Season 2 Episode 12: Pup Fu! Steal Back The Ancient Scroll From Harold!
February 20th, 2030
Four days since Ben had discovered the Dragonzord off of the coast of Angel Grove thanks to the merpups. Ever since then, Ben had been working on ideas on how to retrieve the massive mecha from the ocean depths. It was over 120 feet tall, and none of their vehicles would be able to lift it. Rubble's superstrength and Skye's whirlwind wouldn't be able to either. Rocky doubted his energy constructs would be capable of moving such a titanic object.
To take his mind off of it, Ben and Farmer Yumi had held a martial arts training session for the pups (minus Alex, who was sick with a cold and was being quarantined). If they were going to be Rangers, Ben reasoned, then they should be able to fight like them too. Ben knew that every Ranger was able to fight in hand to hand combat without the usage of their powers. Marshall had a head start in the martial arts training, as he had already begun practicing before any of the other pups.
Ben watched as Rubble did a backflip and slammed his paws into the wooden board that Ryder was holding, snapping it in two. "Strong kick, Rubble!" Ryder complimented.
"Good kick… you've got a good grasp of that move." Ben mused.
"Thanks Ben! Thanks Ryder! Can I break another one?" Rubble asked.
Ben chuckled. "We aren't teaching you these moves to break stuff, Rubble. We're teaching you these moves so you and the rest of the pups can defend yourself." Ben reminded the bulldog.
"Yeah. Maybe you should work on some other Pup-Fu skills before we run out of boards." Ryder suggested.
Ben walked over to Yumi and waved. "How is the rest of the training for the team going?" Ben inquired.
"Going well! Tuck and Ella are very quick learners, and they're almost ready for their white belts. The rest of them are ready to test for their yellow belts, while Marshall is preparing to move on to his brown belt. How is your own training coming along? Are you ready to try for your senior red belt?" Farmer Yumi remarked, before inquiring about if Ben was ready to move onto his next stage.
Ben nodded his head in approval. "That's excellent. The pups have been doing amazing with adapting the techniques for their own four legged physiology. As for me, I'm still practicing. When I feel ready to attempt the trial for my senior red belt, I'll tell you. How are your honeymoon plans going?" Ben replied, before countering with another question.
Sensei Yumi laughed. "It's going wonderful! Al and I are planning to go to see some relatives in my ancestral home of Panorama City, Japan. It's a wonderful place, though it had some problems a few years back. In fact, my cousin Jayden is visiting today! He'll be along to help supervise the trials shortly." Yumi responded.
"That's wonderful!" Ben cheered.
"Out of all of the pups, I'm most impressed with Marshall. He's learning to move as quietly as a mouse." Yumi then said.
All of a sudden, Ben felt a tap on his leg. Looking down, he saw Marshall walk in between his legs and look up at him.
"Looking for me?" Marshall giggled.
"Well, your teacher was right. You are moving stealthily!" Ben grinned, picking Marshall up and giving him a belly rub.
Little did they know that they were being watched… "Laugh while you can. My Catastrophe Crew will get their yellow belts before those pesky pooches, and I'll show Ben my superiority in martial arts!" Harold sneered as he watched the Paw Patrol on the hidden surveillance cameras.
"Harold, isn't this kind of like stalking? I mean, I'm also a bit of an evil genius myself, but don't you think that spying on the every move of your enemies is a little bit… excessive?" Henry Humdinger asked his nephew.
"Oh shut up. Mom does the same thing when she races. She spies on her opponents and learns their racing techniques, their weaknesses, the modifications they've made to their vehicles…" Harold replied.
The mayor shrugged before walking off to attend a meeting for Foggy Bottom's city council. He didn't understand what Harold's obsession with beating those pups was. Besides, his relationship with Genevieve was still going strong! They had shared many romantic evenings together, in both Adventure Bay and Foggy Bottom.
Hours later, Mayor Goodway and Chickaletta showed up. "Mayor Goodway?! You're taking self defense classes from Sensei Yumi as well?" Ben asked in surprise.
"Well of course! Foggy Bottom is no Adventure Bay! The crime rates down there are absolutely outrageous! I don't have a concealed carry permit, and pepper spray isn't always going to deter someone, so I started taking Yumi's course." Genevieve answered.
Ben scratched his head before nodding. The pups then displayed their skills and demonstrated the progress they had made with their training. Marshall performed a successful tailspin, Rocky used his pup pack's grippers to spin a small bo staff around and do a somersaulting vault with it, Skye did a backflip and some side kicks while in midair, Zuma did some graceful movements, the twins performed some basic martial arts techniques, and Rubble performed several kicks, while Chase was stopped by the presence of a cat.
