Chapter 7
The house was mostly quiet, the only sounds Antonio and Ji's quiet murmurings, and of Evie and Jayden sparring outside.
Evie twisted, countering Jayden's attack before spinning and launching one of her own.
Jayden moves with her, neither letting up as they countered and blocked each new attack.
Kevin had declined to join them preferring instead to read his book, while Mia, Emily and Mike were likely engrossed in trying to figure out what Antonio and Ji were doing.
"He's trying," notes Jayden.
"Good," replies Evie.
They continued practicing, focusing on blocking, countering and quickly reacting to new attacks when Antonio came out the door with his fishing trolley.
"We're going fishing," he beams as Evie and Jayden both take a break and look at him.
"No we're not," says Ji as he follows him out with the lightzord in hand.
"We're not?" pouts Antonio.
"No, we need to keep working on this. But we need privacy," replies Ji as he walks past him.
Antonio sighs and follows after him, Evie and Jayde both chuckling, "wanna bet Mike did something?"
"Please I'm not that stupid, who else would it be?" smiles Jayden.
They continue training, eventually dispensing with their swords and practicing their hand to hand instead.
About an hour after Ji and Antonio have gone the gap sensors start to blare, the other four running out and the six of them take off.
They run along one of the paths following the location the map had given them.
"Look over there!" shouts Emily as they see Antonio's fish trolley and the lightzord lying on the floor.
Mike picks it up, "where are Antonio and Mentor?" he asks.
"They would never leave this behind," says Mia.
"Someone must've ambushed them," guesses Kevin noting signs of a scuffle in the grass around the bench.
"I think you're right," nods Jayden.
"Mhm, no way Antonio would leave his trolley and Ji would never leave a zord just lying in the dirt," agrees Evie as she starts looking around.
"Oh man, this is all my fault. They wouldn't have come here if I hadn't been messing around," realises Mike.
"Finally figured that out huh?" asks Kevin.
"Enough," interrupts Jayden.
Evie rests her hand on Mike's shoulder, "playing the blame game gets us nowhere."
"All that matters is finding Antonio and Mentor," says Jayden.
"What was he doing with this thing anyway?" asks Mike looking at the lightzord.
Kevin notices something on the ground and picks it up, his eyes widening when he realises what it is, "hey guys," he calls.
"What's that?" asks Emily.
"It's Antonio's fishing spool," explains Kevin, "and it leads, that way," he smiles as he looks in the direction.
"Damn Antonio, got to give you props for that one," admits Evie, "assuming of course it was Antonio, and not the Nighlok leading us into an extremely unpleasant trap that could result in our painful demise."
Everyone looks at her, "sorry, but got to admit, fair point."
"We'll be careful, but either way it'll lead us to Ji and Antonio," says Jayden as they begin to follow the spool.
Soon coming to an entrance down into the maintenance tunnels that ran all underneath the city and surrounding area.
"Of course it leads to a creepy tunnel," sighs Mia.
"Trap, definitely a trap," repeats Evie.
"They must've taken them down there and we can't leave them. Just be careful and keep your eyes open" advises Jayden, "and just to be on the safe side," he pulls out his samuraiser.
The others follow suit, "go, go samurai," they call before morphing and then descending down the steps and into the first room.
"Its too dark down here to see," says Kevin.
"I can fix that," says Mike, as he lifts up the lightzord and it immediately begins to glow illuminating the tunnel.
"Also a big flashing sign saying here we come, spring the trap," says Evie.
"Evie I love you, but please, now is not the time for your worst case scenario commentary," says Jayden.
Evie nods and mimes zipping her lips as they continue through the tunnel following the spool.
Antonio struggles against the rope, getting more annoyed by the second, "what do you want from us Nighlok?" he demands.
The Nighlok just laughs, "I already have what I want, you two."
"Why us?" asks Antonio.
"You're the catch of the day. You're my bait to lure the rest of your colour-coded friends."
Ji sighs, while Antonio continues to struggle.
"Wouldn't you like to give them a call?" asks the Nighlok holding out his morpher. "I'm sure you would," he adds moving it closer. "Well too bad," he laughs as he pulls it away. "They'll come for you, from the only entrance to this valley, right there. And when they do, my mooger army will be waiting with open arms."
