Chapter Seven

Hidden Truths

Jerry pauses for a brief moment, gazing over Kat curiously. She was staring at him expectantly, a smile on her face. It didn't quite help his irate mood, the way she watched him.

"It's okay, take your time." Kat says, with a soft smile.

He breathes- in, and out, trying to stop his running pulse. He directs his glare to the empty streets, as he recounts the betrayal he faced at the hands of Luka Silva.

"A few years ago, I used to live here. I did, for most of my life, before I began training under the Order of the Claw." He begins. "In a twisted way, I have Luka to thank for helping me awaken my animal spirit."

Kat's brow furrows. "Luka? Six foot, mechanic, a bit of a nut?"

"He has gotten taller." Jerry hums. "I don't expect he's told you about this."

Kat nods. Luka avoided talking about his social life (or lack thereof), or family life for that matter…

"I knew him in high school. He was troubled. Harassed and bullied. I saved him one day, pulled him out of a tricky situation." Jerry redirects his glare back to the window. "A few weeks later, he said he wanted to repay me. He took me to a back alley, and those same scum were waiting for me."

Kat's eyes widen- "I'm so sorry. But… Are you absolutely sure it's this Luka that did that? He doesn't seem the type..."

"I don't forget a face." Jerry mumbles. "I don't get how you trust that traitor. You'll have a knife in your back soon enough."

Kat raises a hand to her chin. She knew Luka had a troubled history with his peers- hence, his lack of a social life. But, it just didn't add up.

"Well… The Luka I know always does things for a reason." She says. "Maybe he was trying to save himself, and knew you could handle it."

"I don't care to find out." He utters with disdain. "I stepped outside because I would have assaulted him otherwise."

"Well, whatever he's done to you in the past, I can't have you beating up my best friend. Believe it or not, that's my job." Kat smiles. "Why don't we try… Uh…"

Jerry quirks a brow as she trails off, tilting her head to look behind him. He turns as well, and shares her confusion.

A strange-looking person, with the cast molding of a gecko on their head. It had no visible eyes, but it looked to be searching for something…

"Uh… What's that guy doing over there…?" Kat mutters to herself, inching just a bit closer.

They were quick to dart their head towards the two- and the mold on their head began to glow. Their body folded and shifted, growing sharp scales and a reptilian head. A tail unfurls from its back, and it stares at the two with large, yellow eyes.

"Get back!" Jerry yells, as the reptile darts towards them on all fours. It raises its barbed tail, and it collides with a giant, white bear- Kat's animal spirit.

"You!" The lizard speaks in a high-pitched shrill. "You're the wolf's bear daughter! And the cobra we missed!" It giggles as it steps back, the scales decorating its body standing sharp. "Lady Dai-Shi will be pleased with Gekkouga! Prepare to die!"

The beast grunts, and its red scales go flying, darting towards Jerry and Kat. Though the White Bear manages to take the brunt of the assault, one slams into Kat's wheelchair, knocking it off-balance. She grunts as it tips over, using her arms to brace her fall, her animal spirit vanishing as she does.

"Gah, crap…" she mutters, glancing back to Jerry. "Hey, hold this thing off, alright? I'm gonna go get help."

Jerry scoffs- "Just stay out of my way," but nods despite his words. His serpentine spirit, the silver cobra, slithers around his arm. He wasn't looking forward to working with people, but this beast took his priorities.

"Slithery, slithery…" Gekkouga's grin widens, as its red scales grow back. "Come and be Gekkouga's prey!"

Abi pulls off her right arm, and glares at it. It was more beaten up than she thought because of that fight… Two long gashes, and the shoulder joint wouldn't move all the way… That was all the visible damage. She's the tech-inept of her family, she shuddered thinking of what could be wrong with the inside.

She sighs, begrudgingly. There's only one person she knows of that could fix this- and quickly.

"Luka," she says, walking over to the table he's set himself up at. He looks deep in thought, until he hears her. "I need a favor…"

Luka smirks, tapping the table. "I always dread hearing you say that- holy shit." He winces at the sight of her arm. "Did you put the thing in a blender?"

She drops the prosthetic onto the table. "Long story. Our enemies use blades."

"So do I have permission to put a retractable knife-"

"You're not putting a sword in my arm, dude." She grumbles, as he lifts open one of the plates to the circuitry underneath. "Please? Just this one favor?"

