A/N: I hereby present to you all my own version (yes, another one) of Power Rangers: Samurai. It does have a much darker theme to it than Saban's version (which I do not hate, as you can obviously tell by my other PR stories). There were some flaws, yes, and I'm still going to use some terms you are familiar with.

Disclaimer: I do not own Power Rangers Samurai or Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. I just own most of the plot and the characters and things you don't recognize from the original version.

~PRS~REDO~PRS~REDO~PRS~REDO~PRS~REDO~PRS~

"Just who is the Green Samurai Ranger exactly? Well, Jayden and Emily are about to find out."

Better Together

Power Rangers: Samurai REDO

LAST TIME ON POWER RANGERS: SAMURAI

Emily didn't de-morph until she had come upon an empty pier, with no one in sight. Not just because of her identity as a Ranger, but mostly because she was injured and she didn't want to worry anybody.

Emily held her torso. She could feel a deep cut there as well as cuts and bruises everywhere else on her body. Her first fight turned out rather well. None of them had any injuries. At least, she didn't. She was a little sore from all the fighting she had to do, but she had come out of it just fine.

This fight was different. This fight was more lethal than the first.

"I know a place you can rest and heal up at."

Emily turned around to see Red standing.

She wanted to trust him, but...could she really?

"We won't even show our own faces to each other," Emily brought up a good point. "How do I know I can trust you?"

"Because you already do," Red replied. And Emily was confused, at least, until Red de-morphed to reveal his true face.

Then, she was surprised.

"Jayden?"

"Hey, Emily," was Jayden's reply.

~B~E~T~T~E~R~~T~O~G~E~T~H~E~R~~~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~A~M~U~R~A~I~~R~E~D~O~

Season 1, Episode 3: The Green Thumb

Shiba House, Gianni Forest, Panorama City, California

April 25, 2014

Jayden led a still-sore Emily (who was holding her injured torso) to a forest (not the forest where the abandoned house was, thankfully). When Emily came upon a large wooden gate (which had a symbol up at the top, the same symbol that was on the chest of her Ranger suit, on the arm of the ape zord, and on all of her Ranger gear), she turned to Jayden, who pushed open the gate with his shoulder. Once it was open, he held out his free hand, holding it open in the direction of inside the gate.

"Ladies first," he said. She smiled, nodded, and squeezed past him and through the gate.

On the other side, she was met by a house, old-fashioned and Japanese-style. There was a wooden dojo mat outside, with wooden swords on a rack off to the side, making it evident (and obvious) that the house was built to train samurai warriors.

Jayden opened the front door and led her inside. Despite how old-fashioned it appeared to be, Emily was a little surprised to see how high-tech and modern it really was. She liked this place, especially the room they were in, where there were cushioned stools around a wooden table (that once again had the same insignia on it).

"Why, hello there," said a voice that was unfamiliar to her.

Emily turned to see a Latino man, as tall as Jayden, wearing black denim jeans, a white t-shirt, a dark-gray plaid jacket with a hood, gold shoes, and a green-and-black scarf.

"Hi," she replied, holding out her free hand for him to shake. "Emily Shields."

"Antonio Garcia," he relied, taking her hand and shaking it. "You must be the new Yellow."

Emily nodded, as a familiar face stepped out from one of the back rooms.

The man in Japanese-style robes.

"Ji," Jayden acknowledged the man. "This is Emily."

"The Yellow Samurai Ranger, at last," Ji breathed, as the two shook hands. "You're injured." He had taken notice of Emily's injured side. Emily was about to shrug it off, because, honestly, she was fine. She could still walk, right? But Ji had continued before she could speak up. "Sit down, I'll patch you up." Emily glanced back at Jayden hesitantly, who nodded. Emily complied.

After Ji grabbed the first aid kit and began patching her up, Jayden explained, motioning to Ji first, "His name is Takeru Tomoharu. He's my great-uncle on my dad's side, from Japan, but Antonio and I call him Ji, or Mentor Ji." Emily nodded. "Antonio here is the team's technical support."