"Don't worry, we'll just have to keep the faith the team will find us," assures Ji.
"We don't need faith, remember my fishing spool, well I accidentally dropped it. Wonder if someone will find it, maybe someone with a love of red," smirks Antonio quietly.
"This time you've surprised even me Antonio," nods Ji.
"Yeah but even then, its still a trap and he's probably laid more in the tunnel."
"Believe me they'll be expecting a trap," assures Ji.
"How do you know?" asks Antonio.
"Because Evie watches far too much TV, she'll be saying trap from the moment she sees your fishing spool."
"She doesn't trust me."
"It's not that, she'd be saying that even if you hadn't dropped your spool. As she likes to say, her mind is dark and full or terrors. She tends to think worse case scenarios, she'll suspect this, and not let anyone forget it when she's proven right," smiles Ji.
"You know I've figured out every member of this team, except her."
"Antonio let me let you in on a little secret. The only one who has even come close to figuring Evie out, is Jayden. And that has taken him years to do, even now sometimes not even Jayden knows what's going through Evie's head."
"She scares me," says Antonio.
"Then you're a smart man, Evie scares everyone."
"Even you?"
"Even me," chuckles Ji.
As they get further in Mia and Emily look around, "I've got a bad feeling about this," says Mia.
"Yeah this is beyond creepy," agrees Emily.
"Trap," repeats Evie before holding up her hands at the reproachful look she knows Jayden is throwing at her from under his helmet.
A little while later Jayden finds the other end of the spool, "end of the line, literally."
"Everyone, be on your guard," advises Kevin.
"Anything jumps out, or appears out of nowhere hit it as hard as you," nods Evie, "no hesitation people," she adds as she draws her sword.
Everyone draws their swords as well forming a defensive circle as they begin to hear echoing through the tunnels and moments later their surrounded by moogers, "I fucking knew it," huffs Evie as the moogers launch themselves at them.
"You know when you first came back, I thought you were trouble. I'm glad to say I was wrong," admits Ji.
"You are?" asks Antonio.
"Yes, you deserve your spot on the team. You are truly worth your weight," he trails off with a chuckle.
"In gold," finishes Antonio with a smile.
"Sure."
"You know I thought proving to you I deserved to be here was going to be the hardest thing. I had no idea it was going to be one of the rangers that was going to be the hardest to win over."
"Why are you determined to win Evie's approval? I understand why you wanted Kevin's, he was being openly hostile to you, and it was damaging the team. But Evie hasn't been as vocal, I doubt the others even realise she's not exactly happy with you, so why does impressing Evie matter to you so much?"
"Because she's my best friends girlfriend, and clearly the one person he listens to more than anyone else. And because I feel like she's my harshest critic, the one lurking on the edge waiting for me to screw up and ring my neck for it when I do. And sometimes we seem fine, but then something sets her off and I feel like I'm on probation," admits Antonio quietly.
"One thing you should know about Evie, despite her personal feelings, she would never, ever try and turn Jayden against you. She knows how much you mean to him and him to you. And at no point will Evie ever try and come between that. That was one thing I've always known beyond a shadow of a doubt since your return. She'll accept you as part of Jayden's life, she isn't questioning you in that manner, nor would she try and cut you out of his life completely."
"Did you miss the part where she told me if I couldn't get over my fear I'd better disappear before she made me disappear?" asks Antonio.
"Evie has never been shy about dealing with things. Not her relationships, not her opinions or differences of them, not her training and not when she feels strongly about something. But while she might've meant that in terms of as a samurai, she didn't mean it as Jayden's best friend. Evie is far too secure in her relationship to ever be that petty, and she loves Jayden too much to try and cut him off from his best friend."
"I still need to get her trust back though."
"And you will, if you can bring me around, you can bring Evie around. It will just take a little time, continue doing as you have, and you'll have earnt her respect back in no time."
"You think?"
"I know, Evie might seem it sometimes, but she isn't unreasonable. She just sometimes needs to remember not everyone quite matches her in certain aspects."
"Jayden said something similar," smiles Antonio.
"Then listen to him if not to me. He's the closest thing in this world to an Evie whisperer," chuckles Ji.