"This is far more than a "favor", dear." Luka lifts the arm closer- and grimaces at the dust-worn wires and boards. "Buuut, since you're my friend, I'll do it. For a price."

"God, you're insufferable." Abi grumbles. "Can't you just do it from the goodness of your heart?"

"Moral purity does not fund my passions, nor fill my belly like good ol' extortion." Luka smiles. "You could let me put the retractable-"

"Literally anything else, please." Abi says, putting on a fake smile. "Name your price. Pizza?"

Luka pouts. "Last I checked, you still owe me approximately… Three and a half pies." He scratches the side of his head as he tries to think. "Hmmm… You know, there's this nifty little vintage arcade system. Fighting game, you might like it. A bit worn, but an exciting new project nonetheless." He proposes, with a grin.

Abi crosses her arms and frowns. "Kat would fix it for free."

"Kat would fix it for free-" Luka mimics, rolling his eyes. "She also has an entire college facility at her disposal."

"Which she would mail to her favorite starving artist garage junkie in a heartbeat."

"You're the one that said anything but the sword! I was offering you an upgrade for free!"

"Do not change the subject, I'm not trying to cut someone's hand off!"

Rock chuckles from the corner of the room. "Y'know, you guys kind of bicker like a couple." He says, watching the two banter over "prices". "Must've been together for a long time, huh?"

Abi blinks, unimpressed, while Luka bursts into mad laughter. "Yeah, no." Abi snorts. "I have actual taste."

"You're a knockout, hippie dude-" Luka wheezes out. He was cackling as if it was the funniest joke he'd ever heard. Abi thought that laugh was rather fitting for him- it sounded quite like a hyena.

"What?" Rock shrugs. "I mean it, you guys have chemistry."

"Chemistry? We'd make potassium nitrate, dude."

"As pals, sure. But…" Abi sighs, as Luka's laughter begins to quell down. "Romantically? He doesn't have a shot-"

A red scale embeds itself into the window with a crack.

"What's happening out there..?" Rock mutters to himself- bringing attention to the brawl outside.

The door is shoved open roughly- Kat drags herself into the pizzeria. "Uh… Hey, I'm back!" She greets, with an awkward chuckle.

"How the hell are you back already?" Luka asks, holding open the door with his elbow and pulling Kat upright, into his arms. Despite his rough words, his movements are careful, as he sets her down into a chair.

"Short flight. Also there's a lizard monster trying to kill the blonde one that stepped outside."

Abi scowls, and turns to Rock. "Hey, you can fight? Come on!" She yells, grabbing her broken arm from the table and storming outside.

"Coming, coming!" Rock picks himself up as well, approaching the beast with haste.

Mia sighs to herself, rubbing her temples. Arguing didn't really sit well with her, and her master and her so-called "friend" bickered like children. She had quickly made her way to the back of the shop for some peace and quiet.

She turns from the kitchen, and comes across a flight of stairs… Odd, the place didn't look like it had a second story from the front. Curiosity drives her as she makes her way up the stairs.

At the peak of the flight was a huge loft. Her eyes darted around the room in wonder. It looked like a place you could train and relax in- and it was huge.

But, she notices a large steel box. It was sitting atop of a table, clamps undone. Her curiosity drives her just a bit further, as she reaches to open the crate.

Her brow furrows at its contents. A plush inside, with three… Strange looking watches, and spots for at least ten more… But, they looked a bit familiar…

She closes the box and puts it into her arms, heading back down the staircase in search of an answer.

"Aren't you going to fight?" Luka asks Kat, almost curiously.

"Great idea, I'll just throw myself onto its back and hope for the best." Kat grumbles, glaring down at her legs. "I could ask you the same."

Luka glances at his hand, and flexes- trying to channel those small sparks. But to no avail. "I think they'd just be more pissed if I just tried hitting it with a wrench." He sighs.

Their feeling was mutual- wanting to help, but unable to do so.

Luka quickly changes the subject- "So how's that "gift" coming along?"

"I kind of figured it out on the ride here. It's definitely something with the lifts." Kat mutters. "One of them falls apart whenever I try the door… Think it's a faulty part."

"So you didn't need my genius after all." Luka smirks, leaning back.