Antonio had lifted up a panel in the floor and pulled out a weird-looking phone. "Meaning, I'm the one who re-calibrates the zords and the disks when they're not being used, and the one who comes up with new weapons and Megazord configurations."

Emily thanked Ji when he was done patching her up. (She really did feel a lot better after he had done so.) Antonio handed her the 'phone', the same model Jayden had (red and black, except hers had yellow trimming). "This is a Samuraizer," Antonio explained. "Your first morph allowed Ape Zord to unlock the Power within you. We Samurai call it 'Symbol Power'. I built the Samuraizers to help you channel your Symbol Power a lot better rather than just using your Zord. Trust me, it'll help."

"Okay," Emily acknowledged. "Thank you."

"No problem," Antonio replied with a smile, watching Emily study the Samuraizer in her hand. "Symbol Power is channeled through Japanese kanji characters. Yours is Earth, the same kanji that's on your Zord. Jayden's, here, is Fire. Blue's is Water, Pink's is Air, and Green's is Forest. But you only need to worry about yours."

"Got it."

"Emily," Jii spoke up, "since you are a Ranger now, I highly suggest staying here at the Shiba House. Sticking together is important."

"I understand," Emily said, hesitant to answer so quickly. "And I agree, but I'm still getting used to the idea of being Ranger. Can you give me some time to think about it?"

"Of course," Jii replied. "That's perfectly understandable."

"Thank you," Emily said, with a smile.

~B~E~T~T~E~R~~T~O~G~E~T~H~E~R~~~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~A~M~U~R~A~I~~R~E~D~O~

Junk Ship, Sanzu River, Netherworld

April 26, 2014

"With the water level this low," Dayu said, "we'll never flood Earth." The past two Action Commanders had done nothing significant. The first time they arrived on Earth, they were defeated, easily.

"Don't be such a downer, Dayu," Octoroo replied. "Remember, if we just frighten those human crybabies, the water level will rise and then we can sail out of here."

"Then, quit flapping your noodles and start scaring some humans," Xandred ordered, grabbing the neck of a Marauder pooring him his medicine. "If you've forgotten what scared looks like, take note." The Marauder was struggling to break free, but to no avail.

It was in this moment that a new Nighlock came aboard. "You're in a violent mood today, boss."

"Oh, Rofer!" Octoroo greeted. "I'd offer you to lend a hand, but why not lend us two?"

"How 'bout I offer two of the finest fists anybody in the world has ever seen?!" Rofer gloated.

"I hope you don't brag like that in front of the Samurai Rangers," Dayu advised.

"Tch," Rofer replied, gloating a bit more. "Better watch what you say. If it weren't for Master Xandred, where would you be?"

Rofer jumped in fear, narrowly missing the pick Dayu had thrown at him. "It's actually you. You should watch what you said around me. If you've forgotten, you big-fisted, pea-brained nitwit, you're only an Action Commander. I am a General."

"Hey, I like my big fists," Rofer argued back. "And my brain is, uh..."

Dayu groaned. "Nitwit!"

"ENOUGH!" Xandred threw the Marauder he had grabbed at them. Both of them had jumped out of the way, causing the Marauder to hit the wall hard. "Both of you, quit your bickering. Rofer, the Sanzu River can't rise with you standing here. Go out and get those humans to cry me a river."

"That's what I plan to do," Rofer replied, as Dayu walked away. "And I won't let any of those goody-two-shoes Power Rangers stop me!"

~B~E~T~T~E~R~~T~O~G~E~T~H~E~R~~~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~A~M~U~R~A~I~~R~E~D~O~

Julian's Arcade, Panorama City, California

"Mike!"

The said man in green snapped out of his reverie and turned to his little brother. "Sorry, what?"

The two were sitting at the arcade's pizza parlor's outdoor patio, spending the day together. "I asked if you were okay, like, eight times in the past fifteen minutes."