Antonio nods, "you know in case we don't get out of this, thanks for putting up with me" he smiles, "and you know believing in me."
Ji smiles until the Nighlok reappears, "all I believe in is capturing the rest of your team" he smirks.
They six of them fan out taking on the moogers as they go.
"Talk about a lot of moogers," says Mike.
"But no Mentor or Antonio," notes Kevin.
"Hey check out the lightzord, its flying around on its own," realises Jayden and a moment later it gets kicked aside by the moogers.
"Uh oh lightie got drop kicked," winces Mike.
"I'm more concerned about us getting drop kicked," retorts Evie.
"There's no end to them," says Emily as the moogers keep coming.
"If I could just take out these fishes faces I have a feeling the lightzord could help us," says Mike.
"Don't worry I got their backs" assures Mia as she takes out the moogers around Mike, "make your move," she says as she creates enough a break for him and he manages to get o the lightzord and picks it up.
"Hey I think there's something it," he realises.
"Less talk, more do Mike!" shouts Evie.
"Got it," nods Mike as he hits the lightzord and a disk flies out of it, "coming at you!" he shouts.
The disk lands on Jayden's hilt and he spins it, "shark attack mode" he activates and sends a blast out that takes out all the moogers around him and as the smoke clears everyone sees a variation of what comes from the black box on Jayden.
"Damn," nods Evie.
"Antonio did it, now we can unleash the shark disk power whenever we want," says Jayden before he unleashes the power of the new disk easily taking out he moogers.
"When you mess with my friends you fish in dangerous waters," smirks Jayden.
"Puns, more freaking puns," mutters Evie shaking her head.
"Okay I see why you like your whip," nods Kevin as he looks at Evie.
"I'd love to try shark mode with that" she says as they regroup around Jayden.
"Now let's go and find Ji and Antonio," says Jayden as they take off running through the tunnels, powering down to conserve energy.
They eventually come out into a valley and their eyes widen.
"I hate being right," mutters Evie.
"Didn't we already fill or quota for the day?" asks Mike with a sigh.
"There forces seem to be concentrated along the valley," notes Kevin.
"You're right, that must be where they're expecting us," agrees Jayden.
"But even if we charge down there we're still outnumbered a 100 to 1," points out Emily.
"True, luckily I have a better idea," smiles Jayden.
"I know that smile, someone is about to have a very bad day," smirks Evie.
Jayden just nods and pulls out the black box, "why go by land, when we can go by air?"
"They're not going to know what's hit them," smiles Mike.
Jayden fires up the battle wing, the black box allowing him to pilot it alone and he starts blasting the moogers, while the others wait for the distraction before charging down onto the valley. They soon close in on the Nighlok and where he had Ji and Antonio.
"Surprised to see us?" asks Mike as he takes out a few moogers, the other doing the same and the Nighlok turns realising he's been surrounded and Mia had let Mentor and Antonio free, Kevin sending a blast at the Nighlok and knocking Antonio's morpher into the air, Emily catching it and throwing it to him, and he morphs.
"How in the world did you rangers figure out my trap?" the Nighlok demands.
"We have a very, very, suspicious black ranger," smiles Kevin.
"And people say planning for the worst case scenario is overkill," smirks Evie with a shrug as she idly spins the end of her whip in a circle.
The Nighlok turns to run but finds himself faced with Jayden and his powered up shark disk, "not so fast."
"Rangers together, samurai forever!" they shouts closing in on the Nighlok who looks around.
"Rangers to left of me, rangers to the right of me, I can't believe my eyes," he says.
"Who's getting the last laugh now?" asks Antonio.
The Nighlok lets out a nervous laugh before growling.
"Your plan didn't work, and now its coming back to bite you," warns Jayden.
"You make me spitting mad!" shouts the Nighlok as he turns and fires an attack at Jayden who deflects it like it was nothing.
The moogers close in again and the seven of them launch into their own attacks taking them out one after the other.
Ji smiles from the side as he watches them fight, taking out the few moogers who get too close.
As Antonio continues fighting the lightzord flies around him taking out moogers before landing in his hand, at that moment the Nighlok joins the fray.
"It's time for lights out, and you're not even getting a bedtime story," he cackles as he attacks Antonio. "And seeing you lose will be a happy ending."
