A/N: Welcome to the main event of the Project Phoenix series. As a disclaimer, this series is inspired by Kctimes2's The Adoption (one of the best stories I've ever read here). Before reading this, you should read The Crane's Destructive Path and its accompanying one shot, Granted Wishes.
A/N 2: This is the story of when Jayden leads Rangers old and new into a fight for Earth's survival...with his corrupted mother. In this chapter, the dark clouds continue to roll in for our heroes. It's Jayden vs Lauren, Round I. I'm guessing you may not like the result. This chapter will primarily focus on Jayden vs Lauren, the rest of the battles will be touched on in the next chapter.
A/N 3: Couples featured are Jayden/Mia, Memily, Lantonio, Jason/Kat, Adam/Tanya and a slew of other old-school pairings. You'll have to read on to see if there is Tommy/Kim at the end...hehe.
A/N 4: Usual disclaimer. Power Rangers doesn't belong to me.
Chapter 16: Captured Crimson
Wednesday, Oct. 3, 2012
2:40 p.m. local time
Angel Grove, CA
Lauren Shiba, the true and now former leader of the Samurai Power Rangers, laughed at how easy this was as she and her new associates continued to rampage through downtown, terrorizing citizens wherever they went.
She laughed because if she'd have known how easy this was, she'd have gone to the dark side a long time ago. No longer were there any rules to keep her from her full potential. No shackles. Just do whatever you like, whenever you like.
Not to mention, her jealousy of her little brother was on full display. She was bitterly jealous; he'd stolen the spotlight that was meant for her all along.
Most importantly, she wanted to make him suffer. He talked a big game when hiding behind those fancy new Ninjetti powers of his but she recalled it wasn't that long ago when Fiera had left him a battered, dirty mess.
That was when SHE had come back to clean up his failure. No, she hadn't destroyed, or sealed, Xandred but that wasn't her fault. And she'd saved her brother from Fiera. As soon as she got done torturing her brother, she was going to do the same to the rest of his friends.
He was good, no doubt, anyone who could humiliate Flammia's army like he'd done so far was no joke. But she also knew that he was impulsive, and would never turn this challenge down. And when she got him in her grasp, she was going to have fun torturing him and make him wish for his death.
In the meanwhile, destroying things was not only easy, and brought her a lot of pleasure but it was so much fun.
As she prepared to raze another building, however (and it would have been about the fourth building she'd have destroyed), her fun came to a screeching halt as twelve different streaks of light (eleven of them Ninjetti) hit the ground in front of her, knocking her and those with her off their feet.
A moment later, two fireballs went whizzing by her head, just missing her.
"That's enough, dear sister," Jayden said as he stepped in front of Lauren with his aunts, uncles and father flanking him.
"Well, if it isn't my dear sweet brother, the "leader" of the Samurai team," Lauren said, sarcasm dripping off her. She was being flanked by Scorpina, of course. Also with her was a shark monster that looked a little like the deceased Squalus, and also this time Lieutenant Jorus, who scowled when he saw Trey.
"You will pay for escaping my grasp, Gold Ranger. It's too bad your buddy isn't with you so I could make him pay too," Jorus said; he was still in a foul mood because Trey had escaped Triforia along with the Phantom Ranger.
"I don't need him to destroy you," Trey said.
"And you," Jayden said pointing to the shark monster and a group of Landers. "You were dead, Squalus."
"Good guess, Crimson Ranger, but I'm not him. I am Pistrix, his second in command. I am just as deadly as my boss was. Someday, you'll see that for yourself."
"This talk bores me," Lauren said; she pointed at the Rangers and ordered, "Take them to the cleaners. I want the faux leader. He's mine."
Immediately, the rest of the Rangers and villains engaged in combat, leaving both Lauren and Jayden facing each other.
"Faux leader, huh? You know that's not true, sister," Jayden said.
"Of course it is, Jayden," Lauren said. "Why do you think I had to clean up your mess? You know I've always been better than you. Question is, do you have the guts to face me alone?"
"You know, Lauren, I hate to give you what you want, but it's come to this," Jayden said. "This has to be settled somehow."
"That's probably the last time I'll ever agree with you on anything," Lauren said. "You're right this does have to get settled. But do you really think you have what it takes? You know you were never the real leader of our team in the first place."
Jayden gulped as he fully realized that he was up against his worst nightmare.
Could he make the grade? Could he live up to the standard that his sister and his adopted parents had set forth?
All those days of training in the Shiba house, practicing his first Kanji symbols, learning how to use his powers, were coming to a head. He'd even faced Lauren a few times, just on the mats, but never with this sort of significance.
"You're good, we all know that, but you ask yourself can you make the grade," Lauren said. "We'll see because I know I have that ability in spades."
"By the way, one last thing, Jayden, I didn't appreciate you denying me access to Red Lion," Lauren said, her voice turning a small shade of nasty. "You know that's my...OUR...personal Zord."
"But then, I guess I shouldn't be surprised seeing as you've shunned the people who made you and traded them in for these guys in what's going to be a fruitless fight for you," Lauren said.
