather," the Nighlok squawked. "Instead of rain, I'll just cut straight to the pain!"
He spun his staff in a circle, before aiming it at the rangers and unleashing a beam of orange energy at them. It hit them, dead in the chest, and blasted them backwards through the air.
"So, did that feel so delightfully bad?" the Nighlok laughed.
"Mia," Kevin called, shaking his head and raising to his feet. He summoned his Hydro bow as he straightened up. "We have to use the new disks!"
Mia nodded and followed his lead. However, before she had a chance to fix the beetle disk to her sky fan, it was blasted out of her hand and into the air.
"Whoa!" Mike gasped, jumping from the ground and grabbing it. He flipped over and landed in front of his friends, as Mia rushed to take back what was hers.
"Thanks," she said, holding her hand out, but Mike didn't hand it over. Instead he attached it to his forest spear, much to the surprise and shock of the other rangers.
"Mike!" Kevin shouted. "Stop! You're not ready!"
The Nighlok surveyed them, frustratingly from across the playing field. "This is no fun," he said, as Mike refused to let into Kevin's demands of handing the disk back to Mia. "I'll come back to fight, when you're not fighting each other," the feathers on his head shot upwards, forming an umbrella, and he shot into the air.
"Guys, stop it!" Jayden called. "Get him now!"
"Mike, c'mon!" Kevin said, racing forward with the Green ranger. He leveled the Nighlok with his Hydro bow and fired, missing several times as the monster evaded his attacks by floating around.
"It must make you sad," the Nighlok cackled, as he disappeared, "to be so lame!"
Kevin fired again, but the Nighlok was long gone. With a heavy sigh, the Blue ranger turned to his room-mate, and shook his head. "Mike, what were you thinking?" he asked disappointedly.
"I just wanted to..." Mike sighed, looking down at his forest spear as he realized that he had royally screwed up, "... to help."
~*Little Samurai*~
Once back at the Shiba house, the rangers filed into the living room where Ji was waiting for them. He didn't look pleased.
"Mike," he said, as soon as he saw the Green ranger. "I am so disappointed. You put yourself before the needs of the team, placing, not only yourself, but them -" he motioned to the others, who were spaced out around the room, "in serious danger. Here I thought you were, finally listening to me, and training hard to strengthen the team. I can't believe it's come to this, but you have become a risk to the others. I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to turn over your Samuraizer."
"What?" Mike gasped. "You're benching me?"
"It pains me to say it," Mentor nodded. "But I don't think you're truly ready to become a Samurai."
Mike shook his head and stood up. "I'm tired of your lectures," he said. "You don't know a thing about me! If i'm not ready, how can I do this?" he pulled out his Samuraizer and pointed it at Ji, he traced a symbol in the air, and, as soon as it was activated, a tendril from Ji's bonsai grew outwards, winding its way around Ji's stick and holding it tight.
Normally, if it had been anyone else, Ava would have stood back and watched from the safety of the sidelines, but because Mike was attacking her father, she took this as a personal attack to herself. Pushing off of the far wall, the White ranger pounced onto Mike's back, taking him by surprise, and causing him to drop his Samuraizer, but only after her father had pulled the bonsai off of the shelf.
"Get off, Ava!" Mike yelled untangling the girls arms from around his neck, and dropping her back to her feet in front of him. "What was that for?"
"You're scaring me!" Ava cried. She had never seen Mike act like this before; she had never ever seen him lose control so badly before, and it had scared her when he had used his symbol power against the only living family member she had left.
Hearing the plea in her voice, Mike's heart clenched painfully as he realized what exactly he had done.
Jayden had already explained to him and the others, especially after the day they had faced Dayu, that any attack on Mentor or his late wife, was considered a personal attack on Ava; he remembered how angry Ava had been when Dayu had spoken ill of her mother, Evelyn Brooks. It had been a low blow because of the fact that she had died in battle, but Mentor was the only family that Ava had left.