"Yeah, I'm fine. I've just been a little stressed lately," Mike replied, as honest as he could be.

"You sure?" David asked.

"Yeah, I'm sure."

"Okay," David apparently bought it. "It's just that you're always running off on errands or something, and every time you come back, you seem to be hurt or sore."

"I'm fine," Mike repeated with a gentle smile. "Trust me. How do you like your new friends at day care?"

"They're pretty cool."

David was about to continue, but screams nearby caught their attention and cut him off.

Mike turned just in time to see a green-and-red Nighlock with large fists lifting someone's chair into the air.

"This is gonna get wild!" Rofer announced, before throwing the person he lifted off his chair.

Mike immediately stood up, muttering, "Nighlock..." He turned to David, saying, "Hide somewhere! I'll be right back!" before rushing forward to fight the Nighlock.

"Wait! Mike!" But David ran after him. "That's the wrong way!"

"Stay back, little punk!"

Mike watched (seemingly in slow motion) as Rofer's sludge attack hit David square in the chest, causing the kid to slam into some tables, knocking them and him to the ground.

"David!" Mike stared at his little brother's motionless body in shock, before turning back to the Nighlock, anger and rage all over his face. "You're gonna pay for that!" Mike replied, before running back towards Rofer, taking out the Bear Zord (in Defense Mode) along the way and using it to morph into the Green Samurai Ranger.

"Go, Go, Samurai!"

Mike unsheathed his Spin Sword and attacked Rofer when he was close enough. "You're through here, Nighlock!" Mike rolled out of the way, before quickly getting back to his feet and attacking again, this time, his sword being met by Rofer's fists.

"Really? I won't be through here until I clobber you!" Mike quickly grabbed one of his fists and struggled to keep it under control. "Hey, if you want to hold my hand, try buying me some flowers first, you broccoli-colored bum!"

Mike swiftly sent the Nighlock a chest to the chest before sending more sword attacks at him. "How about I buy you a one-way ticket back to-" Unfortunately, Mike wasn't able to finish his sentence, because Rofer had sent him a punch to his chest, sending Mike flying. "Oww! What? What just happened?" Mike asked himself, holding his head.

"I'll tell you what just happened," Rofer said. "I just served you a knuckle sandwich. You still hungry? 'Cause here comes a second helping!" Rofer said, driving his right fist into the ground.

"A second helping?" Mike asked, looking around, confused. The ground underneath him cracked and broke, causing Mike to get hit with another of Rofer's powerful punches, sending Mike crashing into a tree.

"I'm as cool as an iceberg, but I sting like a bee," Rofer began to brag. "It's tough to stop what you can't see," he said, sending his fist back for another punch.

Mike got knocked around once again by a couple more punches.

"When it comes to my fists, you're all thumbs," Rofer said. "The Green Thumb, I should say."

Mike wordlessly got up and jumped up onto the roof of the nearby arcade.

"Tired of my underground fight club trick?" Rofer taunted. "Then, time to soar to new heights!"

"He can't reach me all the way up here," Mike thought, but he was soon proven wrong, as Rofer's fist once again hit him square in the chest, sending Mike back down to the ground.

"Now, all that's left is putting you in the dumpster," Rofer said, as Mike heavily struggled to get back up.

Rofer raised his fist, trying to get him once more in the stomach for good measure, but a familiar voice called out.

"That's enough!" Rofer was caught off-guard by the Red Ranger, who used his sword to hold him off and defend his green teammate. "You've overstayed your welcome."

Rofer was sent to the ground, causing him to get mad. "Arm Stretch!"

The Red Ranger side-stepped the breaking ground, but was unable to avoid the fist, sending him to the ground as well, next to Mike.

Red turned to Mike, who was unable to prevent himself from de-morphing, due to his injuries. Out of the corner of his eye, Mike saw the Yellow Ranger, Emily, kneeling next to a still motionless David.

