House of Rangers
Chapter 36: Fight Fire with Fire
A/N: So I was halfway through this when my laptop crashed, and this didn't save. Anyway, last time, Nina was forbidden from fighting until she calmed down, even if she didn't know she was angry. Lily came down to help her out, and it worked. Antonio had doubts about a decision he made regarding Dekker, but it worked out for the rangers in the end. Anyway, what'll happen now when Jayden and Nina's secret is revealed.
I'm only posting this chapter now to tell you guys about the poll on my profile dealing with a later story in this series.
Disclaimer: I only own things not originally in the show.
The middle of October reached the rangers, and the war against the Nighlok continued. They all knew that by month's end, the war would probably be over, but none of them wanted to voice it in fear of jinxing it. Nina was better, and she was ready to fight again. Right now, she and Jayden were the only rangers outside training, both wanting to do something. Everyone else was elsewhere in the house, doing their own thing. Ji was outside as well, observing the two rangers.
A knock was heard at the gate, and Ji went to answer it. A delivery man was there, and he handed Ji an envelope with the family crest on it. The men bowed before going to where they needed to be. Ji walked over to the two rangers, stopping their match. Nina and Jayden stood straight, noticing the serious look on Ji's face. Ji handed the red ranger the envelope, and Jayden took it. He opened it as the other two crowded around him. The three read it over.
"Does that mean…" Nina trailed off.
"We knew this day would come," Ji stated.
"This changes everything," Jayden sighed. "The other rangers will finally know our secret. I just hope they'll be able to forgive us."
None of them noticed Mia watching from the doorway.
The rangers arrived at the park to find moogers terrorizing people. Not long after Jayden and Nina had gotten the letter, the gap sensor had gone off. They traced the call to the park, and now the seven rangers were there. They stood before the moogers and morphed, charging the moogers. None of them noticed the Nighlok monster they were going to have to fight just yet. Somehow, the seven managed to drag the fight over to the nearby woods.
"These guys get uglier every time I see them," Antonio huffed.
"Moogers have cornered the market on ugly," Mike agreed. "It's what they do best."
"Stay focused," Jayden warned.
"Pick your targets," Nina added as she and Jayden were fighting back to back.
A new voice joined, getting the red and orange rangers' attention. "I've picked mine!" They turned to see a new Nighlok had joined the fight right before being hit with something she fired. When they stood, a rippling shock went through them, it hurting Nina more than it did Jayden.
"What was that?" Kevin demanded.
"Jayden! Nina!" Mia gasped, seeing the two.
"You guys okay?" Mike called.
"They're hit!" Emily observed.
"What's that smoke?" Antonio wondered.
"It feels like my insides are burning up," Nina coughed.
"Mine too," Jayden agreed.
The Nighlok, Fiera, looked at the two. "Let me get you even more fired up!" She fired again, and the two rangers got up and moved, deflecting the attacks she sent to them.
"It won't stop burning," Nina groaned as they hid behind a tree.
"What are those things?" Jayden added. They peeked around the tree, not seeing the Nighlok in sight. "Where is she?"
"Hello," Fiera greeted from behind them, causing them to turn. "Want another?" Before they could dodge, they were hit and knocked down. Once again, before they could get up from the ground, both let out a cry of pain.
"It burns!" they cried.
Kevin noticed something. "She's singling out Jayden and Nina. We have to protect them!"
"Too late!" Fiera cackled. Kevin took a hit from the Nighlok before it reached the two fire rangers. "That would've finished them off!"
"Careful," Jayden warned Kevin as the three attempted to stand. "Those blasts are powerful." The red and orange rangers moved to attack Fiera.
"I feel okay," Kevin frowned. "That blast didn't affect me much."
"Really?" Nina raised an eyebrow.
Kevin nodded as they looked around for the Nighlok. "Yeah, I'm barely scratched. I think we can block her shots, rangers." Once more, Fiera appeared behind them. The others took the hit for Jayden and Nina. Jayden and Nina were only hit a tiny bit, and they both landed on the ground, lying on their backs. The two cried out in pain again.
"Why is that just happening to them?" Mia asked.
"I'll tell you why," Fiera offered. "The heads of the Shiba family have massive fire symbol power. My fire flashers simply ignite the flames already inside them. And you can't stop me! You can't even see me!" She vanished from sight.