Jayden blew out a deep breath. He was disappointed that Lauren had gone there, but not surprised. He could guess that when you were evil, the truth got twisted in a way that benefited them. He remembered that's how it was with Kevin during the fight with Madimot.
He didn't have time to worry about that now though; he had business to take care of. It was go time.
"Dragon Dagger," he summoned as a small, black dagger appeared in his right hand. "Your move, Lauren."
"Nice choice dear brother. My turn," Lauren said. "Spin Sword."
Both circled each other carefully, even as bystanders watched with intrigue. Finally, Lauren lashed at Jayden and the fight was on.
From the very beginning, there was little difference between them. Every punch, kick, etc was followed up by an effective counter-punch. Jayden was faring well but it was evident his sister was just as good; she was still a wily, intelligent Ranger who knew the ins and outs of what she could do.
After 10 minutes of trading equal blows with her brother, Lauren decided to up the ante.
"Spin Sword, Blazing Strike," she called as the attack careened towards Jayden. Jayden saw it coming though and pushed forth his own Dragon Dagger attack, and the two fought for control.
Unfortunately for Jayden, the Flame of Destruction's power had given Lauren's abilities a bit of a boost. The Phoenix Ninjetti powers would normally get a slight edge over the Samurai powers in this scenario, but with Lauren's increase in power level, the two attacks canceled out, causing a massive explosion.
"Damn," Jayden muttered, and he looked around the battle field and saw his aunts, uncles and father were faring somewhat OK against the various footsoldiers. If he could hold on just a little longer...
He hoped this next attack would work, if for no other reason to buy himself some time.
"Phoenix Wings, Wind Attack," Jayden called as his wings extended from his back and began flapping, creating a powerful gust of wind which headed towards Lauren.
"Oh no you don't. Symbol power, resist," she called as a shield appeared in front of her, blocking Jayden's attack and not only that, sending it back at him and sending him crashing into a wall.
"Damn," Jayden said as he got up sore from his own attack that was thrown back at him, finally remembering how the resist symbol saved him from Madimot, although he wondered a bit if the then-dormant Phoenix had something to do with that too. "Forgot about that one."
He didn't have time to breathe either as Lauren was right back on top of him and he barely had time to parry her attack, but he did manage to knee her in the abdomen, causing her to stumble back a few steps.
"Fire Smasher," Lauren called as her Spin Sword suddenly transformed into her zanbato weapon.
"That's the way you want it huh? OK. Dragon Dagger, recall," Jayden said. "Phoenix Fire Sword."
Instantly, the weapon formerly known as the Sword of Light forms in Jayden's hand, and he prepared for Lauren's attack.
For a while, the two crossed blades, evenly matched once again. Jayden was getting frustrated though, as he was getting nowhere with his attacks and Lauren after a while took advantage of his frustration, nailing him with the Fire Smasher after his frustration left him open to an attack.
Jayden had barely been able to force himself up before the next attack.
"Five Disc Beetle Cannon," Lauren called, then released her attack. Jayden tried to move but wasn't fast enough as a fiery explosion sent him crashing back to the ground, and his body ached all over.
Before he could get back up, he felt himself being pinned to the ground by Lauren.
"I admit, you pushed me hard, Jayden, and you are definitely got better since you put on that new uniform but I'm still the winner," Lauren said. "Now before I take you as my prisoner, I'm going to have a little fun with you."
But it was at that moment that four blue blasts came raining down on Lauren, knocking her off her feet, and giving Jayden room to breathe.
Jayden then breathed a sigh of relief as Ninjor came down off his cloud.
"Thanks, Blue," Jayden said.
"No problem, Jayden. That must have been really hard for you to do," Ninjor said. "Go help your father and your uncles. I'll handle Lauren."
"Thanks, and you have no idea how right you are," Jayden said as he rushed off to help his father, who was getting tossed on his ass by Pistrix, while Lauren and Ninjor circled each other.
"You interrupted my private time with Jayden, Ninjor," Lauren admonished.
"And if I hadn't, things were going to get really ugly," Ninjor said. "Unfortunately, for now you are the enemy and you will be dealt with accordingly."
"We'll see about that, old man. Jayden's hiding behind your ass and his father's ass and you know it," Lauren said as she and Ninjor engaged in single combat.
Meanwhile, Jayden, heading toward where his father was, could see he was in trouble, and wouldn't be able to avoid the landshark attack in time which left him no choice.
"Phoenix Wings, activate," Jayden said, causing his wings to unfurl again. "Deploy missiles, and aim for the shark fin."
Before the attack could reach Tommy, the missiles ignited and nailed Pistrix, throwing him violently from the ground, as Jayden pulled his wings back in and flipped over the monster, landing next to his father.
"You look pretty beat up," Tommy said, noticing his son was flagging a little thanks to the beating Lauren had administered. "You OK?"
"I'm good enough. Ninjor is keeping Lauren busy, at least I hope he will," Jayden responded. "Let's get us another fish for Antonio to make for dinner."