A feeling of guilt washed over the Green ranger as he realized that Ava had taken his protest as an attack, and she had done the first thing that she could think of - and that was to fight back. He hadn't meant to upset her, or cause her distress, he would never have attacked Mentor purposely, he only wanted to prove that he was worthy and ready enough to be the Green Samurai Ranger.
"Ava, i'm sorry," he whispered, drawing her into his arms, and hugging her tightly. "I am so sorry... I didn't mean..."
Ava closed her eyes tightly, trying to force the tears back, but they were already falling and soaking through Mike's shirt. He had really scared her when he had gone for her father, she just wanted to know now, to understand, what had come over him, and surely he couldn't be this upset over a stupid beetle disk.
Mike held Ava tightly, kissing the top of her head in a brotherly fashion, before looking up at Mentor. "I'm sorry," he apologized, although he wasn't exactly sure what he was apologizing for. He knew he had been in the wrong to attack him, he just wished that Mentor would listened more and realized that he wasn't Kevin or Jayden, he couldn't work at their level. He wished that Mentor realized that each of his Samurai was different, and they each worked at a different level.
Ava was a perfect example of that. She still had a lot to learn when it came to combat, but Ji didn't treat her any different to what he treated Mia or Emily.
Mike understood that Mentor was a little more bias when it came to Ava's training, he was, after all, her father, but that didn't mean that he hadn't noticed the difference between the strengths and weaknesses that his daughter had in training. She was a strong symbol caster, but she was a weak fighter. They all knew that. But he didn't see Mentor pushing her like he pushed everyone else.
Are you jealous? He asked himself. No, no, that was ridiculous. Why would he be jealous? Especially of Ava. Ava was his best friend, his little sister, what did he have to be jealous of? Because she was Mentor's daughter, which meant she got special treatment? But that was the point, she didn't get special treatment - at least not off Mentor, Jayden, yes, maybe, but never Mentor.
"Helllllloooooooooo..." Ava called, waving her hand in front of Mike's face. "Hello, anyone in there? Snap out of it!" she yelled, snapping her fingers and grinning as his eyes slid back into focus. "Oh, good, you're back... you were miles away then, are you OK?"
Mike smiled and shook his head. "Yeah," he nodded. "I just need some air... I'm going for a walk."
"Don't get lost," Ava teased.
"My names Mike," he stressed, "not Ava..."
Ava gasped and folded her arms over his stomach. "And here I thought we were friends!" she pouted.
"Nah, we're more than friends," Mike grinned.
"We are?" Ava asked, tilting her head to the side.
"Yeah," the Green ranger nodded. "We're family, right?"
"I like that better," Ava giggled.
Mike saluted her, earning himself another cute giggle. He preferred it when she was smiling and laughing, it made him feel less guilty, or angry, depending on who had made her sad and crying in the first place. "If I'm not back within an hour," he told her, "you'll have a pretty good idea where I am."
"Yup," Ava nodded as he disappeared. She then heard the front door open, then close, and she knew he had gone.
~*Little Samurai*~
Once things had calmed down at the Shiba house, Ava retreated to her bedroom, Emily, Mia and Kevin disappeared out into the backyard, and Jayden stayed with Mentor in the living room. He wanted to to check on Ava, but first he had to talk to Ji.
"You've been pushing Mike pretty hard lately," he said, as he watched the Lion zord interact with Ava's Penguin.
"It is my responsibility to train him to be a worthy Samurai," Ji answered.
"Yes," Jayden nodded, "but push a door that's meant to be pulled and it will never open. You taught me that."
Ji paused before turning to the Red ranger. "Yes," he nodded, "I just wish he listened like you!"
"But that's because he's not me," Jayden said, standing up. "You taught me that everyone is different, just like their symbol power, right now you and Mike both want the same thing; for him to be the best he can be, you just don't agree on the path to get him there."
Mentor nodded as Jayden's words hit home. "Perhaps you're right," he smiled. "A strong wind can kindle a fire, but it can also uproot a tree. You are growing very wise, Red Ranger."
Jayden smiled. "You taught me well," he nodded, before adding, "I'm going to check on Ava now. She still seemed a little upset after Mike left."