"We must protect them and the sealing power," Kevin ordered. They formed a circle around the two rangers. Fiera kept popping up in random spots and firing at them, knocking them all down before they had a chance to react.
"You guys," Jayden growled. "Stop taking hits for us!"
"We have to protect you," Mike argued. "Besides, her hits aren't that strong. We're a team."
Emily nodded. "He's right. If they want you guys, they'll have to go through us first."
"Emily's right," Antonio agreed. "We seven are a team till the end." The attacks kept coming, and the other five did their best to defend Jayden and Nina.
"Please," Nina began, only to have a rippling pain shoot through her.
"You need to stop protecting us," Jayden finished her thought. " We can handle this!" Slowly, the two fire rangers got to their feet. "You want us, then fight us, not them! Super Samurai mode!"
"Nice vest," Fiera appeared. She hit Jayden and Nina again before they could do anything, and the two felt the pain again. Still standing, they ran, hoping to get the fight out of the woods.
Jayden and Nina ran until they were back in front of the small building. They had lost sight of the others and Fiera, but knew the latter would appear soon. "Noble self sacrifice?" Fiera showed up before them. "You humans are pitiful." She vanished once more just as the others reached the place. Fiera reappeared in the air behind the fire rangers. "This will finish you!"
"Think again!" the two grumbled. They were hit, and as they were flying back, Jayden pulled out the bullzooka. He combined their powers and fired, hitting Fiera as the two rangers lost their morph. Fiera hit the ground at the same time Jayden and Nina did.
"You're supposed to burn up!" she cried. "Not me!" She let out a scream before exploding.
"Help them!" Mia ordered as the others ran to the fallen rangers.
"Jayden, Nina," Kevin spoke as they knelt down around the two. "You're gonna be okay. Just hang on."
"You got to lead, Kevin," Jayden coughed. He handed the blue ranger the Black Box.
Kevin nodded. "You can count on me."
"He's toast!" Fiera shouted, and they looked up to see her in her second form. "And the rest of you will be next!" The girls moved Nina while Antonio moved Jayden. They set the two side by side against one of the statues. Mia and Emily ran off to help Kevin and Mike.
"Just rest here, buddies," Antonio instructed. "We're coming back for you." He moved to help the others. Nina and Jayden watched as the others formed the megazord and began the fight against Fiera.
Jayden managed to turn his head toward Nina. "You okay?"
"I will be," she breathed. "You?"
"I might be doing better than you are," the red ranger coughed. He turned his head back to the fight just in time to see the megazord fall apart. Both were having trouble keeping their eyes open, but they managed to barely see a blonde figure walking toward them.
"Jayden, Nina," a female's voice vaguely familiar to both called. "Don't worry. I'll handle this." They could see her draw her own samurizer and morph into the red ranger, the only difference between hers and Jayden's suit being a skirt.
The new red ranger hopped in the lion zord and attacked Fiera. "Who's in the lion zord?" she demanded.
"It can't be Jayden or Nina," Antonio frowned.
"Yeah," Kevin agreed, looking to where their friends were. "They're still on the ground."
"Then what's going on?" Emily wondered. "Who's in his zord?"
A new voice joined them. "We've all seen enough of your disappearing act," the new red ranger said. "It's time to make you disappear!"
"Think again!" Fiera fired.
"I have," the ranger continued. "And your harebrained moves end here, now. You know what? Hair like yours needs a good blow dry." She caused the lion zord to spit fire at the Nighlok. "Megablade, activate!" With one last attack, she managed to destroy Fiera.
Jayden and Nina were barely awake. Both were still breathing, which everyone took as a good sign. The other rangers were confused by the new ranger, wondering who she was and how she knew about this. Jayden and Nina knew exactly who the girl was and why she was there. Once Fiera was destroyed, Kevin, Mike, Antonio, Mia, and Emily all hopped out of their zords and demorphed, running over to the other two rangers. Together, they got the two rangers up.
Kevin and Antonio helped escort Jayden as Mike and Emily did the same for Nina. Mia was helping the other boys with Jayden. They began walking away, but the sound of footsteps landing behind them caused them to stop and turn around. They all saw the new red ranger. "What's going on here?" Emily asked cautiously.
