I DO NOT own Super Sentai or Power Rangers.
Hmm, I haven't updated PRSS in a while, I wonder how long it's been... checks last update FOUR YEARS?! Holy crap guys, I did not mean to be away for so long!
I've been having few problems with this chapter. As you will see, this chapter is not based of an episode of Shinkenger like the others, so it took a lot more work. Also, as I stated at the beginning, I was writing this because there was no Power Ranger series based of Shinkenger at the time. Now there is, of course, and it's been finished for a couple of years now, so that dampened my motivation somewhat. All that, combined with the fact that this chapter was originally going to be a two-parter before a major re-write, caused some minor delays. But wait no longer! The adventure continues!
POWER RANGERS SAMURAI STRIKE
Chapter 12: Light in the Darkness
The Gedoushu dimension, aboard the dread ship Rokumon...
Doukoku, Demon Lord of the Gedoushu, sat back in his chair, tapping his fingers together, thinking. In front of him stood Genta, the Shadow Ranger, his face impassive, having finished his report of the latest turn of events in the battle against the Power Rangers.
"So," Doukoku spoke at last, "they have learnt your true identity. They know you are the one known as Umemori." He leaned forward, his yellow eyes gleaming dangerously. "This could be inconvenient."
"Far from it, my Lord," Genta disagreed, raising a black-gloved hand in a calming gesture. "In fact, this is most helpful."
"Really?" Doukoku replied, sounding unconvinced. "How so?"
Genta smiled, baring his pointed teeth. "You do not understand humans like I do, my Lord," he explained. "The Rangers know that I inhabit the body of a dear friend of theirs, and they are determined to release him from my control. Therefore, they will be careful to not go all out against me, at risk of hurting their precious friend." His smile turned into a vicious grin. "I, however, have no such restrictions."He let out a short, contemptuous laugh. "Caring. Friendship. Love. Such pointless, human emotions."
"I see. Interesting..." Doukoku tapped his chin with a clawed finger. "A very effective plan, one that may destroy those pesky Rangers once and for all."
"I have your permission to continue then, my Lord?" Genta asked, his almost deranged eagerness evident in his voice.
"You do. Take those captured Zords of yours and make the Rangers wish they'd never been born!" Doukoku commanded.
"At once, my Lord!" the Shadow Ranger replied with glee, and saying so, he leapt the railing of the ship, dived into the Sanzu River, and swam to shore, where a crevice awaited to take him to the human world.
Doukoku stood and walked to the railing, watching him go, then he turned back to the ship. "Shitari!" he bellowed.
"Yes, my Lord!" Shitari, the squid-headed wizard, answered, hurrying forward. "How might I assist you?"
"Prepare a Renju squad of Ōnanashi," Doukoku ordered him. "We may require them."
"Are you sure, my Lord?" Shitari enquired. "Genta seems quite capable."
"I'm sure he is, but I don't like to leave things to chance," Doukoku snapped back. "I want them in reserve if he fails. Get to it."
"Immediately, my Lord," Shitari replied, bowing as he retreated across the deck. Doukoku turned to face the River, thinking once more.
Shiba Manor, earlier that morning...
Chad, Ryan, May and Karen were in the garden, practising their kendo techniques. Today was a bit different to their usual training, though. Chad, Ryan and May were taking turns sparring against each other, but Karen trained by herself, off to one side. The other Rangers were not forcing her to do this, however; Karen had insisted that she be alone.
"Does she seem a bit... odd to you?" Chad said, keeping his voice low so she didn't hear him, as he watched Ryan and May spar.
May frowned, thinking as she blocked a strike from Ryan with her bokken. "She has been acting a bit strange lately," she commented. "Ever since... well, you know..."
Chad and Ryan knew exactly what she was talking about. The revelation that the evil Ranger Genta was really their good friend Graydon being mind-controlled had shocked them all.
Tyson had taken it particularly hard. He and Graydon had been best friends since they were little kids, and that friend was now an enemy. They has rarely seen him in the past two weeks. He was spending more and more time away from the others, doing who knows what. Training hard, probably.
Surprisingly, Karen had also become quite stand-offish, rarely speaking, and when she did, it was in a dull, emotionless voice. She always had a look on her face as if she was thinking hard about something that she didn't quite understand.