"How's your car? The one I helped pay for?" Kat asks, sarcastically.

"She's in bad shape…" He runs a hand through his hair and sighs. "Nothing permanent, thankfully, everything busted can be replaced."

"And I'm assuming that your little cat-friend did all of that." She sighs. The conversation looped back around to what they were trying to avoid.

"Yeah, pussy to the rear…" Luka chuckles, weakly.

Kat sighs once more, and notices Mia standing to the side of them- and the box she was holding under her left arm.

"Oh, where'd you find that?" Kat asks, curiously. "Were you working on those again?"

Luka only grimaces. "Ugh, those failures. Your dad wanted to see them a while back or something, I just dropped them upstairs."

Mia works up a couple of words- "Uh, these… What are they?"

"They're morphers. Or, well, they're supposed to be." Kat mutters. "Basically, they're meant to turn us into Power Rangers, like my dad."

"It's much more complicated than that." Luka snaps. "The fusion of spirit and man seems more like magic than science, but after a bit of study, I realized it was possible to contain such a powerful form more efficiently… Or, I thought I did." He frowns. "The mechanisms are solid, it's getting the spirits to respond to it that's difficult. So I've been looking at other methods- and similarly, they all suck."

"Me, Abi, and Luka- we all have animal spirits. My sis and I especially. But when we tested them on ourselves, the devices didn't react properly."

"You can wear the bloody thing out." Luka waves Mia off, opening a bottle of water.

She blinks- and looks at her wrist. One of them had latched onto her… "I… I didn't…"

The morpher shudders- blinking with a pink light. The plates on its head shift- and it forms a leopard with an opened jaw.

… Kat blinks in surprise. "Uh, Luka? What did dad do to them, exactly?"

Luka almost chokes on his water, eyes widening. "H… What… Hell if I know, I didn't program that."

Mia glances at the watches remaining, and the battle outside. Her mind made up, she runs out the door, grabbing the other two watches.

… "If Abi asks, we fixed it." Luka mutters.

"If Abi asks, we fixed it." Kat agrees.

"I'm getting fed up with this thing…" Abi grimaces, using her prosthetic to block a strike from Gekkouga's barbed tail once more.

Gekkouga smirks as she does so, and his tail wraps around her arm. He lifts her with the tail, and throws her right at Jerry and Rock, causing all three of their spirits to disperse.

"You're fed up? You humans take so long to die!" Gekkouga hisses, scales raising up once more. "Gekkouga's fed up!"

Abi glares at the gecko, summoning her Bear spirit once more. Jerry's Cobra and Rock's Dingo are quick to join, standing defensively around their masters as another round of scales are shot at them.

Abi glares at the gecko, clutching her battered prosthetic, and charges forwards, ramming into the Rin-shi's stomach with her bear spirit.

"J-jerry..!" A quiet voice pipes up behind him, and he jolts. He feels his spirit slither around his arm, and he shudders, before turning to Mia.

"What?" He hisses- but she only slaps a strange-looking watch into his hand. She does the same for Rock as well. The morphers latch onto their wrists, and shift. "What the hell are these?"

Rock blinks in surprise. "Hey, my boss has one of these! These are morphers, right?" He asks. Mia nods in confirmation. "Thought so. This can turn the tides! Just follow my lead, mates."

Mia nods, trying her best to mirror Rock's movements- but as she turns back to the gecko, it puffs its cheeks, and spits out its tongue right towards Abi, wrapping around her throat.

She had to do this, to save her master.

"Jungle Beast- Spirit Unleashed!"

It was a flash in her mind, as she felt the leopard's spirit envelop her, becoming one with her in mind and body, giving her its precision.

She saw Jerry to her side, donned in silver armor, rushing to the gecko beast with a pair of blades in hand. His movements are swift, and he slices through the beast's long and slimy tongue. A boomerang strikes Gekkouga in the eye, and it returns to Rock's hand.

Abi coughs as the tongue slacks free from her neck, falling to the ground. Mia stands in front of her master, a chakram in her hand, ready to defend against the beast once more.

"This… Isn't good…" The gecko hisses, eyes darting frantically for an escape. "Lady Dai-Shi won't be happy to hear this…"

Its spiked scales flatten back down, and Gekkouga gets on all fours, taking off in a mad dash, tail between his legs.