"Today could have been a lot worse had she not been here," Ji nodded.
"I don't think so," Jayden said, shaking his head. "Although I won't disagree that seeing Ava upset is the reason Mike was able to calm down. She does seem to have that effect on him."
Ji smiled, knowingly. "Mike's not the only ranger she has that effect on, Jayden," he said. "Ava is good at weaving her way into people's lives, and once she has latched on, you'll find it extremely difficult to get her to let go."
He then left the room, leaving Jayden to ponder what he had said. Had he noticed the changes that were happening between him and Ava? Ever since Luke had come into Ava's life a lot of things had changed, she had spent more and more time with Mia and Emily, and less time with him, whereas Mentor was used to seeing them practically joint at the hip.
Was this indication to Ava being difficult to shake off Mentor's subtle way of telling him to not give up on her just yet?
~*Little Samurai*~
Ava looked up from her Samuraizer as the door to her bedroom slid open. She smiled at Jayden as he stood in the opening. "Mike back yet?" she asked, sounding hopeful.
"No. Ji's gone to find him," Jayden answered.
"He should try the arcade," Ava answered. "Mike goes there to calm down."
Jayden nodded and pulled out his Samuraizer, he quickly contacted Ji and relayed what Ava had just told him, before hanging up and pointing to the empty space beside. "May I?" he asked.
"Since when do you need permission?" Ava frowned.
"Since you had a boyfriend," Jayden answered, sitting beside her.
Ava rolled her eyes. "I still don't know a lot about Luke," she said, "but i'm sure he's not the jealous type. Besides, he's got nothing to be jealous about, right?"
Jayden snorted.
"More then you know!" he muttered, earning a confused, yet cute look from the sixteen-year-old beside him. "Never mind," he added kissing her forehead, before she rested her head to his shoulder. "I just don't get why Mike was acting so childish,"
"He wasn't acting childish," Ava defended, as Cheetah climbed over both her and Jayden, and curled up between them. "He was acting out, yes, angrily but not childishly. But Daddy could have handled the situation a lot better; he didn't have to bench Mike."
"Stop defending him!"
"Why, he didn't do anything wrong!"
"He attacked Mentor!"
"To prove that he was as good as the rest of us," Ava hissed getting off of her bed. "Mike is just as good as you and Kevin, Jayden, why should he have prove himself to Daddy? We all know that you and Kevin are daddy's little golden Samurai's; Mike just feels left out! Daddy pays him no attention at all. It's always Jayden this, or Kevin that, how do you think that makes him feel?"
"I never really thought of that,"
"You don't," Ava said, shaking her head. "You don't see it like I do. It hurt Mike to be left out today..."
Jayden sighed, pushed off the bed and approached her from across the room. "I realize that, Av," he nodded, "but we had to choose the right person for the job."
"Sure. But if you asked me, I'd say Mike has more than enough symbol power to master the Beetle disk," said Ava.
"Mentor made a choice," Jayden said. "He didn't believe Mike was ready..."
"I agree," Ava nodded. "Daddy made a choice, but it doesn't mean it was the right one."
Jayden was silent as he held her gaze. "You're starting to sound a like a true Mentor's daughter," he said, earning a small, but beautiful smile from Ava.
"Well, Jayden, I am a Mentor's daughter," Ava giggled. "I'm bound to have some wisdom floating around."
Jayden smirked, reached forward and whispered in her ear, causing her to shiver as his breath tickled her skin.
Ava gasped and pushed him backwards, giggling as she watched him land on her bed with a bounce. Cheetah hissed and streaked off under Ava's desk, causing both Rangers to laugh in her expense. However, once Ava had returned her attention to Jayden and saw that he was staring at her, she gulped and took a hesitant step backwards. She knew that look far too well.
"Um... I'm gonna go see if Daddy and Mike are back," she said, laughing nervously.
"Oh no, you don't," said Jayden jumping off of the bed and chasing after her. He caught her around the middle, seconds after she had started to open the door, he slammed it shut, hauled her off of her feet and carried her back to her bed, throwing her down onto it with a bounce and holding her down, his arms either side of her. "That wasn't very nice..."