"What do you think is up with her?" Ryan said, lowering his bokken as they glanced over at her, swinging away at thin air.
"She's clearly upset about the problem with Graydon," May replied. "But I'm a little worried that it's affecting her this much."
"She is a bit younger than us, remember?" Ryan interjected.
"Yes, but only by a year or so," May countered, frowning at him. "I don't think that would make much difference."
Chad, listening to the exchange, had a sudden thought. "Hey, do you think that she might... you know... like Graydon?" he hesitantly suggested.
Ryan's head snapped round to face him so fast he almost gave himself whiplash. "Karen?!" he exclaimed, almost forgetting to keep his voice down. "Like Graydon?! Are you serious?"
Chad shrugged. "I dunno," he replied. "Maybe. Women's hearts are a complete mystery to me."
May hummed, and Ryan turned to face her. She was looking at Karen, a querying look in her eyes. "It's possible, I guess," she said non-commitedly. "I mean, there was that one time, a few months back, remember...?"
Chad laughed. "Oh, you mean that time we found him standing topless with her outside his room?" he sniggered. "Oh yeah, I remember that, alright! I teased him about that for weeks!"
"Grow up," May snapped at him, whacking him over the head with her bokken. "C'mon, it's your turn."
Unbeknownst to them, Karen had excellent hearing, and she was close enough to hear every word of their discussion. Fortunately, they were not close enough to see the blush that had spread across her face as she had listened.
Those idiots! she thought to herself. They had no idea what they were talking about! Like Graydon! As if! Besides, what had happened that day was completely different!
But then, Karen paused. The memory of that day came back to her. Something... odd had happened that day. Perhaps it had some relevance to what had happened with Graydon. Frowning, she let her thoughts drift back to that day, to she what she could remember...
Shiba Manor, several months ago...
It was raining, so Graydon had decided to hold the training inside today. Morning training had finished, so the others had gone off elsewhere. Karen, however, had stayed behind to get in a little more practise. She and Graydon stepped back and forth, striking and blocking.
"You're getting good," Graydon complemented her. "You'll be a match for Tyson in no time!"
Karen smiled. "I think you're just being nice," she replied modestly. "I've still got away to go before I reach his level."
Graydon grinned in return. "Maybe so, but you're definitely getting up there!" He wiped the sweat from his forehead with his hand. "I think I'm just about done for this morning," he said. "Tell you what, let's go one more bout, and go all out this time! How does that sound?"
"Sounds good to me!" Karen agreed, adjusting her grip on her bokken.
They paused for a moment, then they both stepped forward at the same time, and their wooden swords met. Again and again they struck, faster and faster. Karen grinned, enjoying herself, and Graydon smiled back.
The blades whirred through the air, becoming blurs, Karen striking and blocking for all she was worth. Then, she saw an opening in Graydon's defence, and she went for it with no hesitation.
Then, it happened. Something changed about Graydon. His expression went from a happy kind of focus to one that was just... wrong. Dark. Sinister, even.
Karen, distracted by this sudden change, felt a sharp pain in her hand, and turned her head to see her bokken go flying from her grip. A movement in front of her caused her to look back, and what she saw shocked her.
Graydon's sword was pointed right at her face, and the look on his face was pure evil, as if he was about to deliver a killing blow...
Horrified, she stepped backwards and tripped... and fell straight into an ornamental suit of samurai armour behind her. Armour and girl both went crashing to the ground.
"Oh no, are you okay?" she heard Graydon ask, a worried tone to his voice. She looked up to see him standing over her, worry and panic etched all over his face. He seemed perfectly normal again. Did I just imagine it...? Karen wondered.
"I'm fine, just a little bruised," she answered, picking herself up and dusting herself off.
"Your hand!" Graydon gasped, pointing. "It's bleeding, look!"
Karen raised her right hand to see a cut on the back of it, and that it was, in fact, bleeding. There wasn't much blood, though, and the cut wasn't deep, but Graydon was acting like it was a fatal wound.
"Here, let me!" he said quickly, pulling a handkerchief from him pocket. "Don't worry, it's clean," he added, answering her slightly disgusted look. He wrapped it around her injured hand and neatly tied it up. "There, that should do the trick."