"Even the Red Ranger can't see what's going on underground," Rofer said, before a large crack sounded throughout the area. "Uh-oh. You guys lucked out. I'm starting to dry out. See ya'!" Rofer called out before disappearing back into the gap from whence he came.

Mike lowered his head in shame. "Mike," the Red Ranger called. Mike glanced up in time to see Red de-morph.

"Jayden..."

"You okay?" Mike didn't answer. "Emily, I'm taking him back to the House!"

Emily, still-morphed, looked up and nodded, before gathering little David in her arms. "I'm taking him to the hospital."

Those words alone were enough to make Mike's heart beat even harder in fear of what the Nighlock had done to his brother.

~B~E~T~T~E~R~~T~O~G~E~T~H~E~R~~~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~A~M~U~R~A~I~~R~E~D~O~

Shiba House, Gianni Forest, Panorama City, California

"Thank goodness you were there," Ji told Mike, whose shirt was off, as Ji patched him up. "You prevented that Nighlock from injuring lots of people."

"Here, man," Antonio handed Mike his own Samuraizer (with green trim). "It'll help channel your Symbol Power better."

"Thanks," Mike muttered, his mind only on David. "I thought I could take him on alone."

Jayden sat down next to him. "Being a Ranger is dangerous business," he gently advised. "The Nighlock won't go easy on anybody, not even kids."

"I know that now," Mike replied after putting his shirt back on. "And I regret not knowing that before."

There was a knock at the door, and Emily, de-morphed, entered. "Hey, good news: David's out of surgery. He's no longer in the ER." She was quiet as she spoke. "But...he's still badly hurt. The doctors gave him pain meds, and those knocked him out pretty quickly."

Mike closed his eyes, unable to get the image of his injured, motionless brother on the ground out of his head. The guilt was becoming too much. "Thank you for all your help, but I have to go check on my brother." Mike grabbed his jacket, slipping his new Samuraizer in his pocket, as he stood up.

The four nodded and wordlessly let him leave.

"You know," Emily spoke up, "in some weird way, I feel responsible. He was calling out for his brother the entire way to the Emergency Room, and even when they hauled him off to the surgery. I really feel like I could've done something different."

Emily knew her feeling wasn't entirely justified, but she couldn't help it.

Ji placed a gentle hand on Emily's shoulder. "It's only natural for a Power Ranger to feel that way."

"Does your offer from yesterday still stand?" Emily asked Ji.

"Of course."

"Then I accept," Emily replied, before repeating, "It's best if we all stick together," as she glanced back at the closed front door of her new house.

~B~E~T~T~E~R~~T~O~G~E~T~H~E~R~~~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~A~M~U~R~A~I~~R~E~D~O~

Junk Ship, Sanzu River, Netherworld

Octoroo watched as Rofer was replenished by the Sanzu River water. "Ahh, the water feels great!"

"Nice job, Rofer," Octoroo said, measuring the level with his long measuring stick. "The water level's gone up at least by a foot."

"That's good," Xandred has snuck up on them.

"I was dried out," Rofer explained. "But after a nice soak in the Sanzu River, I'm gonna go pound those Samurai Rangers into chopped liver."

"With your frightening fists fully functional, you'll be back to pestering people in no time," Octoroo said. "This is easier than I first thought."

"Those lousy Rangers won't know what hit 'em!"

~B~E~T~T~E~R~~T~O~G~E~T~H~E~R~~~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~A~M~U~R~A~I~~R~E~D~O~

St. Johnson's General Hospital, Panorama City, Calfornia

When David opened his eyes, he noticed the hospital room he was in. He began to freak out a little bit (because hospitals kind of scared him), but that fear was quickly forgotten when he saw his older brother, Michael, sitting in a chair next to his bed.

"Mike?" His voice was hoarse, like he hadn't used for the past three hours or so (which wasn't too far from the truth, actually).

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Mike softly asked.

"A little better," David said, before fibbing a little. "In fact, like I could run a marathon." If only to get that guilty look off of his older brother's face.

"Don't lie to me," was Mike's answer, and David immediately shut his mouth, no longer smiling. "Look at me."