"You're going to pay for that attack, fledgling," Pistrix growled.
"Yeah and you're just like your master was, all talk," Jayden said. "Let's take him, Dad."
Indeed, with the added muscle of the Phoenix, Pistrix soon found himself in trouble and knew he was beat if he didn't get reinforcements. Finally, Tommy slashed Pistrix with Saba, and it seemed Pistrix was near his end. To make matters worse, the other Rangers had joined their nephew and his father, as Scorpina and Jorus regrouped around their comrade.
Jayden couldn't figure out why they were just standing there, unmoving, not retreating. But he was going to take it nonetheless.
"Phoenix Fire Cannon," Jayden called, as the massive crimson cannon appeared in his hand and he aimed it right at Pistrix, intent on destroying Squalus' second in command. Unfortunately, he hadn't been paying attention to what was going on elsewhere.
Ninjor tried to shout that a sneak attack was coming, but Jayden couldn't hear him as he was trying to power up the cannon and before he realized what was going on, it was far too late.
Right as he was about to fire the cannon, he felt a prick in his arm, and felt himself go weak. He was able to fire the cannon, but the shot sailed harmlessly high into the sky, exploding after a few seconds.
After that, he fell limp to the ground, and was carried away roughly from behind by Lauren. The Rangers tried to stop Lauren but were suddenly knocked off their feet by Pistrix, Scorpina and Jorus.
"Say goodbye to your precious Phoenix, Rangers," Lauren giggled. "I may give him back to you one day, but trust me, he'll never be the same."
Tommy forced himself up and made one last dash to rescue Jayden, but the villains disappeared right as he got there, and Tommy crashed to the ground hard.
Tommy screamed to the heavens in despair as the rest of his teammates converged around him, them all hoping this was not the last time they would see the Crimson Ranger again.
The melancholy mood immediately turned to worry as they saw Ninjor, a battered, beaten mess across the battle field and went to tend to him.
"You look pretty bad, Ninjor," Billy said. "Are you going to be OK?"
"I'll be fine. She beat me good though. I tried to shout the warning that Lauren was coming up behind Jayden but it was no use," Ninjor said.
"We better get everyone out of here," Tommy said. "All Rangers retreat to the Chamber of Command, now. We've got an emergency."
The Lunar Palace
For about a month, there had been nothing but frowns and sullen faces in the Lunar Palace. Ever since they'd arrived here, arguably the greatest conquerors there had ever been had been embarrassed, humiliated by a young fledgling that no one thought existed.
Now, Flammia and those in her palace smiled and cheered; her newest prisoner, that very fledgling, was dragged in, bound by feet and hands and getting battered every step of the way.
"We got him, Mistress," the Red Samurai Ranger said as she saluted her new boss. "It took me knocking him out with the needle, but we got him."
"Well done, my Red Ranger," Flammia hissed. "You are already proving to be an asset. You and Scorpina, hold him up and drag him over here. The rest of you, take your leave."
As soon as Flammia was within arm's length of her newest enemy, she scowled gleefully.
Jayden, who'd come to, tried to act brave, but truth be told, for the first time in his life, he was truly petrified. Even more so than any of the fights with Xandred. He had concerns at times during those fights, but nothing like this.
In that moment, he didn't see his mother. He felt like he was looking at the Angel of Death.
"So you're the mighty Phoenix, huh?" Flammia snapped. "The so-called savior of the world. You don't look so mighty to me."
That said, she slapped him across the face, hard.
"You humiliated me twice, boy, but you're gonna learn your place. A fledgling like you could never beat me."
That said, she took the bow she'd acquired on Onyx many years ago when she was under Dark Specter's serviice, and slashed him across the face with it, at the same time that Scorpina slashed him across the face with her stinger. What happened after that astounded her.
Blood should have been all over his face, instead, both marks began healing quickly, and the only thing left were a pair of scars across both cheeks.
"Impossible," Flammia hissed. "You have healing powers?"
"To an extent. It won't protect me from certain things but it does protect and heal me from most magical attacks," Jayden snapped. "You're gonna respect me before this is all over."
That said, he spat in Flammia's face in defiance. If he was going down, he was going down his way. Besides, she'd started it with that slap across the face.
"Speaking of respect, you just showed me a complete lack of it. And you earned yourself a lifetime of beatings with that loogie. Starting, now," Flammia said as she reared back and punched Jayden as hard as she could. The force of it knocked him out cold.
"Take him to the dungeon and make sure he's shackled good," Flammia said.
"You don't want to kill him now?" Scorpina said.
"No, he doesn't deserve that dignity. I'm going to torture him until he screams for us to put him out of his misery, in so many ways. Now GO."
As Jayden was dragged into the dungeon, hands and feet shackled, one lone figure, who held a room not far from said dungeon, watched in the shadows. No one even thought this being was alive, but a certain event five years prior had reversed his destruction and given him a second chance for redemption.
And he promised himself that one day, he would capitalize on that chance.
That day was now at hand.
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