"Thank you," Karen said, and she meant it.
"No problem," Graydon replied, with a small smile. "It's the least I could do for causing it in the first place." He still seemed a bit worried, almost scared.
"Are you okay?" she asked him, reaching out with her uninjured hand, but he flinched back from her fingers.
"I'm... I'm fine," he said evasively, not meeting her gaze. "I should go." And before she could object, he swiftly turned and left the room.
Surprised, and not a little confused, Karen looked at the handkerchief wrapped around her hand. Curiously, she noted that it was white, but with gold stitching along the edges in some intricate pattern. On one corner, there was a large Japanese-looking character on it. Karen didn't know much Japanese, so she didn't know what the character meant, but it reminded her of the kanji she and the other Rangers drew when they morphed. This piqued her curiosity even more.
Later that day, after the armour had been put back the way it was and her hand had been washed and bandaged, Karen went looking for Graydon, partially to return his handkerchief, but mostly to ask him about the character on it, and about what had happened that morning. She looked around in the main rooms of the manor but couldn't find him, so she decided to check up in his room.
As she approached his room, she noticed the door was slightly ajar, and voices could be heard coming from inside. One was Graydon's, the other was one she did not recognise. It was slightly high-pitched and a bit tinny-sounding.
"Try to focus, and stay calm," the voice said, and as she got closer, she could hear that Graydon was panting heavily.
"I'm trying, I really am," he replied. "He got control for a second there, though, I'm sure of it."
"It wasn't your fault, you know that," the unfamiliar voice interjected.
"It was, though!" Graydon snapped back. "I got caught up in the bout, and he slipped through! If I hadn't gotten control back right away, Karen might have been-"
A floorboard under Karen's foot squeaked, and the voices from the room immediately stopped. Before she had time to flee, the door swung open to reveal a shirtless Graydon, a mixture of anger and fear on his face.
"Karen!" he said, surprised, his expression changing to one of confusion. "What are you doing here?"
Karen did not immediately reply, as she was momentarily distracted. She had never seen Graydon shirtless before, and his physique was quite impressive.
"Hello? Earth to Karen?" Graydon called, waving her hand in front of her face. Karen was jerked back to reality, and she shook her head to clear it, blushing furiously.
"I... I wanted to return your handkerchief..." she muttered, embarrassed, holding it out to him.
"Oh. Right. Thanks," Graydon replied, not taking it. "Uh... you can keep it, if you want. I've got plenty of others."
"Oh. Okay, then," Karen mumbled, and they both stood there awkwardly, unsure how to continue.
"Um," Graydon began, scratching the back of his head, thinking desperately for something to say. "How's the hand?"
Karen smiled, and showed him her bandaged hand. "It's fine," she said. "The blood made it look a lot worse than it really was."
"Right," he said slowly, then he bowed his head in apology. "I'm sorry, it was all my fault, I didn't mean to hurt you!"
"I told you, it's fine!" Karen said, laughing. "You don't have to beat yourself up about it."
Graydon raised his head and grinned hesitantly. "No hard feelings, then?" he asked.
Karen grinned back. "None whatsoever!" They both laughed, and it was at that moment that Chad and May came up the stairs, looking for them.
"Graydon where are y- oh!" Chad stopped dead, May a moment later, as they both saw Graydon and Karen standing there. It was only then that Karen realised what she and Graydon must of looked like, him topless and them both standing outside his room. Another blush began to creep its way across her face.
"Uh, not... interrupting anything, are we...?" May asked.
Shiba Manor, present day...
God, that was SO embarrassing! Karen thought to herself, the mere memory of the incident causing her to blush once more.
A few things that had happened now made sense, though, she mused. The mysterious voice that she had heard coming from Graydon's room she now knew belonged to Alpha. Maybe he knew something about it.
Making a decision, she hurried back inside, startling the others by her sudden departure. She went to her room, changed out of her kendo uniform into some normal clothes, grabbed the white-and-gold handkerchief and headed up to Graydon's room.
She slowly opened the door and looked in. All the computer monitors were off, but she knew that Alpha was probably still online. "Alpha?" she called out hesitantly, entering the room.
The monitors flickered to life, and Alpha's disk-shaped head appeared on one of them. "How might I assist you today, Karen?" he asked.
