Power Rangers Samurai vs. Ronin Warriors
Act 3: The Man in the Orange Pajamas.
Back at the Shiba House, the core five Rangers were tending to their sore muscles and drained Mojikara as they tried to make sense of what had just happened. They had faced off with a monster that took everything they had to destroy it; they had fought against more Moogers than usual; some guy showed up on their doorstep claiming to have some past relationship with the Shiba; AND; if that wasn't enough on their plates; there was Ms. Crazy Samurai Biker Chick lying unconscious in the dojo right now.
"I don't think I've ever seen that many Moogers in one place before." Mike commented.
"I didn't think it would take that much of our Symbol Power to take them all out." Added Mia.
"It was probably a good idea to go straight to the Gigazord to take that monster out, but I hope we don't have to do that every time there's a breach." Kevin concluded.
"Agreed. But it's nothing we can't handle." Jayden said confidently.
"So I guess it's time to dust off the Spin Swords and get to sparring?" Emily inquired.
"On that note, I have a present for you guys. I was going to give them to you earlier, but I lost track of time." Lauren said.
She produced several boxes and placed them before the five of them, who unwrapped the packages furiously to find new kendo outfits with hakama that matched their Ranger colors, similar to the one she wore.
"Thanks sis!" Jayden replied enthusiastically, with the others following suit.
"Perhaps there are other things we can do to improve our chances of victory. " Ji mused.
Grabbing Antonio, the two headed off to another room.
"Really, is there's 'other things'?" Mike shouted in disbelief. "We've got an armada of Zords, the Black Box, Shogun Mode, the Shark Disc, what more do we need? "
"There is the Shiba Fire Disc Lauren made." Jayden added. "But that's extremely powerful. But considering we normally can't use Shogun Mode outside the Zords, with what we've already faced, we may need it."
Ji poked his head into the room.
"Sorry, but we're going to need the Black Box, your Samuraizers, and Spin Swords. " He replied.
Everyone quickly handed off the required items, which Ji took into the next room.
"You need mine too?" Lauren asked.
"No, we need someone else to be ready just in case the Nighloks attack again. If they do, it's you, Antonio, Navcase, and maybe Sleeping Beauty. "He answered.
"Well, considering we're out of commission, we might as well go shopping." Mia suggested.
Emily jumped up at the suggestion and insisted that Lauren come too.
"But I need to be ready in case something happens!" She implored.
"Oh come on, Ji can call you If something happens, right Ji?" Emily said in defense.
With that the three were out the door, with Lauren dragged somewhat against her will.
"I'll check the books again. There seem to be more Nighloks than we thought, and if there are any more sitting in the Sanzu waiting to be let loose, I should see if I can find anything out. " Kevin replied.
"I'm going to go practice." Jayden declared, heading off as well.
"Well, I suppose I can try and help Ji and Antonio." Mike thought aloud. "But shouldn't someone be making sure what's her name's not trying to trash the place again?"
Jayden went through kata motions, at the same time trying to make sense of everything that had happened so far. The Nighloks were back, although Xandred was gone, Octoroo was still around to cause trouble. With Dayu absorbed, Xandred struck down, Octoroo was the last one left on the boat, and there wasn't too much he could do alone…
"Okay, now explain why you broke me out of jail and brought me to this ship." A man looking quite disheveled and dressed in orange asked the short statured squid man in front of him.
"Ooh-ah-ooh! Our plan can't work without you!"
"What plan?"
"Ooh-ah-ooh! We can't revive our master without help from you!"
"Revive your master?"
"Ooh-ah-ooh! You practice demon magic, don't you?"
This was a bit of a shock, this was something not many people, and still alive anyway; that knew the man in the orange jumpsuit was a practicing demon sorcerer.
"Well, yes, but what kind of demon are we talking about?
"Ooh-ah-ooh!" The creature said again-the guy in orange was on one hand contemplating hearing out this annoying walking calamari or turning him into takoyaki the first chance he got- "A Chimatsuri Dokoku!"