Harold came in wearing his uncle's top hat. "MY Kitten Catastrophe Crew will now perform their Cat-Jitsu. Of course, Cat-Jitsu is much better than Pup-Fu." Harold boasted.
"It's not which martial art is superior. The point is for all pups, kittens, and people to try to do their best." Sensei Yumi pointed out.
"Exactly! I try to do my best more than anyone! Especially a bunch of mangy mutts!" Harold sneered.
Ben curled his hand into a fist as a brown-blond haired man came into the barn, which had been repurposed as a dojo. "Sorry I'm late, Cousin Yumi. Am I too late to see the pups spar?" The newcomer asked.
"No, you're right on time, Jayden. The sparring is just about to start." Sensei Yumi told him.
Ben extended his hand for a shake with Jayden. "Hey. I'm Ben Allen. Are you Yumi's cousin Jayden?" Ben asked.
"That's me. My name is Jayden Shiba. When I heard that she was training a group of pups to do martial arts, I decided to come and see it for myself." Jayden answered.
"What's so funny about pups doing martial arts?" Ben chuckled.
"Well, martial arts is a very sacred tradition for the Shiba clan. It's only taught to outsiders if they're considered worthy. I'm not saying that these pups aren't worthy, but it still intrigues me nonetheless." Jayden answered.
As they watched Zuma and Chase fight, Harold spied a scroll and walked over to it. "What's this, some sort of scroll?" Harold wondered.
Immediately, Jayden pulled Harold away from it, giving him a glare. "This ancient scroll is very precious. I inherited it from my grandfather, and it's been in the Shiba clan for hundreds of years." Sensei Yumi explained.
"It contains the deepest secrets of martial arts, swordsmanship, and even technology. Our grandfather sent it to America for that branch of the family to protect. In the wrong hands, this scroll could be extremely dangerous." Jayden continued.
"I understand." Harold solemnly said, bowing in response to them. The group then walked back to continue overseeing the tests.
"So, you and your friend Ryder are the leaders of a… rescue force?" Jayden questioned as Marshall fought the blue kitten of Harold's group, dodging a yarn ball and kicking the cat away.
Everyone clapped. "Yes. I call it the Rescue Force, but Ryder calls it the Paw Patrol." Ben replied.
Jayden acknowledged this with a nod of his head as Farmer Yumi presented Tuck, Ella, Chase, Rocky, Zuma, Skye, and Rubble with their yellow belts. Marshall whimpered as he waited, but then Sensei Yumi gave Marshall his brown belt. "I am very proud of all you pups. Your dedication and determination would certainly please my ancestors." Sensei Yumi remarked.
"HEY! What about my kittens!? They deserve their yellow belts too!" Harold protested.
"I'm sorry, Harold Humdinger. Until your kittens learn to control themselves and their tools, I'm afraid they cannot earn their yellow belts." The martial arts instructor sternly scolded. Harold glowered with a look of pure rage, and shook his head.
"Fine. Be ignorant to the pure skill of my cats. Come on, Catastrophe Crew. We're leaving." Harold darkly said, the kittens hopping in the rocket powered pet carrier and Harold drove off sitting on top of it.
Ben and Jayden spent a few more hours talking and discussing Japanese culture and swordsmanship, as well as other subjects such as the Paw Patrol and their adventures, before the sun began to set. Jayden seemed very interested in the Mighty Pups incident. "So you could say that you, Ryder, and Chase are somewhat leaders of a Power Ranger team?" Jayden inquired.
Ben grinned and rubbed the back of his head as he blushed. "Yeah, I suppose so. I'm more of a Green Ranger than a Red Ranger though. Ryder's more of a leader than I am. Chase can take charge when it's needed, though." Ben admitted. Marshall and Ben enjoyed Jayden's company so much that they stayed at Farmer Yumi's late into the night, and it was extremely dark outside by the time they stopped talking.
Tonight was pitch black, without an ounce of moonlight. Ben's pup pad was dead and he didn't have his flashlight on hand. Not wanting to have them go home in the pitch black, Farmer Yumi offered for Ben and his pup to stay the night. Both agreed to this, and slept on the couch in Farmer Yumi's house. The next morning, Ben and Marshall were woken up by Jayden shuffling around, fixing some scrambled eggs. Marshall ate some pup food and Ben chowed down on a PB&J he had in his backpack. "I'm going to go and check on the scroll." Jayden said after they finished breakfast.
Ben followed him, and the two of them were shocked to see the scroll missing. The barn door had also been busted down, which would have taken a lot of strength. Ben had a suspicion about who was behind the robbery, and Marshall started sniffing. "It smells like metal… and cats." Marshall mused as he sniffed through the barn, before seeing some brown fur strands that weren't there previously. "These are new… shed several hours ago! They weren't here yesterday! I think it's the Kitten Catastrophe Crew and Harold!" Marshall exclaimed.