"Hi Alpha," Karen replied, unsure how to start. "Any progress on finding a way to break Graydon free of Genta's control?"
"Very little, I'm afraid," Alpha sadly answered. "I've checked and re-checked all of the Shiba clan historical records, and the only way seems to be what Tyson suggested; Overloading him with enough elemental energy to break the bonds that seals the two of them together."
Karen nodded. "Hikoma's been training us to be able to use our energy more precisely; if it's not done correctly, it could do more harm than good." She frowned. "Tyson helps occasionally too, when he's not disappearing off to who-knows-where by himself."
"Tyson just needs some time alone," Alpha said consolingly. "He and Graydon have been friends for as long as either of them remembers. Finding out that that friend is now a powerful enemy can't have been easy." Seeing Karen was still unsure, he shrugged, and did his best to smile, despite having no facial features. "Hey, I'm sure you guys will have no problem, and Graydon will be back to waking you all up for dawn training in no time!"
Training... That reminded Karen of why she had come up here in the first place. She pulled out the handkerchief and placed it on a scanner sitting on the desk in front of the monitors. "While I'm here, could you translate this symbol for me?" she asked.
Alpha beeped as the scan completed. "Child's play. The symbol is Japanese kanji, specifically the kanji 'hikari', which means 'light' in English."
"Light..." Karen wondered. Why was that symbol on something Graydon owned? Before she could ponder this, loud beeping began sounding from all the speakers in the room. "What's going on?" she asked, alarmed. "Is it another Ayakashi? Is the city under attack?"
"N-no," Alpha stammered, his image on the screen beginning to flicker wildly. "Sc-scanning that symbol s-seems to have-ave activated a se-secret program embedded-ed in my c-code." Suddenly his image disappeared, and all the monitors went black. Then, words in gold text began to appear on the central monitor. Karen ran forward to read them. They were at first written in kanji, but were then swiftly replaced by an English-lettered pronunciation:
Hikari no senshi, anata no kizuna o kainho suru
Watashitachi zen'in o odokasu kage o oshimodosu
Nagai nengestu kara anata no kyodai ni kuwawari nasai
Kin no ninja, koru ni kotaete kudasai!
Karen did not have even the faintest idea what any of that meant, but she knew it was incredibly important, and by some instinct, she knew it must have something to do with freeing Graydon from Genta's control.
"Whoo, that was wild ride!" Alpha said, as he reappeared on one of the other screens. "Whatever that was, it nearly overloaded all my systems!"
"Alpha, I need a translation for this pronto," Karen said quickly. "This may be the answer we're looking for!"
"You got it!" Alpha replied, snapping a salute, but before he could start, new alarms started sounding throughout the manor. "Okay, this time it's an attack on the city!"
"It'll be Genta, I'm sure of it!" Karen said, grabbing the handkerchief from the scanner and racing out the door.
Meanwhile, in Tovern City...
Sure enough, Genta was strolling down the main street, slashing everything in his path with his black katana. But this time, he was not alone.
Behind him, the Kabuto Ronin Zord rolled along, its orange shell smothered by dark stains, its eyes gleaming a sinister red. Its giant horn smashing into buildings, sending people running for cover.
Above them, the Kajiki Ronin Zord swam through the air, similarly black-stained and red-eyed, firing missiles at anything that moved.
"Yoohoo, Rangers!" Genta called out in a sing-song voice, swinging his blade happily at terrified civilians. "Come out, come out wherever you are! Olly olly oxen free!"
"That's enough, Genta!" Tyson's voice rang out over the chaos, and a psychotic grin crept across Genta's face as he turned to see the five Rangers standing in a row facing him.
"About time you got here!" he cackled. "I was starting to get bored!"
"Last chance, Genta!" Tyson snapped, his face a mixture of hate, disappointment and sorrow. "Give Graydon his body back, or we take it by force!"
Genta laughed. "Sorry bud, I'm picking door number three," he said, pulling out his shadowy morpher, "where I kill you all become Lord Doukoku's second-in-command!"
"So be it!" Tyson roared, and as one, the Rangers drew their morphers and traced their symbols in the air.
"SAMURAI STRIKE! BLADES UNITE!" they called out, and with a crack of thunder, a rainbow flash and the usual unnecessary explosion, they morphed.