"What wasn't?"
"What you just did to me,"
Ava giggled as she pushed against his chest, trying to push him off of her. He was to strong, and she was too weak from laughing. "What you said to me wasn't very nice either," she pointed out. "But then all's fair in love and war."
"Quoting Shakespeare,"
"No, it's Mary Poppins," Ava said, shaking her head.
Jayden rolled his eyes, before Ava started to squirm between him and the bed as he tickled her side's shrieks of laughter erupting from her mouth. He chuckled as she started to become short of breath. He knew how much she hated being tickled, yet it was the only payback he could think of at the given time.
~*Little Samurai*~
After 'playtime' - as Ava had rightfully called it -, she and Jayden returned to the main part of the house and found Emily, Kevin and Mia in the kitchen. Ava, who was still giggling from being pinned down and tickled, dropped down beside Emily at the table and reached for a cup of tea that Mia had made (it was the only thing she could make without giving her friends food poisoning.)
"I see you're feeling better," Emily smiled, poking her friend in the shoulder.
"Where've you been?" Mia asked.
"Tortured!" Ava answered as Jayden leaned on the table beside her. He grinned at her and poked her in the side, causing her to flinch, giggle and swat his hand away from her.
However, before either of the other three could comment on their behavior, the Gap Sensor sounded and the five of them rushed into the living room, activated the map and found the exact location of the Nighlok.
"What about Mike?" Ava asked looking up at Jayden, who had his Samuraizer in his hand. He called Mike and told him to meet them downtown, before hanging up and turning to Ava.
"We'll just have to hold our own until he gets there!" he said, taking her by the hand and pulling her out of the house.
The White ranger nodded and followed after him.
~*Little Samurai*~
"Hydro bow!"
The Nighlok jumped into the air to avoid the collision with Kevin's attack.
"Back for another dose of delightful despair, I see," the Nighlok said as he looked down upon them from the sky.
"Well, if it isn't Mr. Happy," Jayden said drawing his spin sword.
"Yes," the Nighlok said as he floated around. "And you can't even come close to defeating me while I'm flying!" he thrust his staff at them, blasting the ground beneath their feet and throwing them backwards through the air. "I'll just put you out of your marvelous misery."
Ava whined as she raised her head from her arms and looked up at the Nighlok, she tried to move her legs but found that every time she tried a wave of pain washed over her. "Ow..." she whimpered. "I can't feel my legs..."
"Me either," Emily nodded as Mia winced as she tried to move her arms.
"What did he hit us with?" the Pink ranger asked.
"I don't know," Jayden answered. "But I can't move!"
"How do we destroy him if we can't move?" Kevin asked.
"Just hope Mike gets here in time," Ava said, looking up at the Nighlok that had aimed his staff at them again. The rangers knew that they were defenseless against him now, if they couldn't move then they had no way to defend themselves against him, and he had a clear shot at destroying them.
"Bye-bye fools," he squawked.
"Think again, Nighlok!" shouted a familiar voice. Mike had arrived. "You'll have to get past me first!" he said, taking a protective stand in front of his friends.
"Mike!" Ava smiled.
"Excellent," the Nighlok nodded. "You get to feel the same delicious defeat they did."
"Try me," Mike challenged, pulling out his Samuraizer. "Go, Go Samurai! Ha!" he activated his symbol power and morphed into his Green ranger form.
"Go for it, Mike," Emily encouraged.
Sliding his power disk onto his spin sword, Mike drew the weapon and changed it into its secondary weapon. The Forest Spear, while he remembered what Mentor had told him back in the forest.
Look inside yourself, and connect with what the forest means to you.
Closing his eyes, he focused all of his energy and concentration on the meaning behind the forest.
The meaning of the forest: The forest is ancient, strong and wild. He thought, imagining the growth and survival of the forest. It had been around a lot longer than any of them could account for it, it was always growing and becoming stronger, no matter how many times it was attacked or cut down, it came back stronger than ever before and ready to start anew. At its core it is about growth, renewal and freedom.