Jayden slammed a fist into the wall. "Where is he!?" Jayden demanded, turning to Ben.
"I know where he is. Harold lives in Foggy Bottom with his uncle." Ben answered. Jayden started to head out, but Ben stopped him. "I'm not letting you do this alone, Jayden!" Ben told Yumi's cousin.
"This isn't your family matter, Ben. The scroll is the Shiba clan's. With it, Harold could not only master forbidden martial arts and sword techniques, but he could also make a morp-" Jayden started to argue, but clenched his mouth shut.
"...That scroll has instructions on how to create a morpher!? AND YOU LEFT IT OUT ON YUMI'S TABLE!? WITHOUT EVEN A GLASS DISPLAY CASE!?" Ben shouted. Jayden nodded his head solemnly. "I had a feeling you were a Ranger. I started becoming suspicious when you started asking me all those questions about the Mighty Pups and how they were like a team of Rangers, and you would always give cryptic answers about how you had been through similar stuff. Who are you really?" Ben asked.
"I'm Jayden Shiba, the Nineteenth Red Samurai Ranger and the current head of the Shiba Clan." Jayden sighed after deliberating on whether to tell Ben the truth. "Ben Allen. Unofficially the newest Mighty Morphin Green Ranger. Let's go and get that scroll back from Harold." Ben replied, smiling. Marshall went to his fire truck, Ben got on his green motorcycle, and Jayden got in his car.
It was about an hour of driving to get to Foggy Bottom, and Ben parked on a desolate beach. The kittens ran out of the cave and started to approach Marshall. "I'll handle these! You two go and get the scroll back!" Marshall called out.
"It's morphin time!" Ben yelled, grabbing the morpher from his belt while Jayden drew out a special phone from his pocket.
"GO GO SAMURAI!" Jayden shouted as he drew a glowing kanji in the air with the phone, using it as a paintbrush.
"Green Dragon!" Ben cried out.
"Red Samurai Ranger, ready!" Jayden declared. The two of them drew their swords and charged into the cavern.
"NO! Not now! I'm almost finished saving the scroll to my computer and translating it! HAROLD-DROID, BUY ME TIME!" Harold's voice echoed through the cavern as a robot charged towards them with a sword in hand. Ben and Jayden parried the sword strikes and began to battle against it.
Meanwhile, Marshall was clawing and kicking at the Catastrophe crew, but he was starting to get tired out. "Need a helping paw?!" A familiar voice cried out. The sound of a horn rang out as a motorcycle drove across the beach, covering the blue and red kitten catastrophe members in sand.
"WILD!" Marshall cheered happily.
"Ryder told me what was happening and asked me to help since I was already in Foggy Bottom! Let's kick some naughty kitten tail!" Wild smirked as he leapt into the fray and helped Marshall out.
Back inside the cave, Ben groaned as the battle between him, Jayden, and the Harold-droid raged on. The robot was able to counter their sword strikes perfectly with blinding speed and precision. "I see you've met a match in my Harold-droid! The most advanced fighting machine ever created, modeled in my own image!" Harold gloated.
"I'm getting tired of this stupid robot and Harold's arrogant tone! Let's finish this!" Ben roared.
"You got it! FIRE SMASHER!" Jayden agreed, spinning the disk at the hilt of his sword around and transforming it into a zanbato, a cavalry sword. Delivering a blazing slash to the robot, it was cut cleanly in two, and then Jayden sheathed his sword, causing the robot to explode. "SAMURAI FOREVER!" The Samurai Red Ranger exclaimed.
Ben ran forward, entering Harold's private chamber and pointed his sword at the Humdinger. "It's over, Harold. Step out of the chair!" Ben ordered.
Groaning, Harold stepped out of the chair as Jayden came into the room. Retrieving the scroll and wrapping it up, he nodded to Ben. The eighteen year old swiped his sword across the printer and the computer, slicing them into pieces and making sure to destroy the memory chips.
Ben and Jayden then exited the cave to see Marshall and Wild standing triumphantly over the defeated Kitten Catastrophe Crew. "Way to go, you two! Thanks for helping out, Wild." Ben complimented.
"My pleasure!" Wild chuckled.
Ben extended his hand for another shake with Jayden, who returned the handshake. "Gotta say, this was a fun little teamup. Do you Rangers do this sort of thing often?" Ben remarked.
Jayden chuckled. "It happens once every season or so." Jayden answered.
Removing his armor as he got back on his motorcycle, the group returned to Adventure Bay, where they stopped at the Lookout. Ben and Jayden told Ryder of their adventure, and then Jayden left to return the scroll to a new location. Before leaving, though, Jayden gave Ben his number. "If you ever need some advice from a fellow Ranger, just give me a call and I'll answer." Jayden promised.