"Strike Ranger Red, Tyson Shiba!"
"Strike Ranger Blue, Ryan Ikenami!"
"Strike Ranger Green, Chad Tani!"
"Strike Ranger Pink, May Shiraishi!"
"Strike Ranger Yellow, Karen Hanaori!"
"POWER RANGERS SAMURAI STRIKE!" the Rangers shouted together.
"My turn!" Genta hissed, swiping his own morpher though the air, inscribing the kanji for "shadow" in front of him. "SHADOW RANGER FORM, ACTIVATE!" he bellowed, and with a rumble of thunder, a bolt of black lightning and a blast of dark red flames, Genta morphed into the Shadow Ranger.
The five Strike Rangers drew their katanas and charged at him, but a wave from his hand sent lasers and missiles fired from the two Shadow Zords slamming into the ground in front of them, cutting of their attack.
"With his Zords out, we'll never get to him!" May cried out, dodging the deadly barrage as best she could.
"Then we'll fight fire with fire!" Tyson said, pulling out his Fire Talisman, the other following suit. Using their morphers, they wrote the kanji for 'large' on their talismans.
"Origami, Come Forth! Zord Mode!" they chorused, and the talismans grew and folded out into the five Origami Zords, each Ranger teleporting into their respective Zord.
"Hrmph!" Genta pouted, crossing his arms. "Five-on-two doesn't seem very fair!"
"Then how about two-on-one?" Tyson shot back, drawing the 'combine' symbol in the air. "Zords, Combine! Megazord Formation Activate!" The Zords flew together to form the Megazord, the lion becoming the torso and head, the monkey and turtle forming the arms, the dragon and bear becoming the legs. "Formation Complete! StrikeBlade Megazord!"
The Megazord drew its gigantic sword and faced down the two enemy Zords, towering over them. "Like your odds now, Genta?" Tyson called down to him.
"I'll admit, they could be better..." Genta gulped. He stood no chance against a Megazord with two measly Zords that he could barely control. They were constantly trying to break free from his command; The Kajiki Zord by itself had been not too difficult, but since he had taken the Kabuto Zord, it had become far more difficult to control them. There was no way they could stand up to the Megazord and win. What was he going to do?
Meanwhile, in the Gedoushu dimension...
"Dear me," Tayu said, idly strumming her shamisen as she, Shitari and Doukoku observed the battle though a crevice. "Looks like our pet Ranger is out of his depth."
"Useless fool," Shitari sighed, shaking his squid-like head. "He's going to get himself killed, and we'll lose control of those Zords he's won for us." He then cowered as Doukoku turned to face him, his eyes burning with barely-controlled rage.
"Shitari," he intoned, in a voice that promised horrible death in every syllable, "send in the Ōnanashi squad to back up that waste of space. Once they've dealt with the Rangers, bring Genta to me. He will pay for his failure."
"At once, my Lord," Shitari replied, bowing, and then ran the ready the Ōnanashi as fast as his short legs could carry him.
And back to the fight...
"I don't suppose you guys would consider disassembling your giant robot to make this a bit easier for me, would you?" Genta asked, wringing his hands in panic.
The Megazord lowered its mighty katana and pointed it straight at the puny Shadow Ranger. "Sure, just as soon as you give our friend back."
Suddenly, out of the corner of his eye, Genta saw the flickering purple light of a crevice opening, and a moment later, five Nanashi burst forth.
Five gigantic Nanashi. Each as tall as the Megazord. The ugly creatures drew their swords and advanced on the giant robot.
"What the heck are those things?!" Chad yelped, as they saw their odds suddenly shift from two-on-one to seven-on-one.
"Ōnanashi!" Tyson gaped in shock. "I've read about them in my family's archives! They each take five hundred years to make. Doukoku must have been stockpiling them!"
"What do we do?" Karen exclaimed, but Tyson had now answer. The Megazord had never faced this many foes at once before.
The Ōnanashi began their attack, and the Megazord defended desperately, but the blows coming from five directions at once quickly wore it down.
"Quick, Tyson!" Ryan called out. "Summon the Tora Ronin Zord! It might be our only hope!"
