Chapter 13
Jayden was sulking the whole way back to the house because of Kim and Emily getting hurt. Kevin wasn't talking to him and Lauren was trying to approach the subject of team leader.
"There is nothing to talk about Lauren, you are the red ranger now. That was always the plan." Jayden finally snapped just outside the gates of Shiba house.
Lauren should have been stunned since Jayden rarely snaps but she pushed it aside and continued to talk, "Yes it is my birthright and yes I intend to complete the seal and stop Master Xandred but damn it Jayden from the moment you walked out that door your friends have been talking about you and only you. They need you."
"No they don't. All I do is cause people to get hurt. Kevin was under a spell that forced me to fight him, Mike and Emily have taken more hits for me than they ever should have, and Mia is the one stuck repairing all the damage from each battle. They deserve better."
The two continued to glare at each other until Mike and Mia stepped in and told them that Emily and Kim wanted to talk to Jayden. Jayden tried to tell Mia that he didn't want to talk to anyone right now and that he would check on them later. As he walked passed Mia she tripped him and then pinned him to the ground and demanded he get in there and talk to Emily before he made the biggest mistake of his life by letting her go.
Lauren had already walked inside with Mike when Mia drug Jayden into the med room and locked him in the room. He tried a few times to get the door to budge but it was sealed. Emily's laughter behind him was what brought him back to the fact he was in a room with the same girl he wrote a breakup letter to just a few hours before.
"I hope you are going to explain that letter before I fully recover and have time to calm down before I beat you in a full on sparring match." Emily spoke.
"Em, please. I'm not the red ranger anymore and won't be able to watch your back like I used to."
"Jayden, I'm going to ignore that whole letter because I care about you far too much to let a letter come between us and as for you not being on the team anymore well, that is yet to be decided."
"What do you mean 'yet to be decided' it's my decision."
"Wrong. It was your decision; Lauren explained to us that she has the sealing power because of her being eldest but you have the leadership qualities it takes to lead this team Jayden whether you believe it or not. So Lauren will be here but you will still be our leader. Like it or not." Emily answered with determination.
Jayden sighed but nodded for now. He knew that Kevin was going to be upset because he kept a secret but it seems as though Mike, Mia, Antonio and Emily had already forgiven him. He helped Emily out of bed and the two of them headed back towards the locked door in hopes that Mia had finally unlocked it.
Once they were in the living room and Kim had explained to Jayden she held him at no fault for the attack Deker made on her everyone sat down and Jason began.
"So, we have all heard both sides to this whole 'I'm not leader' thing from Lauren and Jayden and the council of rangers has decided that since Jayden has the bond with the team that is desperately needed in a team he will remain the red ranger. However, as it is Lauren's birth right as the oldest Shiba samurai she will also lead on this team to learn how a true team works and to work on the sealing symbol. We must hope that Master Xandred doesn't know yet about Lauren being the one with the power to seal him away."
"How can we both lead the team?" Lauren asked.
Ji stepped up with a box. "With this. The super samuraizer." He held the box out to Lauren.
Lauren took the samuraizer and started to glow red. Once the glow died down she stood in a red samurai ranger uniform with the super samurai gear on top of it.
"That just shows that they can both morph into the red ranger. What about leading the team?" Kevin questioned.
"Tommy, Jase, they need to know." Kim told her husband and best friend.
"Know what?" Antonio asked.
"When Tommy lost his green ranger powers Zordon and Alpha created a new coin. One that would only bond with Tommy. He became the white ranger and the new leader of the team." Jason started.
"Weren't you the leader at the time?" Mike asked.
"He was, and believe me our team was never more torn on who should be leader than in that moment. See, Jason had the bond with the team and knew everyone's limits but had started to doubt himself as leader when the green candle destroyed Tommy's green ranger powers. With Jason doubting himself Zordon felt that by making Tommy the leader it would take some pressure off of Jason."
"How come you never told me this before?" Emily inquired.
"Being leader is an honor and a burden. You feel both the pride in a victory and a defeat in a loss. You are constantly running through the battle in your head wondering if there was something you could have done that would have changed how it ended. You feel the pain your team feels when they take a major beating. Sometimes it's better to have co-leaders than it is just to have one leader." Tommy explained.
"I'm not going to lie and say that working with each other to lead the team is going to be easy because it won't. You are both used to different things. Lauren is independant and may not always ask for help when she should while Jayden is often blinded by the right choice because of his feelings for his team."Jason spoke to the rangers.
"You can do this. Each and every one of you has the strength to be the best rangers possible. You each have a relative that has had the power before you and they managed. You have to trust each other. ALL of you, Kevin the secret they kept was important to the team because if the enemy found out about Lauren before we are ready then we could have already lost the battle and Xandred would be free to destroy earth." Ji told the team.
Once the conversation about who would be team leader everyone went to do their own thing. Mia decided to take another look in the package that came from the Tengen Gate when a wrinkled piece of paper caught her attention. She looked closely at it and smiled when she realized what it was.
"GUYS! They sent the coordinates for the bull zord." Mia showed them as they returned to the main room.
"So let's go get it." Kevin spoke.
"No." Ji answered.
"What do you mean?" Antonio asked.
"Jayden and Lauren must go. The bull zord will only work for the red ranger." Ji stated before leaving the room presumably to gather the supplies the Shiba siblings would need.
Emily had snuck out of the room when nobody was looking or so she thought. Jayden placed his chin on her shoulder and wrapped his arms around her waist. Emily was still sore from the fight with Deker but tried not to let it show around Jayden or the others because she finally had her samuraizer back.
"You know I will be back right?" He asked.
"I know but I can't help but feel like everything is changing and we are on the fast track to nowhere. I mean, is Lauren any closer to getting the sealing symbol completed than when she first started learning it?"
"Em, I trust my sister to know that this is our only chance to end Xandred. You have to trust me. I'll see you when I get home." HE told her before leaving the room and departing to locate the lost bull zord with his sister.
Lauren and Jayden had been gone for about three hours before the alarms went off signaling a disruption from the sanzu river. Moogers were popping up throughout the city. With two rangers gone the rangers were short in numbers or so they thought. Kevin pointed out that there were moogers in at least seven different areas of the city and only five samurai rangers.
"Then maybe we can help?" Jason spoke up.
"Help how? With what powers?" Mike implored.
"To those who are ninjetti anything is possible." Kim winked at Emily knowing she'd catch on.
"Call them." Emily stated.
"Already did. Trini and the others are on their way." Tommy smiled at his niece.
"What's going on?" Mia asked.
"We are getting some help. Mom? Do you think you, Mark, and Anthony can help out? Even with Uncle Tommy and his team we are only at 11 we need at least 14 and May can't fight."
"You bet missy." Mark answered instead.
Once Trini, Zack, and Billy arrived the 14 divided and each team took on a group of moogers before joining with another group once theirs were gone. The battle with the moogers raged on from dusk to dawn and would continue until Xandred ran out of moogers to send. The samurai team was all thinking the same thing...hurry guys we need help.