The red ranger demorphed, revealing a girl around Mia's height with straight blonde hair and hazel eyes.
"Who are you?" Antonio questioned.
Nina decided to answer. "She's our big sister."
"Huh?" the other five who didn't know gasped.
"Lauren," Jayden spoke, giving her name.
"What?" Mike's eyes went wide. "You guys didn't tell us you had a sister!"
Lauren wasn't looking at anyone but her siblings. "Hi, Jayden, Nina." She walked forward so she was in front of the rangers.
"Why didn't we know about you?" Emily asked. "And where have you been?"
"Why weren't you with Jayden and Nina?" Mike added. "And what about…"
"Whoa," Mia cut him off. "Don't just throw a million questions at her. Why don't we start with this," she turned to Lauren. "Lauren, welcome to the samurai rangers."
"Thank you," Lauren smiled. "I've imagined this day for a long time. I can't wait to get to know each one of you. And especially my little brother and sister."
"The Nighlok never even knew Lauren existed," Ji explained to the others. Jayden and Nina were in the infirmary, and Lauren was with them, waiting for them to wake up. Ji, knowing the others would want to know who Lauren was, had gathered the others in the common room to explain this to them. "It was all part of their father's secret plan. You see, in the last invasion, Master Xandred's forces were waging an intense battle. They were overwhelming the samurai rangers. So their mother and father put all their faith in their three children. Lauren was sent off and put into hiding so she could fully master the sealing power. But while his sisters practiced the sealing symbol, someone had to continue to fight off the Nighlok. That's where Jayden came in."
"But Jayden was only a little boy then," Mia pointed out.
"Exactly," Ji nodded. "His parents feared they themselves hadn't mastered the sealing power, but they were determined to try. He hoped even an imperfect seal would be strong enough to at least send Master Xandred to the bottom of the Sanzu, long enough to allow their daughters to truly master the symbol and for their son to grow strong enough to protect the world until they did. To deceive the Nighlok, Jayden and Nina had to do one of the hardest things in the whole world…hide it from their best friends."
"They must've felt like their whole life was a secret," Mike mused.
"And they've been carrying it around inside themselves this whole time," Mia added.
Kevin spoke up next. "There's a couple of things I don't get. If it's supposed to be Lauren and Nina who have the sealing power, then why did Nina show up at the very beginning?"
"The Nighlok knew that the previous red and orange rangers were married," Ji answered. "Their marriage allowed them to share the same powers, including the sealing power. Since the Nighlok also knew the team had a total of six rangers, red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and pink, Nina had to come to make sure that it stayed that way. If it didn't, the Nighlok would've known something was up."
"And what about the powers?" Kevin wondered. "I thought they were passed down from parent to oldest child?"
"The fire powers are a different case," Ji shook his head. "For all of the powers, including the red fire ones, they're passed down to the oldest child. When the samurai powers were originally created, the fire one was so strong they had to split it into two. In order for both fire powers to work in harmony, the red one went to the eldest child, while the orange one went to the youngest. Since Lauren and Nina are the oldest and youngest…"
"It leaves Jayden the odd man out," Antonio caught on. "Because he's the middle child."
Ji nodded. "Jayden can also wield both red and orange samurai fire powers, but the powers are strongest with who they're originally meant to be with, or in Emily's case, who's used them more."
"Does this mean they're ready?" Emily asked.
"Yes," Ji confirmed. "They have finally mastered the sealing power, the only power capable of sealing Master Xandred away forever. This is the thing we've been waiting for."
Nina and Jayden felt better now that the burning inside them had stopped. Lauren sat on a chair in between the two beds in the infirmary. The younger two were sitting up in their beds, lightly sipping water that had been set aside for them. None of them knew what exactly to say to the other, since it had been so long since the three had been together. "I was so proud when I saw you two fight yesterday," Lauren commented. "You've grown into a true samurai."
"You were the one who tore up the battlefield," Jayden pointed out. "You were amazing."
"I thought about both you," Lauren continued, pouring them each some more water. "Often, over the years. I imagined that, like me, you must have felt very alone."
"Yes," Jayden nodded. "But I've learned to trust my friends. They've become like brothers and sisters to me, too."