"Right!" Tyson yelled back, and he pulled the white Spirit Disk from his belt, clipped it to his sword and spun it. "Tora Ronin Spirit, Come Forth! Zord Mode!"
A flash of white light appeared above the Megazord, and the Tora Ronin Zord flew out, dived to the ground and sped through the legs of the Ōnanashi, knocking them over.
Tyson readied himself to teleport inside of the Tora Zord, but with a cry of "Mine! Mine! MINE!", the Kajiki Zord soared overhead and Genta dropped from it onto the white tiger and clambered inside.
"Oh, that's not good..." Chad said, as a shadowy stain spread across the surface of the Tora Zord, and its eyes began to glow red.
"MINE!" Genta called to them, steering the Tora Zord to face them, the Kajiki and Kabuto Zords arriving either side of the once-white robot. "That's three of your precious Zords I've now taken!"
"Damn you, Genta!" Tyson roared, slamming his fist into the Megazord's control console.
"And that's not all!" Genta continued. "I remember reading in your archives that these three Zords can do quite a neat trick!"
"No!" Tyson gasped, and the other Rangers looked at him in confusion. "He couldn't mean-!"
Suddenly, the shadows encircling the three Ronin Zords grew, combining into one massive dark sphere. And then, the Zords flew into the centre of the cloud...
…and combined.
The shadows made it hard to see exactly what was happening, but the three shapes in the dark mist moved together, and formed a massive bird-like shape.
"He's done it..." Tyson watched on in horror. "He's formed... the SkyRonin Megazord!"
"The Ronin Zords can form their own Megazord?!" May gasped in terrified awe.
"We're doomed!" May cried. "Five Ōnanashi and a Megazord against us?"
"Oh yeah, I forgot about those guys..." Genta replied, a growl of menace in his voice, as the shadowy Megazord turned in the air the face the squad of giant Nanashi, who had finally managed to get back to their feet.
For a moment, nothing happened, as the Ōnanashi stood staring at this new arrival, then with a great whirring, all the weapons on the SkyRonin Megazord lit up, and waves of missiles and lasers blasted forth and smashed into the squad, obliterating them.
The Rangers stood stock still, their shocked faces hidden behind their visors as the bird-like Megazord turned back to face them. From the shadowy mass, they heard Genta growl. "They tried to steal my glory. No-one crosses me and lives! Besides, I don't need their help to beat you! You're all worn out from your fight with them, so it'll be easy for me to-"
But Genta got no further, as suddenly a violent tremor shook his Megazord, and the sphere of shadows around it began to recede.
"No!" he yelled, as the Megazord began to break apart. He was losing control of the Ronin Zords. Two was hard enough, but three had proven too much for him. He screamed with fury as he was ejected form the Tora Zord and landed on the hard ground, the Ronin Zords de-summoning and landing in their disk forms next to him.
With the threat of the Zords and Ōnanashi eliminated, the Strike Rangers teleported out of their own Megazord and stood in front of Genta as he staggered to his feet, weakened by the force the Ronin Zords had inflicted on him to break free of his control.
"He's weak!" Ryan said to the others. "If we hit him with our elemental energy now, we might be able to free Graydon!"
"You're right!" Tyson said, hope in his voice. "Let's go!"
Before Genta knew what was happening, the five Rangers stood around him, each laying a hand upon his black armor.
"Five-Sided Elemental Blast, Controlled Burst!" they called out. "Ultimate Spell Cracker!"
Genta shook and screamed as the energies of fire, water, wind, earth and wood shot through him, surging through his entire body. The Strike Rangers frowned in concentration, hitting him with precise bursts over and over.
Until, finally, it was over. With a final scream, Genta de-morphed and collapsed to the ground face-down. The Rangers stood over him, unsure if it had worked.
"Graydon?" Karen said hesitantly. "Are you there?"
The boy stirred, and he looked up to face her, and she saw the symbols round his eyes, eyes that were gleaming with malicious intent.
"I'm sorry, Graydon's not here right now," Genta grinned as he got to his feet. "Please leave a message at the sound of the beep. Beep."
"Impossible!" Chad gaped. "We hit him with everything we had! How is he still in control?"
"That's the best you can do?" Genta laughed. "Pathetic! My shadow elemental energy beats all of your elements easily! If this were a video game, it would have to get nerfed because it's so broken!"