David did so, right into the face of a black square with the green-colored kanji for Forest on it. "W-What is that?"

Then, the square transformed into a little green bear, which roared before turning back into the square form.

"You wanted me to explain why I've been busy lately, right?" Mike explained. "This is the Bear Folding Zord."

"That's crazy," David commented. "Only Power Rangers have zords–" Mike waited for it to click in. "Wait...that means...you're–"

"A Power Ranger?" Mike placed the words right into his mouth. David nodded, unable to find his voice. "Yeah, the Green Samurai Ranger to be exact. Remember last November, when I went shopping to pick up the groceries Mom forgot to get for Thanksgiving dinner?" David nodded. "That's when I ran into Bear Zord here, and I've been the Green Samurai ever since."

There was a silence between the two brothers as David took all of this in.

"I'm sorry, David," Mike continued, his voice even softer than before, and it sounded broken too. "I never meant for you to get hurt. I never meant for you to get caught up in this."

"You don't have to worry about me," David argued. "I'm a big boy now. I'm eleven years old. I'm fine."

"Your age doesn't matter to the Nighlock," Mike bit back, a little harsher than he meant to. David assumed that these Nighlock were what his brother was fighting earlier. Mike toned his voice down a bit (They were in a hospital after all). "Whether you're a kid or an adult, David Hernandez, when I tell you to run and hide somewhere, even if it means leaving me behind to die, you need to listen to me."

This was what really took the cake. Their dad was no longer around (David was still too young to understand why he left), and their mother was a really hard worker. Mike was the one family member David loved the most. He always wanted to be exactly like Mike, never anyone else. Just the thought of leaving Mike behind, for anything, broke David's heart.

But Mike always had a reason for whatever he had his brother doing, and those reasons were for keeping him safe. And he always obeyed his brother, but Mike never meant any harm.

And besides, he had been awake and in the loop long enough to know that Mike's Yellow Ranger friend had brought him to the hospital and had never gone away from his side, helping him ease the pain. He was also aware of Mike's Red Ranger friend bringing Mike to some place where he could be patched up.

David had faith in those two that they would help his brother fight off these Nighlock and keep him safe.

Besides, they were Power Rangers, and the Power Rangers always won. No matter what.

It was a while before David answered, but when he did, he said, "Okay, but on the one condition that you will stay alive long enough to win, no matter what."

David had his pinky finger outstretched. Mike shared a small smile with him before completing the promise.

~B~E~T~T~E~R~~T~O~G~E~T~H~E~R~~~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~A~M~U~R~A~I~~R~E~D~O~

Shiba House, Gianni Forest, Panorama City, California

That night was a full moon. Near the docks, Mike kneeled, a long stick in his hands (intending to use it as a practice sword). His eyes carried the fire gaze of determination.

'I need to figure out how to sense a Nighlock's attack move before it comes.'

Back at the Shiba House, Emily had just entered the kitchen after she finished unpacking. She found Antonio, with a cup of hot tea in his hand, standing at the window.

Emily joined him, finally seeing what he was seeing.

Jayden was in the backyard dojo, wearing a black Samurai-style training uniform with trimming, on his knees (Japanese-style). He wasn't moving.

"What's he doing?" Emily asked quietly.

"Meditating," Antonio replied, apparently not surprised and not caring that she was there. "He explained that the Nighlock's attack today caught him off-guard, so he's training his senses so that he can sense the attack next time."

"Wouldn't it be better to train your physical reflexes instead?" Emily asked. "Or at least, at the same time?"

"Rest assured," both Emily and Antonio jumped at the sound Ji's voice throughout the kitchen, "there is always more than one way to complete a task. Everyone is different."

"If only people weren't so selfish and intolerable, the world would be a better place," Emily softly finished. Ji nodded encouragingly.

Emily turned back to Jayden, who had stood up, holding a practice sword in his hand.

Off into the night, Mike jumped up, and both males both struck their pretend target at the same time.

