House of Rangers
Chapter 38: The Sealing Symbol
A/N: Last time, the team had their first battle with Lauren as the red ranger. Jayden went off and ran into Dekker, battling him. I know I skipped the episode between this one and the last one, but I couldn't find a place to fit it. I will start this chapter off with the ending of it, so it'll still have a little bit of it inside. What'll happen now? The final battle is close, but it's still not close enough.
This might be short. Two chapters left! Go vote in the final poll on my profile (for this series).
Disclaimer: I only own things not originally in the show.
After hearing the news of Jayden fighting Dekker, Emily, Nina, Mike, and Mia had run off to find him. Antonio and Ji had been tended to by Kevin and Lauren, who stayed behind to do so. It had quickly become night, and that was when they found Jayden. Something had held them back from running into the fight and helping Jayden, and they weren't sure what it was. From what they saw, the fight looked intense.
When it was over, the four who found him tended to his injuries right there. Jayden was too weak to really move, so they figured it was best. They had called the other three to let them know Jayden was aright and alive. They had watched the battle, and it ended after Kevin had joined the others to watch. None of them spoke as the sun came up again. Jayden had thanked him, and they had tried to convince him to come back to the team.
On their way back to the house, however, they had got the call of a Nighlok attack. Giant moogers had appeared, and they headed to the marina. When they arrived, they saw Lauren and Antonio had already formed the megazord to take on the giant ones. They had managed to convince Jayden to join them. They had morphed by the time they got there, and Nina had gone to help her sister and Antonio. Mia had spotted Dayu in the nearby quarry, and went to fight her.
Something Dayu had done had gained everyone's attention and the air had changed. Lauren, Jayden, and Nina had all realized what exactly it was. Nina joined Mia on the ground in front of Dayu as Emily, Mike, and Kevin made their way over to them. When the rain cleared, Master Xandred was standing before.
"Samurai rangers!" he bellowed. "Give up! You have no hope! Dayu, thanks to you, I'm back."
"I repay my debts," the other Nighlok breathed.
"Now, the humans' world shall fall to me," Xandred smirked. "You look shocked, rangers. I don't blame you. Now, with my renewed power, nothing can stop me!" Antonio and Lauren finished off the Nighlok as Jayden finished off some more moogers, all of them spotting Xandred. He turned to Dayu. "Your harmonium brought me back, Dayu. The final tune it played was…powerful."
"My misery did it," Dayu huffed. The rangers watched the exchange, confused.
"Your centuries of suffering unleashed all that power," Xandred went on. "And now the Sanzu River is surging. I've never heard you play anything like it."
Dayu looked ready to pass out. "I didn't play it for you. I played for Dekker. This is the end of me, but it is also the end of my sadness. So many years I've held onto my sorrow, but now…"
"You should've embraced the Nighlok life," Xandred growled as he pulled her to him.
"I was never truly a Nighlok," she admitted. "My heart remained human."
"Well," Xandred mused. "Perhaps you can still be of use to me."
Before the rangers knew it, Dayu was gone for good, and Xandred was healed. "Now," he turned to the rangers, and they got ready to fight. "As for you samurai rangers…where is the red ranger that deceived me all this time? I want him and the Chosen One! Red Ranger!"
"Careful, guys," Kevin warned. "Keep your distance." Nina spotted Lauren and ran over to her.
"Over here," Lauren called, and the two girls faced Xandred from the ledge they stood on. "I am the red ranger…"
"And I'm the Chosen One," Nina added, both girls glaring.
"And we're your downfall," they finished together. "Today, you will be sealed. Permanently."
"Ha!" Xandred scoffed. "What can two little girls like you do?" Though none of the others could see it, they knew that Lauren and Nina were now more pissed off than before. "Today is the end of the rangers."
Lauren glared. "The only thing ending is you!"
"You're a fool!" Xandred fired at them. Antonio shoved the girls out of the way before they could be hit, and the three landed on the ground nearby. The other rangers crowded around them.
"We're fine," Nina assured. "Now listen. We're going to use the sealing symbol against Master Xandred."