Mike smirked as his eyes opened and he knew that he could free the full power of the forest within himself. He had too. It wasn't only his team that was counting on him, Mentor was, but so was the whole world.
"Come get your magnificent misery!" the Nighlok yelled as Mike run along beneath him.
"My symbol power grows as strong as whatever I dream up," Mike called, swinging his spear around his head and striking the ground with it. "So I better dream big!" he flew into the air, tugged his spear free from the pavement and slashed through the Nighlok. "It's time for a change in the weather forecast! Tree symbol strike!" he announced as the monster was knocked from the sky and exploded.
~*Little Samurai*~
The second the monster exploded, Mike landed, and Ava and Emily, now in full control of their bodies' actions, pushed themselves back to their feet and run to meet their friend.
"Mike!" Emily grinned. "That was incredible!"
"Yeah! Where did you get Symbol power like that?" Ava asked, equally excited.
"I've always had it," Mike answered, wrapping his arms around both girls and hugged them. Kevin may have been his best mate on the team, but Ava and Emily were closer to him than even the Blue ranger, they definitely understood him better than Kevin did anyway. "I just needed some help to find it!" he added.
However, the happy moment was ruined as the monster imploded and returned as a Mega monster.
"Oh no," Mia gasped.
"Don't celebrate just yet," Jayden nodded as the monster continued to grow.
"This is just the calm before the real storm," the Nighlok said as he towered over them.
"C'mon!" Ava said tugging Emily and Mike back towards the others, and pulling out both her Samuraizer and her Foldingzord. She traced the symbol for super over her Foldingzord as it awoke and transformed into a giant penguin. "Penguin Foldingzord! Mega mode power!" she yelled as her suit transformed and she materialized inside the cockpit of her zord.
"Zords combine!" the team of six commanded as their Zords folded together to create the Megazord. "Samurai Megazord! We are united!"
"I'd be impressed," the Nighlok nodded, "if that was going to do you any good."
He took to the sky once more and started an aerial attack on the unsuspecting Megazord.
"We can't just let him take shots from above us," Jayden decided. "It's risky. But we have to try the Samurai Battlewing combination."
Kevin and Ava nodded changing their console disks for their individual Tiger and Swordfish disks. "Ready!" they both announced, turning to Mia.
The Pink ranger sighed and held the orange disk out to Mike. "Here," she said, "take it!"
"What?" Mike asked in disbelief.
"From what I've seen of your symbol power," Mia answered, "you'd use it better than me."
"Mia," Mike started, as Ava gaped at her friend from behind her mask.
"She's right," Jayden agreed, turning to Kevin and Ava. "Now go!"
"Aw great," Ava complained. "Me, Kevin and Mike, this is going to work perfectly!" she said, sarcastically as she activated the tiger disk. "Tiger zord!" she commanded as the Tiger burst out of the Samurai Megazord followed closely by the Swordfish and the Beetle.
Unlinking their Mega blades from the Megazord, the White, Green and Blue rangers disappeared from the cockpit and re-materialized in their new zords.
"Oh, I hope I can do this," Ava fretted as she pulled out her Samuraizer and opened it, ready to trace the combining symbol.
"You can do it, Ava," Jayden said over the links. He sounded so certain, as if he had every confidence in her, and despite not being able to see him, his confidence in her made her heart skip a beat.
She nodded and traced the symbol in front of her. "Zords combine!" she commanded. "Samurai Battlewing!"
Next second Kevin and Mike appeared either side of her.
"It worked!" Ava giggled, clapping her hands.
"Nice one, Av," Mike nodded patting her shoulder. "You did it!"
"We knew you could," Kevin agreed.
Ava smiled. "Thanks guys," she nodded. "How about we blast this guy and go home?"
"Best idea I have heard all day," Mike nodded.
"Agreed," said Kevin.
Ava giggled and flew through the giant black cloud that had appeared. Waiting for them on the otherside was the Nighlok, who was just as stunned as the rangers had been that morning, when they first learned about the Samurai Battlewing.
