A/N: Thank you for the reviews, its nice to see people are enjoying the story, now this chapter might leave you with questions but don't worry, all will be explained ;)
Chapter 8
Evie was in the dojo with the others. Mia and Emily were working through some techniques together, Kevin was doing press ups and Evie was keeping herself in a hand stand.
"Hey guys, guess what" calls Mike as he runs in still wearing his helmet and carrying his skateboard.
"You overslept, again" assumes Kevin.
"Yeah well that's nothing new" replies Mike.
"So what's up?" asks Evie as she drops into a bridge before coming to her feet.
"Ji just told me we get the day off" smiles Mike.
"Really?" asks Emily.
"This isn't a joke?" clarifies Mia.
"Ji never jokes about stuff like that" assures Evie.
"But we just started out workout" protests Kevin.
"Dude, are you ignoring an order from your samurai mentor?" asks Mike pointedly.
"Well, I guess not" smiles Kevin as they all laugh.
"What shall we do? I could shop for shoes" says Mia.
"Oh shoe shopping, it'd be nice to go with someone who actually wants to be there" smiles Evie.
"Mentor told me to say you do not need any more shoes" says Mike looking at Evie.
"Why how many have you got?" asks Kevin.
"Last count I had 24" answers Evie.
"24 pairs of shoes, why?" asks Mike.
"Boots, both heeled and flat, thigh high, knee high, calf length and ankle. Then three sets of trainers depending on what I'm doing, two pairs of sandals one flat, one heeled. Flip flops, then going out shoes with varying levels of niceness and heel height" replies Evie.
"Good god, you really don't need anymore" agrees Kevin.
"Never tell a woman she has too many shoes" warns Evie.
"Nope, not a good idea" agrees Mia, "what size are you?" she asks looking at Evie.
"A 7" answers Evie.
"Me too, can I maybe borrow some sometime?" asks Mia.
"Absolutely, you should check them out only pair I won't lend you are the thigh highs and the flat knee highs though if that's okay, oh and the red stilettos" says Evie.
"No problem, but I'd love to see them" nods Mia.
"But guys it's such a beautiful day. It'd be a shame to stay cooped up inside" points out Emily.
"Em, I can teach you how to shred" offers Mike.
"Well I was thinking Rainbow's End, I've never been on a roller coaster before" admits Emily.
"What? Never?" asks Mike.
"They don't have amusement parks out where I'm from" explains Emily.
"Then its settled" says Mia.
"Oh yeah Rainbow's End here we come" smiles Evie.
Everyone heads off to change and run into Jayden as he comes in.
"Hey Jayden we're going to the amusement park" smiles Kike.
"Have fun" says Jayden as he walks past them.
Everyone stops and turns to look at him, "you're not coming with us?" asks Kevin.
"Not today, I've got something I need to do" replies Jayden disappearing from sight.
"He's so mysterious sometimes" says Mia.
"I wonder what's so important" agrees Kevin.
"Live with him for twelve years, he stops being mysterious" replies Evie.
"You know what's going on?" asks Emily.
"Nope, but he'll tell us when he's ready, let him do whatever he needs to for now. And since I know he likes the roller coasters it must be important, so let's leave him to it" answers Evie.
"Uh guys, our day is wasting" reminds Mike.
"Come on, lets pop Emily's roller coaster cherry" teases Evie as they turn and head to their rooms to change.
Evie changes the fastest and doubles back to check on Jayden.
She leans against the wall when she finds him holding a box she recognises.
"Its time?" she asks.
Jayden looks at her and nods, "I need to master this and it'll be easier if the others are away and distracted, think you can do that for me?" he asks.
"This lot in an amusement park, no problem. I told them to leave you to it and they seemed to accept that" replies Evie walking over, "do what you need to do, though I don't get why it needs to be such a secret" she adds wrapping her arms around him from behind and looking at the power disk in his hand.
"Less people who know, the better. Plus, the quiet will be good" answers Jayden.
"Sure you just don't want them to see their red ranger isn't perfect at instantly mastering new disks?" asks Evie.
"I need them to have faith in me Evie" admits Jayden.
"Alright. Want me to stay and help?" offers Evie.