"But it takes time to write," Lauren continued. "So we need you to keep him busy. Got it?"
"Got it," Emily confirmed.
"Kevin, take the Black Box," Lauren handed the device to him. Lauren handed Mike the shark disc. The others stood around the girls as they made their exit.
Xandred stepped forward. "Well, well, well. He fired at them as Lauren and Nina got into position. Mike and Kevin both wore their power ups, and the fight was on.
Nina and Lauren stood on a different ledge, taking position. Xandred spotted them and started walking toward them, but Mike and Kevin held him back. The other rangers joined in. Lauren looked to her little sister. "Ready, Nina?"
"Ready," she nodded. Taking a deep breath and concentrating, the two girls began to draw the symbol. They paid no attention to the others distracting Xandred as the focused on creating the symbol. The girls tried not to let their friends' shouts distract them, and so far, it was working. The light zord flew in to help the rangers, and they continued fighting off Xandred. Jayden was helping them by taking down some moogers before going to help the other rangers.
The others were knocked down, and Xandred faced the girls. "Not today, not ever." The girls finished the symbol, and as Xandred fired at them, they fired the symbols at him. The symbols combined to form one and hit Xandred, sending him flying back into the cliff. Lauren and Nina took a few deep breaths as it appeared Xandred was no more. Lauren and Nina fell to their knees, not having the energy to stand.
"We really did it, father," Lauren muttered. "We finally sealed Master Xandred."
The moment was quickly ruined when Xandred stepped out of the fire from the symbol. A piece of him was torn off, and a white plate was left in its spot.
"Hey, what's that white patch on his chest?" Antonio asked. "I never saw that before!"
"This is far from over, rangers," Xandred cackled.
"I don't get it," Mike frowned. "How can it not work?"
"But no Nighlok can stop the sealing symbol," Nina agreed.
Xandred explained. "This white patch…Dayu's human side is what saved me."
"He must have absorbed Dayu's body," Mia realized. "He's not pure Nighlok anymore."
"And now, I don't need Sanzu water to keep me from drying out," he smirked.
"How can we stop him now?" Lauren wondered.
"You can't!" Xandred answered, firing at the two girls on the ledge and the rangers below. He let out a loud yell that had Lauren and Nina stumbling over the edge, falling to the ground. They hit the ground and demorphed. Jayden jumped down from the ledge he was on and ran to stand in front of the others.
He stood before them and took out his samurizer. "Symbol power, teleport!"
In a fog, they all vanished.
When they got back, Ji looked them all over. Surprisingly, Lauren was the only one seriously injured enough to keep her from the fight. Her arm was set in a sling, and night quickly fell. All of them were contemplating about what to do next. Night was upon them, and Lauren and Nina found themselves sitting outside in silence, looking up at the stars.
Jayden stepped outside and spotted them. He slowly walked over. "Lauren, Nina, are you two okay?" When he didn't get an answer, he moved and took the seat in between the two girls.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Lauren asked, still not looking away from the stars.
"Yeah," Jayden agreed as he looked up.
"Kind of reminds you what we're all fighting for," Nina mused.
"You know what's coming next, don't you?" Lauren continued.
Nina went on. "That cloud of sorrow Dayu released probably has the Sanzu River ready to burst."
"Nothing will stop Master Xandred from sailing his evil ship right into our world," Lauren stated. "We let everybody down, Jayden."
"You," Nina sighed. "The rangers…and especially dad."
"I'm handing the leadership of the rangers back to you," Lauren looked at Jayden. "I came here to seal Master Xandred, but that didn't work. Now, the right thing is for you to lead the team again. You have a great team, Jayden. They need you now. The whole world needs you."
"I'll do my best," Jayden assured, taking hold of his sisters' hands. "It's time to finish what dad started."
Without speaking, all three had the same urge to do something they hadn't done since they were kids. They didn't have to say anything to know what they were all thinking. Without breaking their hands apart, they knelt down in front of the bench and looked up at the stars.
"Star light, star bright," they began, speaking as one. "First star I see tonight, I wish I may, I wish I might, have the wish I wish tonight."