~B~E~T~T~E~R~~T~O~G~E~T~H~E~R~~~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~A~M~U~R~A~I~~R~E~D~O~

City Square, Panorama City, California

April 27, 2014

Blue and Pink had gotten there first, both fully morphed. Jayden and Emily had both rushed out of the House as soon as the Gap sensor went off (a measurement/map tool that Ji used to see if the Nighlock had entered a gap and come out the other side).

At the scene, Jayden and Emily both morphed with their Samuraizers (Emily with her new one; she had been informed of what her kanji was and how easy it was to write).

"Samuraizers! Go, Go, Samurai!"

Blue and Pink were obviously surprised by the Red Ranger's real identity, but none of them were fazed by it.

"Samurai Fire, Power Ranger Red!"

"Samurai Water, Power Ranger Blue!"

"Samurai Air, Power Ranger Pink!"

"Samurai Earth, Power Ranger Yellow!"

"Rangers Together, Samurai Forever!"

Rofer just laughed, as the four Rangers went back to fighting positions. "Where's your Green Ranger buddy? It's crunch time. Did Broccoli Boy go bye-bye?"

There was a loud whistle and before the four Rangers knew it, Mike Hernandez was standing in front of them. "Hey, Nighlock, you looking for me?"

Emily began to run forward, a smile on underneath her helmet. "Mike, you're back!"

But Mike cut her off with a simple raising of his hand. "Look out. I'm gonna take this Nighlock alone."

Blue sighed, saying, "You can't!"

"I'm gonna try," he replied, turning back to Rofer. "It's payback time. Samuraizer! Go, Go, Samurai!" Mike wrote the green kanji for Forest before flipping it and being engulfed in a green light. When the light faded, he was morphed, and then, he hooked up his black Power Disk up to the hilt of his Spin Sword. "Samurai Forest, Power Ranger Green! Ready!"

"Marauders, go get your daily greens!" Rofer ordered.

Mike charged in right away. "You think that'll stop me?" He asked, slicing down Marauder left and right, letting nothing stand in his way to get to Rofer.

"Mike!" Pink called.

Blue groaned, face-palming. "He shouldn't be doing this on his own!"

Jayden turned to Emily, "Come on. Let's help him."

"Right!" And Emily followed Jayden into battle, Blue and Pink close behind.

Jayden hooked up his Red Lion Disk. "Spin Sword: Blazing Fury!" A slash of red fire destroyed his section of the Marauders rather quickly.

Blue hooked up his Blue Dragon Disk. "Spin Sword: Dragon Splash!" The rush of cold water brought down his section of Marauders.

Pink hooked up her Pink Turtle Disk. "Spin Sword: Airwave Strike!" Her group was defeated pretty fast as well.

Emily hooked up her Yellow Ape Disk. "Spin Sword: Seismic Quake!" Her own group of Marauders had been defeated, and she turned back to Jayden, who was hooking up a silver and navy Disk.

"Spin Sword: Lightning's Fury!"

The lightning attack boosted up his offense power, and then, the four turned back to observe Mike and his fight with Rofer.

Mike had just been sent to the ground with another punch from Rofer, again.

But this time, Mike wasted no time in getting back to his feet. In fact, he motioned for Rofer to come at him.

"Is that all you got?" Mike taunted.

"You, asking for it?" Rofer asked, surprised at this tactic, but welcomed it, nonetheless. "Arm Stretch!"

"Go for it!" Mike turned back around, his back facing Rofer, kneeling on one knee, ready to run. His mind wandered back to last.

"Anticipate his next move," Mike muttered. "Feel the attack coming."

Mike began to run a split second before there was a crash behind him (Rofer's arms that had smashed up through the group).

Mike never stopped running. He glanced back behind him a few times in order to see if Rofer and his arms were still chasing him (they were), but he said nothing, only weaving in and out over and around barriers and concrete columns.

Mike only stopped when he came back to face Rofer once more. "Hey, Nighlock! Did you miss me?"