The Nighlok tried to blast them, but the Battlewing flew higher up into the air to avoid the collisions. They clipped the monster as he flew towards them, sending him spinning through the air.
"That's right," Mike nodded, "a new storm is rolling in and it's gonna blow you away!"
"You fools are becoming tiresome!" the Nighlok said, flying underneath them and the floating in the air in front of them. He was tiny compared to the Battlewing. "I am undefeated in the air! And that is not going to change today!"
Ava rolled her eyes.
"Get over it, Nighlok," she said. "All good things must come to an end at some point - ouch!" she added as the Nighlok, who had been flying backwards, slammed into a building and lost a bit of altitude. "Now I know why Daddy always tells me to watch where i'm going."
"Ava, focus!" Jayden called over the comms link.
"I am focused!" Ava protested. "Watch! Vortex spin!"
"Watch out!" Jayden said, as Mia and Emily fired their own attack on the Nighlok. The bright coloured lights of Pink and Yellow hit the monster and almost knocked him out of the sky.
"Strike!" Mike and Kevin grinned.
Pushing forward on all of their mega blades, Kevin, Mike and Ava fired their lasers at the Nighlok, completely destroying the umbrella feathers above his head.
"This is despair... but this isn't delightful at all!"
"Depends on your end of the playing field," said Mike.
Ava nodded.
"Yeah. This is awesome progress from our end!" she giggled.
Even Kevin cracked a smile.
"Charging slash!" the three of them yelled, powering up the three separate zords. They fired three coloured disks into the air and flew through them rapidly charging up their final power strike as the Nighlok plummeted towards the ground. "Mega blade, final strike!"
The charged through the Nighlok causing him to explode and shower Paranoma city with fiery jets of flames that fizzled out before they reached the ground.
"Oh, fireworks!" Ava giggled.
"Boring fireworks," Mike pointed out. "They don't even have an assortment of colours!"
"So? We still won!"
"Yeah," Mike grinned hugging the over-excited White ranger. "Victory is ours!"
~*Little Samurai*~
Later that afternoon, back at the Shiba house, Ava instantly run off to find her father as the others stayed with Mike in the hallway outside the dojo.
"Ava, what is it?" Mentor sighed as his daughter pulled him, by the hand, back towards the dojo. He had a sneaky suspicion that she had been sneaking cookies from the kitchen when he wasn't looking; because the way she was bouncing all over the place was exactly the same as when she was hyper off of sugar. He'd have to hide the cookies a little better.
Ava shook her head and continued to pull him after her. "It's a surprise!" she smiled. "You're gonna love it!"
Shaking his head and following her, Mentor smiled faintly as he turned the corner to find the rest of the Samurai team waiting for him. Mike seemed a less bit shifty, but he was hiding something behind his back.
"What's this?" Mentor asked, looking around at the team of six.
Ava, who had now left his side, and made her way towards Emily, smiled and turned to Mike who presented him with a new bonsai plant,. "Just a little something to say thanks," Mike said, "and to show that I'll be listening."
"As will I," Mentor smiled holding up the small plant. "Uh... dude..."
Emily and Ava exchanged looks and burst into giggles. Never had they, or would they ever, have believed they would hear Mentor say 'dude'. It didn't sound like and it most definitely didn't suit him, either. They were used to hearing it from Mike; he was, after all, the rebel of the group, but Mentor? No way.
"Oh, and check this out," Mike said, tracing a small symbol in the air. He activated and watched as one of the leaves started to grow, extending towards Mentor.
Ava's eyes widened and she inhaled sharply.
"Oh, not again," Kevin complained.
"What?" Mike asked, looking around at them. He caught Ava's look and everything fell into place. "Oh, no, I meant this..." he pointed at the plant and curled his hand into a fist, as if by magic, the plant mimicked his actions and became a fist too.
Mentor smiled and bumped his own fist against the plant.
The other rangers sighed in relief, as Ava lay into Jayden's embrace as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders.
Copyrighted ©
Chapter written by xXxKaraBeckerCutterxXx
Chapter updated Saturday, 20 October, 2012 at 03:40am