"Not so fast," retorts Antonio, "battle disk scatter shot," he smirks as he activates the lightzord and sends it at the Nighlok and he's thrown backwards.
Jayden walks over to Antonio then who nods, "nice outfit."
"Watch what shark mode can do," nods Jayden as he turns and run at the Nighlok, activating the shark disk as he does so, and it completely thrashes the Nighlok, destroying him with a few easy attacks. Jayden brandishing the shark disk power with the ease that only came from watching Evie use her whip for years.
As the Nighlok explodes he turns and Antonio cheers, "yes, I knew we could unlock the shark disk."
The Nighlok grows into his second life then, "I've got my eye on you."
"Now what?" asks Mike looking at Jayden as they re-group.
"Same as always, with a bit more bite," answers Evie.
Jayden nods and they pull out their zords and form the megazord, Jayden appearing in the cockpit with the shark power up still intact.
"All right," nods Mike.
"Now we're ready," smiles Jayden.
Antonio follows suit and soon both megazords are stood side by side.
"I'll wipe the floor with both of you," warns the Nighlok.
"I never get why they gloat when we've literally just kicked their ass," muses Evie, "oh well, let's take him down."
The battle begins anew, but the Nighlok turned out be smarter in his second life than his first and he knocks the megazord down before blinding and trapping the clawzord.
"We've got to help Antonio," says Jayden.
"I've got your golden boy rangers, what are you going do now?" taunts the Nighlok.
"Don't worry, we'll blindside him," assures Jayden, they activate the megablade and combined with the black box and the shark disk it separates from the main megazord and charges at the Nighlok biting him enough that he lets go of the clawzord.
"Oh yeah," laughs Mike.
"Now time to combine the shark disk with the megazord," says Jayden as he does so, activating the artillery before sending the now shark disk blade at the Nighlok, "Sharkzord slash!" they shout at the same moment Antonio send his clawzord attack and the Nighlok explodes.
"Oh yeah, hell of a team effort!" cheers Antonio.
"Samurai rangers victory is ours," smiles Jayden.
Mike fills up the cats food bowl before walking back over and joining the others, sitting down next to Emily who leans against him without thinking and Mike smiles wrapping his arm around her waist as he starts snacking on the trail mix.
"Well I have to say, against all odds, you got the job done. And I for one will be eternally grateful," smiles Ji.
"Yeah, me too," nods Antonio with a smile, "so is the shark disk great or what?"
"You truly outdid yourself this time," smiles Jayden.
"Yeah I for one, love the new look" says Evie as she looks at Jayden.
"Oh no, now he's going to be even more full of himself," chuckles Kevin.
"I'm just glad you two are okay," says Jayden with a smile lacing his hand with Evie's.
Mike eyes zero in on the emptying bowl of trail mix and then on the cat food still at his feet, with a smirk he refills the bowl and holds it out to Antonio, "hey Antonio how about some more snacks?"
Antonio smiles and reaches for them but Ji intercepts the bowl and pulls it away, "better yet how about I make you something from the kitchen," he says as he takes the bowl, the cat food and gives Mike a pointed look before heading back inside.
Antonio looks oblivious as everyone else laughs.
"What?" he asks and they just laugh again.
"Never mind," replies Mia.
"The same thing again, you disappoint me," says Evie looking at Mike.
"Worth a try," smiles Mike.
Emily shakes her head and nudges him.
Jayden looks at Evie, who smiles, "so you like the shark disk then?"
"You could do with a couple of lessons on how one properly work a whip, but yes, I do. I like the new outfit too."
"Guess we'll need some more training then," flirts Jayden.
"Guess so," agrees Evie her gaze flicking to his lips before coming back to his eyes.
Kevin who sat next to them shudders and then clears his throat.
"Do I need to throw cold water on the two of you?"
Evie and Jayden look at the others sheepishly, "Sorry."
"Good job though Antonio, genuinely, that shark disk is going to be a huge asset," nods Evie.
Antonio smiles, "thanks," he says thinking back to what Ji and Jayden had said to him. Just keep doing what he was doing and he'd get back in Evie's good books, he just hoped they were right.
A/N: So just a heads up the next chapter is going to be a little heavier on the personal stuff, hope you enjoy :)