"There you are!" Rofer exclaimed. "It wouldn't have been any more fun if you really had run away!"

Mike turned to his right, and jumped out of the way, looking up just in time to see that Jayden had blocked Rofer's punch with his Spin Sword.

"Hng! Got it!" Jayden exclaimed.

"Jayden!" Mike called out.

"So he stopped one punch, huh?" Rofer said, "Big deal!" before sending his second fist at them.

Jayden struck at the first, successfully getting it out of the way, but Rofer's second fist caught Jayden in the stomach and smashed him back hard into the column behind him.

During that fray, Jayden had pushed Mike out of the way.

"Jayden! Are you okay?" Jayden provided no answer. "Don't worry! I'll take him out!"

Mike ran back towards Rofer, his fist still following him, until Mike jumped over Rofer and landed behind him, holding him steady before Rofer's two fists hit him back, hard.

"Gotcha!" Mike exclaimed, happy at the success of his plan.

"Oww! Once I wield my arms back, you're toast!" Rofer cried out.

But as the second fists settled down, freeing Jayden, the Red Ranger noticed that the Nighlock's arms were all tangled up.

Apparently, the Nighlock noticed that too. "No! My arms!"

"Time for a taste of reality, Nighlock!" Mike said. "This'll teach you to mess with my little brother!" He hooked up his Green Bear Disk up to the hilt of his Spin Sword. "Spin Sword: Forest Vortex!"

The green slash defeated Rofer's first life.

Jayden got back on steady feet and looked at Mike. He had really done it.

The other three Rangers had joined them too.

"Mike, that was amazing," Emily congratulated him.

"Yeah, you did great," Pink agreed. "Emily told us what happened. I'm sorry your brother was caught up in this mess."

"It's alright," Mike replied. "He's fine now. But thanks."

"I guess you did okay..." Blue muttered.

"Hey!" Mike hit Blue in the back with his sword. "Just 'okay'?"

Blue turned back around in a split second, his hand on his Sword.

"Woah, woah!" Pink stepped in between them. "Easy there! We're teammates, remember?"

"Good job," Jayden said to Mike. "But get ready for Round 2."

Rofer had grown large in a cloud of fire.

"I guess this knucklehead needs another beating," Mike said, stretching it out, before pulling out his Bear Zord (in Defense Mode). "I got this!" This time, Mike used his Samuraizer to enlarge his Zord (with the kanji for 'super'). "Bear Folding Zord, Ready!"

Rofer threw another spitball at him, but Mike just braved right through it.

"Bear Folding Zord: Mauling Mode!" The Bear Zord clawed its way to victory, but it was hardly making progress.

"He shouldn't be doing this on his own!" Blue complained.

But Jayden ignored him. "Let's go!" Jayden told Emily again, and once more, Emily nodded in acknowledgement and followed.

"Samuraizers!"

"Lion Folding Zord!"

"Ape Folding Zord!"

Blue and Pink used their own auras to enlargen their zords.

"Dragon Folding Zord!"

"Turtle Folding Zord!"

"Ready!"

Just in time too. Because Rofer had just kicked the Bear Zord, knocking it back several feet. The other four Folding Zords caught the Bear just in time.

"Woah, thanks guys!" Mike said.

"It's better if we stick together," Jayden repeated Ji and Emily's earlier words, before writing the symbol necessary to combined the Zords. "Zords Combine!"

"Samurai Megazord, We Are United!"

"I've taken this as far as I can on my own," Mike said, admitting defeat of his solo attempt. "Let's beat this Nighlock together."

"Right!"

"Here's the attack!" Jayden announced, as Rofer spat once more at them. The Rangers easily blocked the attack with their shield.

"You Rangers can't be me so easily!" Rofer called. "Arm Stretch!"

The Megazord stopped, watching as Rofer's arms sunk deeper into the ground.

Jayden motioned the Megazord to return the shield to their back, before holding out the sword.