Jayden smiles and turns his head so he's looking at her, "you and me, alone without the team, you'd be the biggest distraction possible" answers Jayden.
Evie smirks, "good to know I still have an effect after all this time" she says.
"You're always going to have an effect" promises Jayden. "Now go and have some fun at the amusement park, ride the rollercoasters for me, and bring me back some cotton candy" orders Jayden.
"Okay, call me if you need me" smiles Evie kissing him softly.
"I will" he replies.
"You've got this" assures Evie as she stands up and walks out.
"Keep them out of trouble" he says.
"I will do my best but make no promises" chuckles Evie.
Jayden just shakes his head and smiles.
They get to the amusement park and Emily lights up, "oh" she smiles excitedly looking around.
"I wonder why Jayden didn't come?" asks Kevin.
"He seemed to have a lot on his mind" says Mia.
"We'll bring him back some cotton candy to cheer him up" beams Emily.
"Smart girl, Jayden is a sucker for cotton candy" smiles Evie.
"Wait maybe this is a test" says Kevin stopping suddenly, "a samurai never takes a day off" he says as he turns and tries to leave.
"Kev, stop being paranoid" interrupts Mia stopping him.
"If he wanted us to stay, he would have said so" agrees Mike.
Evie steps in front of him, "Kevin, I am telling you now, if Ji gave us a day off, he meant it to be a day off. Ji doesn't pull tricks like that" assures Evie.
"I don't think Jayden will take a day off until the last Nighlok is defeated" says Mia.
"He will, if I have to drag him out by his ankles" retorts Evie.
"Okay, I'll stay for a little while" replies Kevin.
"Good, then let's go, the rides are waiting" says Mike.
They all cheer and head towards the rollercoasters.
And soon enough they're all screaming as the rollercoaster throws them around.
Emily throwing her hands up as she screams delightedly and Evie smiles.
They come off of it and Evie looks around, "anyone going to throw up?" she asks with a smile.
"Nope that was awesome" beams Emily.
"Yeah" agrees Mike.
"I'll admit it was fun" nods Kevin.
"Shall we get some food?" says Mike.
"Of course you want food" snorts Evie.
"How about we do some more rides, just in case eating does make someone throw up?" suggests Mia.
"Sound thinking" agrees Kevin.
"Alright more rides first" says Mike.
They ride a few more before settling down and getting some corn dogs.
"This is really nice" smiles Mia.
"The amusement park?" asks Kevin.
"All of us being out together, just a shame Jayden isn't here" replies Mia.
"He'll come out next time" assures Evie.
"Good" nods Emily, "so what kind of cotton candy shall we get him?" ask Emily.
"He doesn't care as long as its cotton candy it can be any brand, colour or flavour" promises Evie with a chuckle.
"So Jayden has a sweet tooth, huh, maybe I'll make a cake or something" suggests Mia.
"He's not so much into cake, more sweets and stuff" says Evie quickly.
Suddenly the sounds of screams and calls for help grab their attention.
"That sounds like trouble" says Kevin.
"So much for my normal day" sighs Mia as they all drop their corndogs down save Evie who finishes hers off in one bite while Mike continues to chew as he hurries after them.
They run out of the park and find the Nighlok about to hit civilians with some sort of gadget.
"Kevin, Mike we'll block that hit, Mia, Emily get the civilians to safety" orders Evie.
They all nod and morph she, Kevin and Mike deflecting the hits aimed at the civilians.
"Leaping lizards, samurai rangers" says the Nighlok.
"That's enough dreadlocks" warns Kevin.
"You saying there's something wrong with my hair?" demands the Nighlok.
"There sure as hell isn't anything right with it" retorts Evie.
"Let me help you with a trim" smirks Mike as he runs forwards and slices at the Nighlok only for his word to seem to somehow go through him and Mike ends up on the floor, "huh?" he looks up in confusion just in time for the Nighlok to hit him and he's sent rolling backwards to the others.
"Mike" calls Evie taking a knee next to him.
"Purty colours, come on down and take your best shot" jeers the Nighlok.
Mia, Emily and Kevin launch forwards.
"No guys wait" yells Evie but its too late and once again their swords seem to pass through the Nighlok, or rather he seems to bend himself around it.
"Oh this isn't good" realises Mia.