"A WHAT!?" The man in orange shouted incredulously, not believing his ears.
"A Chimatsuri…"
"I HEARD YOU THE FIRST TIME! Do you have any IDEA how hard it is to bring one of those back? I don't even know if I'm powerful enough to do that!"
"Ooh-ah-ooh, I can help you!" The squid man insisted.
"How?"
"By you drinking sake made from the waters of the Sanzu!" The creature replied.
At this, the man in orange was taken aback, and paused a minute to let this sink in.
"So that river out there is really…"
"The Sanzu! Ooh-ah-ooh!"
"So I'm in the Netherworld?"
"Ooh-ah-ooh!" The creature replied. The man took it as a yes.
"If you drink enough sake made from the waters of the Sanzu, you'll be somewhere between demon and human, and powerful enough to perform the ritual! Ooh-ah-ooh! The water's still not quite ready for you to drink yet!"
"And I'm sure you're going to tell me how we can do that…"
As the squid man explained that causing trouble in the human world would cause the waters to rise and thus make the water much suitable for using in the special sake, the man in orange swore he could hear a bunch of tiny voices singing a melancholy song…
Back in the mortal world, the alarm indicating Nighlok were on the loose, and Antonio was ready to rush out the door.
"Wait! We're almost finished!" Ji called, forcing Antonio to go back behind closed doors. Ji quickly called Lauren who said she would hurry over with Mia and Emily. Using his own Samuraizer, Ji created a horse for Navcase, who also rode to the rescue. The next thing the two hard at work Ji and Antonio heard was the door open.
"Jayden, we're still not ready yet…" Ji said, thinking it was the leader wanting to go into battle to back up his sister and this stranger who owed him.
"Um, Ji…that's not Jayden…" Antonio said, backing away. Ji turned to find a very awake and very ANGRY Sakura staring at them.
"WHERE'S SHIBA!?" She demanded.
"I'm right here." Jayden said, back in from his workout.
"We have unfinished business, you and I…" Sakura growled.
"Which we can attend to, anytime! But right now, my sister's going into battle with your buddy and not much else! You can either scrap with me, or go help them, your choice."
"Fine. Now where're my Swords?" She demanded.
Ji went over to a cabinet, removed the weapons, and returned them to her, as well as drawing a few kanji with his Samuraizer on her.
"I took precautions after your entrance and after what Lauren told us."
"This isn't over Shiba…" Sakura reminded Jayden as she headed out the door. Her bike revving and taking off throttles wide open was the next thing the three heard.
"Kanesada, how close are we?" She asked her motorcycle.
"I entered the coordinates you gave me from that Ji person into my onboard GPS, and we are approximately ten minutes out from our destination.
"Not fast enough." Sakura retorted.
"Mistress, you do realize there are speed limits to be adhered to." Kanesada reminded her.
"You know I only ride one way, W-F-O."
"I was afraid you were going to say that…" Kanesada said in disappointment as Sakura opened the throttles all the way and took off at top speed towards the battle.
Somehow, despite Lauren getting the call first, Navcase arrived on the scene before her only to witness Moogers terrorizing civilians. He wasted no time climbing off the horse, which vanished as suddenly as it had appeared and headed into battle. Lauren was next on the scene, watching Navcase try and fend off the Moogers all by himself.
"We've got to hold out until the others can get here…only way that's happening is with this…" Lauren said to herself after morphing, holding the Shiba Fire Disc out.
A bunch of Moogers had surrounded Navcase, but they were quickly dispatched by blaster fire. He looked towards the source and it turned out to be Lauren, armed with the Bullzooka and in Shogun Mode. Navcase acknowledged the help and Lauren joined the fray. Hopefully, like before, the Nighloks would send in tons and tons of Moogers first to try and wear them out before sending a monster to mix things up. Sure enough, more would appear just as a group was dispatched. But a few blasts from the Bullzooka and slashes from Navcase's sword took them down. More appeared, but these Moogers seemed different. This was soon proven as blasts from the Bullzooka ricocheted away harmlessly and they were unfazed by nothing short of Navcase's holy katana. Navcase managed to hold them back as Lauren put in an urgent call to Ji.