With that, he summoned his black sword. "Thanks for the energy boost, though," he cackled, assuming a battle pose. "I'm feeling rather refreshed! Now, come at me!"
Because they had no other idea of what to do, Tyson, May, Chad and Ryan drew their swords and advanced on him, Karen would have joined them, but her morpher began to beep, and she withdrew, flipping it open "Not the best time, Alpha," she said testily.
"I have some good news!" the plucky AI replied. "I finished translating that message!"
"Really?" Karen asked, all frustration gone. "What did it say?"
"It appears to be a spell of some kind," Alpha said. "Specifically designed to break a curse seal of some kind."
"That sounds perfect!" Karen exclaimed. "Can you send the translation to me?"
"Here you go!" Alpha chirruped, and four lines of text appeared on a heads-up display inside her helmet.
"Thanks!" Karen said, "This looks like it's our last roll of the dice!" Saying so, she charged forward to where the others were fighting, pulling Graydon's handkerchief out of her belt as she went.
"Out of the way!" she yelled, and, startled, the other Rangers cleared a path for her to Genta. Not wasting a moment, Karen ducked under a wild swing from his sword and slapped her hand holding the handkerchief against his face.
"The heck-?" Genta said, thoroughly confused, but then he saw the golden symbol on the white fabric, and he froze as something in the back of his mind snapped.
"Karen, what're you-?" Tyson began, reaching for Karen to pull her back.
"Stop, I've got this!" she shot back at him, and then she returned her attention to Genta and read aloud the words printed across her vision.
"Warrior of Light, release your bonds
Push back the shadows who threaten us all
Join your brothers from ages long gone
Ninja of Gold, answer the call!"
Genta's eyes opened wide as the words shot through him, but he was not the only one who heard them...
I heard them.
Those words. In Karen's voice. I heard them.
Chained and caged as I was, I could not move, but if I could, the power behind those words would have knocked me backwards.
Those words had broken a seal. Not the one that Genta had placed upon me, but another, deep inside my mind, place there over twelve years ago.
The seal withheld memories. Knowledge. And power. Great power.
I remembered it all. I remembered who I truly was!
I roared with triumph, as golden light began to shoot out from my body, cracking the chains and cage that held me.
"What? Impossible!" Genta yelled in shock, as the last chain broke, and I fell to the ground. "That was the most powerful Shadow seal that I could create! No mere human should have been able to break out! Not even the Rangers with there elemental energies could break it!"
"Very true," I said, getting to my feet, the golden light emitting from my body getting stronger with every second. "Your Shadow element might beat all the others... but LIGHT BEATS SHADOW!"
With a roar of fury, Genta ripped his black sword from the control panel in the centre of the room and lunged at me. In response, the light surrounding me focused into my right hand a shorter blade of pure golden light. I flipped this blade into a reverse grip, ducked under Genta's deranged swing, and ran the razor-sharp edge along his stomach, sending Light energy surging through him.
"No!" Genta cried as he collapsed. "How are you able to do this?"
"Because, I've finally remembered everything," I replied, walking towards the control panel. "You've always know who I truly am, and now I know too."
Saying so, I plunged my blade of light into the panel, and light shone forth. The dull brown tiles under my feet brightened until they shone gold as well. The light spread out across the floor until it reached the walls. As the light spread up them, the black walls turned silver, the dark red columns spaced around them transforming to bronze. As the light reached the ceiling, the black clouds obscuring it were blasted away to reveal a spectacular white dome, with windows showing a beautiful blue sky outside.
As sunlight streamed in, I turned to face Genta. "My name in Graydon Umemori," I said to him. "I am the last descendant of the great Golden Light ninja clan. And you will never control me again."
The Rangers gasped as Graydon collapsed, Karen catching him as he fell. They looked on in amazement as the symbols around his eyes faded away, and his hair turned back to its regular shade of brown.
"Graydon!" Karen cried, and she de-morphed, sensing the danger was gone, the other following suit. "Graydon, can you here me?"
The boy groaned and opened his eyes. Looking around, he saw his five closest friends all standing over him, worried expressions on their faces.
"Hey guys," he smiled, waving at them. "I'm back. Did you miss me?"