"I'm so glad," Lauren smiled. "I hope I can become part of the family now, too. You two, me, surrounded by friends."
Nina still had no idea what to say, her thoughts becoming a giant mess. Jayden went on. "Lauren, you know we can't be together now."
"I had hoped that maybe there would be some way," Lauren sighed.
"I always knew this day would come," Jayden shook his head. "You are now the red ranger. You must take your place as their leader. The only way for that to happen is for me to leave."
"Jayden…" Nina looked at him. This was news to her, having never been filled in on her brother's intentions once Lauren were to come back.
"The sealing power is the only way to save the world," Jayden stated, refusing to look either of his sisters in the eye. "It must be protected, and that means protecting you two at all costs. They're too loyal to me. If I stay…if I stay, dangerous mistakes could be made. I can't let that happen."
"Are you sure?" Nina asked, not liking this idea.
Jayden nodded. "There can only be one red ranger."
"No," Nina shook her head. She and Jayden were up and about, well enough to be moving now. Jayden was in his room, packing to leave for a while. Now that there were four girls, Ji had decided it was best for Nina and Lauren to share a room, just like they used to. Nina, though glad her sister was back, now found herself mad that her brother was leaving. "I'm not letting you leave."
"Nina, I have to," Jayden insisted, repacking whatever she removed from his duffle bag. "It's the only way for this to work."
"There has to be another way to avoid this!" Nina argued, not caring if she was acting like a little kid throwing a tantrum. She had dreamed of the day when the three of them would be together again, and now her brother was ruining it by leaving. "We're supposed to be a family! That was how it was supposed to be when Lauren returned!"
"But it would be easier for the others to follow her if I'm not around," Jayden stated. "We can still be a family once the Nighlok are gone, but not before."
Nina glared at him. "Yeah, and we'd still be apart. When this is over, I'm going back to England to finish school with my friends and graduate with them, Lauren will probably go who knows where, and you'll still be here, figuring out what you want to do. How can we be a family then?"
"We'll figure it out," Jayden sighed, closing the bag. "But for now, this is what's best." Without another word, he started to walk away.
"It's really great to have another girl on the team," Emily commented as she, Lauren, and Mia sat side by side at the table outside. Antonio had grilled some burgers for everyone, and the only ones missing from the little party was Nina, Jayden, and Ji. Lauren knew where they were, but the others didn't. They were waiting for the other three in order for the party to really begin. "We should totally have a girls' day out."
"Yeah," Mia agreed. The door opened to the house, and they all turned to see Jayden with a duffel bag over his shoulder and a box in his hands.
"Hey," Antonio grinned. "Now, look who's up. Come on, Jayden. It's your sister's homecoming party. And we even got cake." Jayden said nothing and didn't move, and it was then when the others caught the serious look.
"Jayden, what's wrong?" Kevin asked.
Lauren stood and walked over to him. Jayden met her halfway and handed her the wooden box, showing her what was inside while the others watched on in confusion. Jayden turned to them. "You all need to follow Lauren now. She's the new red ranger, and your leader. I'm going away."
"What do you mean?" Emily questioned.
"You mean on a trip, right?" Mike hoped.
"I mean permanently," Jayden corrected.
"What?" the others shouted.
"Jayden, you can't go," Mia denied. "You know how we all feel."
Jayden nodded slowly. "I know. But Lauren and Nina alone have the sealing power. They're able to do what I could never do: end this fight, bring peace. You all need to rally around her."
"We need you too," Antonio insisted. "Lauren, tell him." She didn't say anything. "Well, go on. Tell him!" Ji appeared in the doorway.
"Mentor," Mike looked to him. "What is this? Jayden's leaving. How could you keep this from us?" Everyone was looking at him. "Come on! Make him stay!"
"You can't stop him," Ji stated. "No one can."
"Ji," Jayden spoke to him. "You've been my guiding light. Thank you for everything." They all gathered around as Jayden turned to face the gate. The only one missing was Nina. He walked down the line. "Mike, Emily, Mia, Antonio, Kevin…it's been an honor to fight by your side."
Without another word, he left.
A/N: This is a good place to end this. Up next, Lauren and Nina have a talk, and the other rangers try to get used to Lauren being there. Please vote in the poll on my profile!
Thanks for reading and/or reviewing!