"Ji, the Moogers somehow got stronger! My Spin Sword and the Bullzooka aren't working, only Navcase's sword is! We need help fast!" Lauren pleaded.
"The girl who accompanied Navcase is on her way to your location right now. Antonio and I just finished our work and he, Jayden, Mike, and Kevin are all on their way."
Right on Cue, a creature that looked like an elephant emerged from a gap and breathed fire towards the two of them.
"Not going to work on me." Lauren warned. "But we're going to need Kevin and Antonio to stand a chance."
That was before she spotted a fire hydrant.
"I've got an idea. Keep him busy for a sec." Lauren explained. "Symbol Power! Hose!" She exclaimed, drawing some kanji and a hose appeared, which she plugged into the hydrant and then let the flaming elephant have it.
"CURSE YOU!" It shouted back. But its attempts to insult Lauren and Navcase were drowned out by a motorcycle engine.
"Mistress, please remember that the side cannons were removed so that we could travel low profile." Kanesada reminded Sakura.
"I'll just have to do this the hard way then." Sakura replied as she skidded to a stop and then hopped off.
"Who's first?" Sakura asked the Moogers and the monster.
"GET HER!" The monster shouted, pointing in Sakura's direction.
Swords in hand, the foot soldiers raced towards Sakura, who at the last possible moment drew her blades and started taking them down with a reverse grip.
"She's not half bad." Lauren commented as Sakura downed Mooger after Mooger.
Navcase, of course, knew that Sakura was only getting warmed up.
More Moogers showed up and Sakura tore into that group as she had torn into the first.
"My attacks aren't going to do too much to him, but I can at least try and keep him busy until the others show up!" Lauren thought to herself.
Back in the Netherworld, Octoroo had already begun to panic.
"Ooh-ah-ooh! What are we going to do?"
His new tenant only smiled and began chanting something.
Back in the Mortal world, the flaming elephant struck Lauren with such force it knocked her completely out of Shogun Mode!
"What the? What just happened?" She said to herself in disbelief.
A fire blast was directed at Sakura, but she dodged it.
"You call that a fire attack?" Sakura taunted, joining her blades at the hilt. "Let me show you how it's done."
"I have a bad feeling about this…." Navcase thought to himself.
"Chou…An…Do!" Sakura incanted. Her blades erupted with flame, and the rapid gathering of energy was felt even in the Netherworld. She then shot skyward.
"FLARE UP…NOW!'
A flaming shockwave spread out, vaporizing quite a few Moogers but phasing the monster.
"What the…I coulda sworn that would Exodus the bastard…" Sakura replied weakly before passing out. Navcase and Lauren hurriedly dragged her off the battlefield.
"Hrm, only two left! Time to finish this barbeque!"
The monster's dinner plans were interrupted by the entrance of the other Samurai Rangers, and an arrow shot from Kevin.
"Careful bro, this guy knocked me out of Shogun Mode." Lauren warned.
"Let's take this guy from a distance then." Jayden decided, spinning the disc on his sword.
"Fire Smasher! Cannon Mode!" He declared, transforming his zanbatou into a disc launcher using the Swordfish Disc.
"We better leave the Lion out of this shot Jayden. No telling what adding fire to this guy will do." Kevin suggested.
"Agreed." Jayden said in response.
Using Antonio's Octozord disc in place of Jayden's, the other four loaded the disc launcher and opened fire, which sent the monster reeling.
"Looks like he's not finished yet." Mike replied.
"Let me use the Black Box Jayden. I think a concentrated strike with Water Symbol Power should be enough to take him out."
Kevin inserted the Super Disc into the Black Box, and the white coat appeared on him. Strangely, everyone else went into Mega Mode.
"This is different." Mike observed.