Inside, the others had been thinking about what to do now and how they were going to go about taking down the Nighlok. When Nina, Jayden, and Lauren hadn't shown up to discuss this with them, they all looked around. They spotted the three through a window, seeing them kneeling on the ground and looking up at the stars, holding hands. Ji noticed this too, and he couldn't help but let a small smile come to his face.
"What are they doing?" Mike asked, wondering why the three were sitting how they were.
"They're making a wish," Ji answered, not moving his eyes from the three. "When your parents were rangers and before Lauren was sent into hiding, they used to do this all the time whenever things seemed really bad."
"Does it work?" Emily wondered.
"They like to think it does," Ji shrugged. "But they never told any of us what they wished for, so we never knew if it worked."
They watched as the three rangers outside stood up.
After wishing upon the stars, the siblings entered the Shiba house. The others acted as if they saw nothing, but they couldn't help but wonder what the three wished for and if it would really work. It was a bit later at night now, and Nina and Jayden stood behind Lauren as the older blonde explained things to the others. "Tomorrow," she began. "Master Xandred must be stopped. But before then, I have something to say. As you know, the sealing symbol failed to stop him. Nina and I weren't able to get the job done. I'm handing the leadership of the team back to Jayden."
"Really?" Mike raised an eyebrow.
"I thought you might like the idea," Lauren smiled. "Jayden is the best chance that we have now."
"Thank you, Lauren," Jayden thanked. Lauren and Jayden switched spots, allowing the red ranger to speak. "All right, listen up. Master Xandred is more powerful than ever. It appears that he's unbeatable. But I have a plan. We're gonna take him out with brute force."
The others shared looks. "That's…that's your plan?" Mike questioned.
"Lauren and Nina's attempt to seal Master Xandred didn't work," Jayden nodded. "But it definitely weakened him. Dayu's human essence may have saved him, but it also created a weak spot that we can exploit. Forget sealing him. If we can hit that spot with a strong enough blow, we'd be able to destroy him."
"Yeah, but we'll need more power," Kevin pointed out.
"And you'll have it," Lauren assured. "Thanks to this," she handed Jayden a red disc.
"The Shiba Fire disc," he stated.
Lauren continued. "I'm too hurt to join you in battle, but I've used every last ounce of my strength to pack that disc with as much symbol power as I could. Hopefully, it'll be enough to help you defeat Master Xandred once and for all."
"Nice," Mike grinned. "Thanks Lauren. For everything you've done to help us."
"No doubt it'll be a tough battle," Jayden finished up. "But we're a strong team. That when together, can accomplish anything."
Morning came quicker than the rangers expected, and it wasn't long before the gap sensor went off. The rangers knew it was time for the final battle, no matter how it would go. From what they observed on the maps, it didn't look good. Almost every gap sensor set around the city had gone off, and they knew that the river must've been flooding into the world. With that in mind, the rangers headed into battle.
They stood on the high ledge in the quarry, all in their training uniforms and ready to fight. When they looked down, they saw hundreds of moogers littering the ground and the Sanzu water seeping into the city. They could also see Master Xandred's ship. "Look at them all," Antonio breathed.
"This is really it," Mia nodded.
"Are you still happy you decided to become a samurai?" Mike questioned.
"Are you serious?" Antonio scoffed. "Being a ranger is the best thing that ever happened to me. I wouldn't trade it for anything."
"No place I'd rather be," Emily agreed.
Jayden smiled. "I guess I don't have to ask you all if you're ready for this, then."
"Jayden, as long as you're with us, we're ready for anything," Kevin assured.
"Booyah," Mike muttered.
"No matter what we're up against," Nina added. "We're in this together, all the way."
"Looks like they spotted us," Mia pointed out.
"Let's do this," Jayden called.
Drawing their samurizers, they morphed. "Go go samurai! Samurai ranger, ready!"
Slowly, they walked toward the battle field, no longer on the ledge. They drew their swords and got ready for the fight. "Rangers together, samurai forever!" With a running start, they charged.
A/N: Ending this here. Up next is the final battle, and that might be a short chapter.