"Just relax, okay?" he advised the other four. "Relax and follow my lead."

Mike turned to Jayden, who was studying the ground beneath them.

"What's up?" Mike asked. "We're not just gonna stand here waiting are we?"

"Get into your opponent's head," Jayden advised again. "Use your instincts to sense their next move and feel the attack coming."

"What?" Blue asked. "You sure? 'Cause Mike's way of beating this guy seems a lot more effective."

Emily thought back to last night, in the kitchen, when she and Antonio were observing Jayden while he was meditating. "'There's always more than one way to complete a task'," she repeated Ji's words. "I trust you, Jayden."

"So do I," said Mike, surprising Pink and Blue. "Let's do it." Jayden nodded in acknowledgment.

"Clear your mind," he advised. "Focus only on the Nighlock."

The Megazord's eyes dulled, until they were no longer on.

"Hey, did you fall asleep?" Rofer asked. "'Cause here comes your wake-up call."

"Now!"

A split second later, Rofer noticed that the Megazord had tied up his arms again.

"What?!" Rofer was obviously surprised, and angry at the same time.

"Yes!" Emily exclaimed. "We did it!"

"Let's finish this!" Jayden ordered, before the Megazord sliced off Rofer's arms.

The Rangers held out their swords in front of them. "Katana Power: Samurai Strike!" The five announced, before spining their Power Disks and then bringing their swords down in a downwards slash. The Megazord did the same, striking down Rofer.

"Samurai Rangers, Victory is Ours."

Mike listened and watched as the other four celebrated in their victory.

~B~E~T~T~E~R~~T~O~G~E~T~H~E~R~~~P~O~W~E~R~~R~A~N~G~E~R~S~~S~A~M~U~R~A~I~~R~E~D~O~

Cool Bean Café, Panorama City, California

Mike had joined Jayden and Emily (de-morphed this time, without Blue and Pink, who had disappeared when the battle was over) for some more coffee, or chai tea rather.

"You're asking me to stay at the Shiba House?" Mike asked.

Emily and Jayden both nodded. "Yeah," Emily said.

"Again, it's important if we all stick together," Jayden replied, before reassuring Mike, "You'll still be able to see and visit your family and friends. You won't be a prisoner."

"Oh, so I'll be a guest?" Mike asked, and Jayden nodded again. "Okay, I accept." Mike quieted down. "Because you're right. We are a team. He may not say it aloud, but I can tell that David's relying on you guys to help keep me alive. I made a promise to him, that we would win, and in order to keep that promise..."

"You need our help," Emily finished, because Mike trailed off and couldn't find it in himself to finish, tearing up at the thought of his brother hurt.

Mike gently smiled and nodded.

"You never need to ask for our help," Jayden softly said.

"Yeah," Emily agreed. "Because we are better together."

And Mike couldn't help but feel such warmness in his heart when he heard this and saw their smiles. All his old friends would only tease and make fun of him and David because David always tagged along with him.

And he couldn't help but wonder where these two in front of him were in the weeks after his dad left.

Mike had a feeling these two were going to be the best friends he ever had.

"Rangers Together," Mike muttered.

"Samurai Forever," Jayden and Emily (also muttering) finished for him.

TO BE CONTINUED...

~PRS~REDO~PRS~REDO~PRS~REDO~PRS~REDO~PRS~

Original Shinkenger Episode: Act 3

Original PRS Episode: The Team Unites

Note: I changed it from Mike's friends to Mike's brother, mostly because I see Mike as a cool older brother. Besides, when family is attacked by the enemy, it becomes more personal, and I also wanted Mike to have a solid resolution for being a Ranger. Also, for the morphs, think of them as being more like Shinkenger's morphs. They're shorter and a lot less boring when you look at them for a long time.

A/N: Do review, please. If you guys have any ideas you want me to consider adding, please PM me. A preview for the next chapter:

Season 1, Episode 4: "Deal With a Nighlock"

"Kevin goes through a rough patch just as one of Emily's many secrets is revealed."