"Get down" calls Evie as she tries to get to them but the Nighlok hits them all his sonic gun and each of them drops to the floor as their hit and end up next to Evie and Mike.
"Alright spin swords don't work" says Evie.
"How is that possible?" asks Kevin.
"Well we'd better figure it out" replies Mike.
"We could try a joint attack" offers Mia.
"If one sword doesn't work why would five" asks Evie.
"You got anything better?" demands Kevin.
"Not right now" admits Evie, "but be ready to dodge" she warns.
They all attack together but once again their swords have no effect.
"Your swords ain't got no mojo" laughs the Nighlok.
"What's this guy made of?" asks Mia.
"Mostly red fur" answers Mike.
"I'll give you what for" smirks the Nighlok as he pushes them back and their swords go flying and the Nighlok brings up his sonic gun and blasts them sending the five of them to the ground.
"Ouch" groans Evie.
"Now that's more like it" nods the Nighlok.
"So lets all pretend you're blades of grass and I'm going to be the lawnmower" he adds as he brings up his sword again.
"Oh yeah" calls Jayden as he appears behind him.
"Jayden don't" yells Evie just as his sword slices right through, as ineffective as theirs had been.
He tries to attack again but nothing takes.
"What the hell?" he asks.
"Even Jayden's sword doesn't work" groans Mike.
"Then lets see how he likes this" replies Evie as she grabs her sword and pulls herself to her feet, "ingot whip" she yells as her sword transforms.
"You attack like a toothless alligator" smirks the Nighlok as he aims the sonic gun at Jayden.
"Oh no you don't" warns Evie as she sends the whip at the gun wrapping around it at the same moment as Jayden jumps backwards kicking the gun up as Evie yanks it away sending it to the side and out of the Nighloks grip.
"Nice moves guys" compliments Kevin as they get to their feet.
"Alright everyone, hit him all at once with spin swords" decides Jayden.
"Right" they nod and pull them out of their belts attaching them to the swords.
"What are you trying to pull now?" demands the Nighlok.
They activate their spin swords, "sextuple strike" they yell and send the attack at the Nighlok.
He stumbles but appears otherwise unharmed, "what?" gasps Kevin.
"Oh shit" mutters Evie.
"But we got him" says Jayden.
"Haha, your rainbow rage just tickled my tummy" smirks the Nighlok as he picks up his weapon and fires at them, Jayden summoning the fire smasher to block it.
"This is not good" says Mike.
"What do we do now?" asks Emily as the Nighlok continues to batter them.
Jayden stills and then pulls the beetle zord out.
"What's that?" asks Mia.
"I've never seen that before" says Kevin.
"Jayden, are you sure about this? You haven't used it yet in battle?" asks Evie in concern.
"Oh it feels like I ate cactus needles" groans the Nighlok.
"He's drying out" realises Mia.
"Next time you won't be so lucky" warns the Nighlok as he disappears back into the netherworld.
As he disappears everyone save Jayden drops to the floor and Evie leans against the fire smasher.
"Can we go home, I think I might actually throw up that corndog" murmurs Emily.
"Yeah, come on Em, home sounds good" nods Evie as they de-morph and she helps Emily up.
They head back to the house and everyone settles in the main room to try and figure out what to do.
"Man that Nighlok was working some bad mojo" says Mike.
"I don't mean to sound like that Nighlok but our spins swords and symbol power it was well" she pauses looking for the right word.
"Useless" supplies Evie from where she's sipping a can of red bull.
"Scary to think what he could've done to us if he hadn't dried out" sighs Kevin.
"No I'd rather think about how we can beat him" interrupts Emily with her usual optimism.
"Your right Emily, fear is the enemy" agrees Ji as he stands up. "If you believe in yourselves you can win any battle. Confidence brings power" assures Ji looking at each of them.
"You weren't there, our weapons couldn't touch him" interrupts Mike.
"Ji's right, we can do anything we put our minds too. And I for one do intend to let some ugly dreadlocked freak with an annoying accent be the one that breaks us" nods Evie.
"And that point about our weapons not working isn't entirely true, Evie's whip was able to take his weapon out of his hands. And we did injure him with our strike" reminds Jayden standing up. "I've been working on mastering a new power" he explains walking over and picking up the box before pulling out the beetle disk.