Jerry scoffs as the monster leaves, and his armor fades away. "That was pathetically easy." He utters, rubbing his temples. "And equal parts bizarre…"

Abi lifts herself off of the ground, clearing out her throat. "Jeez… If gramps or my sis saw that, I don't think they'd ever let me live it down."

She moves to cross her arms- but her left arm shudders- breaking down across the forearm. "Oh, goddamnit…" she hisses. That monster's tail did her prosthetic the rest of the way in…

Old as it was, the arm had a bit of sentimental value. Her father built it for her some time after the accident… But, in its wrecked and worn state, it was likely broken beyond repair.

"Luna," she calls- tearing off the remains of the prosthetic. In its place emerges a bear's claw. No opposable thumbs, but it served its purpose.

"Do you think we should pursue it?" Rock asks, gesturing vaguely in the direction Gekkouga had ran off. His armor had dissipated as well, briefly as it was, but his dingo spirit remained wearily at his side.

"Nah. Not yet." Abi mutters, surveying the area once more. The street was empty- except for…

Her eyes widened- an elderly man limping towards the pizzeria, battered and bruised as if he were just ambushed.

"Gramps!"

She quickly runs to support him, and falters- drained of energy. His weight leans heavy on her, and the bear arm fades, as they both hit the ground.

"Hey! Any help?!" She yells- and it's Rock that comes to aid.

"Here, I got him." Rock says, gently taking a hold of the strange old man. "Let's head inside. Catch our breath, lick our wounds."

Jerry's eyes narrow at yet another new addition. "This is starting to look more like a psych ward and less like a restaurant." He hisses to himself.

"Luka, you mind getting my extra wheelchair?" Kat asks, watching as her grandfather and sister reenter the pizzeria. Rock lays down Master Finn on one of the booth's seats.

"Am I your delivery boy?" Luka rolls his eyes, getting up regardless. "There's… Something I wanna check up there anyway…" he mutters, and heads to the loft.

Something was bugging him. He mulls this over as he hops up the stairs- turning to a table on the side… He scans over the papers and machines that littered the table- there was something that he couldn't figure out that RJ did.

And if this was going to be a regular occurrence, he needed to figure it out a bit quicker.

He folds the blueprints and shoves it into his back pocket, grabbing Kat's folded-up wheelchair as he turns back around.

Master Finn gives a low grumble, slowly coming to. The room was filled with mainly unfamiliar faces, save for...

"Hey, grandpa…" Abi speaks softly. "How are you feeling?"

He shakes his head- "Don't treat me like I'm down for the count just yet. It's not nearly as bad as it looks." He huffs, bringing himself upright slowly.

Abi hums. Her grandpa was quite stubborn. "Let's just cut to the chase. What happened to you?"

Kat wheels herself nearby as well, a dark expression on her face.

"I was meeting with your father… But the both of us were attacked by Dai-Shi's minions…"

Kat gasps- covering her mouth. "I… That's impossible. I thought he was destroyed."

Jerry frowns- crossing his arms. "That monster was talking about a Dai-Shi as well… There's something you're not telling us, is there?"

Abi feels her skin run pale, as her mind flashes back to the terror she saw in the Forbidden Room. "Well… Uh…"

Kat frowns, and speaks up for her sister. "Dai-Shi is the name of an evil spirit. Years ago, he tried to conquer our world and overthrow humanity. But, he was stopped by the Rangers, and destroyed… Or, so we thought."

"And I'm guessing this has something to do with that Forbidden Room." Jerry inquires.

"Well… Yeah." Abi nods. "I just didn't know how to break the news."

There were still parts of the story she didn't know how to tell- but… What they didn't know probably wouldn't kill them, right?

RJ grumbles as he awakens, greeted by the familiar view of Dai-Shi's palace. His body felt sore, his wounds still fresh.

He brings himself upright, and his wolf manifests, on edge. "Easy, boy… Easy…" He mutters, running his hand through his animal spirit's mane. "We'll find a way out of this mess."

The wolf barks, pleased, and disperses.

"Very nice party trick." A voice speaks down the hall. A dark figure approaches the bars of his cell, and speaks with a sneer in their dark voice. "But I'd advise you to save your energy, Wolf Ranger."