Karen burst into tears, and before Graydon could stop her, she pulled him into the tightest hug he had ever felt. The others looked on in shock as an alarmed look came over his face.
"Whoa, hey, easy there!" Graydon gasped. "I'm still rather sore after that fight, and I'll need to be able to breathe sometime soon."
Karen let go of him, wiping tears away from her eyes. "I'm sorry, I'm just so glad you're okay!" she sniffed.
"That remains to be seen," Graydon replied in a pained voice, giving his torso a few pokes to make sure Karen hadn't cracked ant of his ribs.
"Graydon, stop being an idiot and get up here!" Tyson said, shaking his head as he offered a hand to help Graydon up, which he accepted. Once upright, the Red Ranger gave his oldest friend a hug as well. "Good to have you back, buddy," he said, his voice choking slightly with emotion.
"It's good to be back," Graydon grinned, and Tyson let go of him. May was the next one to get a hug in, while Ryan and Chad settled for a handshake and a high-five respectively.
"I believe this belongs to you, by the way," he said to Ryan, handing him the Kajiki Spirit Disk. Ryan gratefully accepted it, finally feeling whole again.
Graydon then turned to Tyson. "These are yours as well," he added, passing over the Kabuto and Tora disks.
"Thanks, I've been missing those as well," Tyson replied taking the disks. "We'd best be heading back home. Hikoma and Alpha will be delighted to meet you."
Graydon's face fell. "Uh, yeah, about that," he said, sadly looking around at them. "I'm afraid I can't stay."
"What?!" Karen shouted, her shock echoed on the other Rangers' faces. "Are you kidding? After everything we went through to bring you back, and you're leaving?!"
"Not forever!" Graydon hastily replied. "Just for a while. I wasn't able to completely destroy Genta; he's bonded too firmly to my soul. If I killed him, I'd kill myself as well. I need to find away to fully break his bond on me, or at the very least seal him away permanently."
Karen looked like she was going to continue to protest, but Tyson rested his hand on her shoulder, and she desisted. "Where will you go?" he asked.
"Japan," Graydon responded, and Tyson nodded, understanding. "All these spirits and elemental energies originate from there; if there's a way to get rid of Genta for good, I'll find it there."
Tyson smiled, and held out his hand, which Graydon shook. "Good luck on your trip, old friend," he said. "Be sure to bring back souvenirs!"
"You got it," Graydon grinned. "Say hi to Hikoma and Alpha for me." Turning to the others, he gave them a wave and a smile, but this wasn't enough for Karen. She marched over and gave him one last hug.
"Man, you're a really huggy kind of person, aren't you?" he said, patting her on the top of her head.
"Oh, shut up," Karen snapped, as a blush crept across her face. "Just make sure you come back in one piece, okay?"
"I plan to," Graydon laughed, causing her to blush even more.
With that, he waved to them all, and began to make his way to the city harbour, setting out for a long journey...
"Good god, that was so cheesey I almost puked."
"Zip it, shadow puppet," I snapped at Genta, who was now chained up in the same spot I once was, but the chains holding him were gold, not black like the ones that held me.
Genta grinned, and continued to talk. "You know, I'm surprised you did tell them who you really are," he commented. "And you didn't tell them the truth about me either. About how I've been around loooong before Shitari went poking around in your head..."
"I will tell them... eventually," I answered evasively. "It would just make things too difficult if I told them right now."
"Whatever you say, boss," Genta shrugged, then a sly look crept across his face. "That Karen girl is pretty cute though, isn't she?"
I whipped around to face him. "One more word about her, and we'll see how well you talk with a chain down your throat!" I snarled at him.
Genta just cackled with glee in reply, and I turned my back on him, a scowl on my face.
END CHAPTER TWELVE
Well, that was a long time coming! Now that this chapter's out of the way, the rest should be A LOT more frequent. I do have another fan-fic I'm working on at the moment (If you're a fan of Avatar: The Last Airbender go check out The Chronicles of Keniquo. First chapter is out now!) so I'll probably be alternating between the two.
As usual, comments and reviews and welcome (PLEASE do, I haven't got any feedback since like chapter five!). If you have any questions I'll do my best to answer them.
Until next time, may the Power protect you!