"So that's what you've been doing today" realises Mia.
Kevin look at Evie, "you knew" says Kevin.
Evie just shrugs, "like I said, he had something to do" answers Evie.
"A new disk, what is it?" asks Mike.
"There are secret disks passed down from previous generations of samurai" explains Ji.
"Most have been lost in battle, this might be the only one left. With this we at least stand a chance of beating the Nighlok" says Jayden.
"The thing is, to master the disk the samurai needs double the usual power" adds Ji.
Everyone looks less sure at that, but Evie's eyes widen as an idea forms in her head.
"Don't worry. You all focus on recovery" assures Jayden.
"But the double the power, can you handle that?" asks Mike.
"Thanks to Ji I've been trained to believe I can do anything I put my mind too. I can do this and I will" replies Jayden.
"So why didn't you use it earlier?" asks Mike.
"Next time" answers Jayden carefully as he turns and walks away.
Evie waits for the others to be distracted before she goes after him and finds him just looking at the disk.
"I don't know if I can do this Evie" he admits.
Evie walks over and tilts his chin up so he's looking at her, "you can do anything, you've never failed when you put your mind to something. I know you can do this Jayden" promises Evie.
"But that much power" sighs Jayden.
"Now I have an idea on that front" she smiles.
"Which is?" prompts Jayden.
Evie takes his hand and rests it on her ribs just below her bra, before resting hers in the same spot on his chest, "I might not be able to give you double the power, but I might be able to give you enough of it" she answers.
Understanding crosses Jayden's face and his eyes widen, "Evie, the amount of power that would take, it would leave you weakened and if I pull too much completely defenceless and out of power" warns Jayden.
"I know that, and it is something I am willing to risk. If you use that disk to defeat the Nighlok then I won't need to protect myself from him" reminds Evie.
"I can't rely on using your power to master this Evie, its too risky for you, we don't know what the long-term effects would be. We've never tried something powerful before. I need to master this myself" says Jayden.
"And I know you will, but what I am saying is, if need be, you can channel from me in order to get that extra power boost. We've done it before" answers Evie.
"Not to this extent, double the power equivalents almost another samurai, if I'm using all of your power it leaves you with nothing, and I'm not willing to risk that" replies Jayden firmly.
"We promised this would not stop us doing our duties" points out Evie.
"Evie I'm not saying this just because I am your boyfriend, I'm saying it because our team needs every member at full strength. And that includes you, plus you lead the others when I can't, and you have more battle experience than they do. They need you and so do I. So I can't risk pulling from you like that" assures Jayden.
"Alright, I see your point. But if things get dire, then you do whatever you need too, in order to defeat that Nighlok. We know how to do it if need be, and we might as well make use of some childhood stupidity" replies Evie.
"If things get dire than alright, but I need to try and master this on my own" stipulates Jayden. "The bonding kanjis weren't meant for one samurai to use the other as an endless source of power" he reminds.
"I won't do anything unless you ask me too" promises Evie. Though if Jayden accidentally pulled from her as he'd done in the past, she wasn't going to fight him.
"Pinky swear?" he asks holding up his finger.
"Pinky swear" nods Evie as she links their fingers together.
"I need to practise" he says.
"I'll try and keep the others busy for you. But I believe in you for the record, and not just because you're the red ranger, but because I know you. And the man I know, and love does not give up, on anything. You have the power, you just need to find it" assures Evie with a smile.
"The whole world is counting on me" says Jayden.
"It's counting on all of us, you can do this, failure is not an option Jayden. Not for any of us, so stop doubting yourself, you take this disk, and you show it who is boss" answers Evie firmly taking the disk out of his hand. "This does nothing but enhance what is already inside of you, this disk, it's a beetle, you're a lion. So, act like one" orders Evie.
Jayden looks at the disk and nods, "I will" he promises.
"I know you will" smiles Evie. "But don't overdo it" she stipulates holding the disk out to him.
Jayden takes it and smiles, "where would I be without you?" he asks.
Evie just leans up and kisses him, "nowhere good" she says before turning and walking away knowing as much as she wanted to help him, Jayden had to do this on his own.
A/N: As always follow, fav and review :)