"Super Samurai Mode!" He declared, inserting his Dragon disc into the Black Box next, and then headed for the Monster.
"Super Dragon Splash!"
Lots of explosions erupted on the monster, but it still stood there, but reeling.
"Enough's Enough. " Kevin replied.
"Wait! I have to tell you about the modifications Ji and I made!" Antonio exclaimed.
"Okay, but make it fast." Jayden replied.
"Okay, any time one of you goes Super, the rest of you go Mega. That should give you a little more endurance."
"I thought we couldn't go Mega outside the Zord cockpits?" Mia wondered.
"Nothing saying we can't, right? Also, spin your black discs the other way and…"
The Rangers did so and their Spin Swords turned into Mega Blades!
"Coolness!" Mike exclaimed.
"Let's hit that guy with everything we have! Kev, get ready with the Super Bullzooka." Jayden said.
"Got it Jay."
Mega Blades in hand, the four Rangers charged the monster once again.
"Fire Symbol Strike!"
"Tree Symbol Strike!"
"Earth Symbol Strike!"
"Sky Symbol Strike!"
The four Rangers struck with attacks that traced the path of their respective Kanji, hurting the monster even more.
"Say goodnight Nighlok…" Kevin replied, firing the Super Bullzooka, which finally took out the Monster.
"Ready for Round two?" Jayden asked as the monster grew to giant size.
The Rangers summoned the Gigazord once again and let the monster have it, but instead of destroying it, it was still standing there!
"Usually when we do that the monster goes bye bye and Jayden says, 'Samurai Rangers, victory is ours.'" Mike observed.
"Yeah, and that's our strongest attack, short of the Shark Sword." Jayden mused.
"So you're saying we should try that next?" Emily asked.
"No, we need to do just the opposite." Kevin replied.
"Kev?" Jayden asked.
"You're going to think I've lost it, but bear with me." Kevin said.
"Okay, what do we need to do?" Jayden asked.
"Go all the way down to Samurai Megazord, I go Shogun Mode, and we hit that thing with all we've got."
"You got it."
Zords were dismissed, and their most basic combination stood before the monster.
"Shogun Mode! Power of the Ancestors!" Kevin said, transforming.
"I hope this works…" Jayden said to himself.
"Samurai Megazord! Samurai Strike!"
A slash from the large katana of the Megazord took down its opponent and it was down for the count.
"Samurai Rangers, victory is FINALL Y ours." Jayden said.
"That took forever!" Mike exclaimed in relief.
"I don't know what's going on with these monsters, but I think the weirdness is going to continue." Jayden commented.
"I don't feel like cooking tonight, let's go out to eat." Mia suggested.
"Yeah!" Emily exclaimed at the suggestion.
"Let's drag Sleeping Beauty back to the house first, get Ji, and we'll get going." Jayden replied.
As the Samurai Rangers ate out, many mysterious black forms approached the compound.
"All right, we'll go over the wall!" Ryunosuke declared.
"There's no door over here." The second youngest of the three girls pointed out.
Plans for some kind of cool entrance were aborted as they entered through Sakura's self-made entrance and headed into the house.
"Okay, we need to find their training outfits and copy them! Spread out!"
The six people in black fanned out through the house, and carefully but deliberately searched through their stuff for their training outfits.
Ryunosuke, Takeru, and the third boy finished their task quickly, and were met outside by the youngest girl, who had finished her task as well.
"I'm done. You sure this is worth it?" She asked.
"Of course Princess, you'll see!"
"I still have trouble believing it." She replied.
"That's okay Kaoru; I still have trouble believing that you're Takeru's mother." The third boy said.
Under her mask, Kaoru was clearly miffed by the comment, and when the other two girls arrived, they proceeded to find Kaoru whacking the third boy with a fan.
"He made another mom joke, didn't he?" Mako asked.
"Yeah. He had it coming." Ryunosuke replied.
"Mako, Kotoha, what took you so long?" Takeru asked.
"I'm sorry Tono-sama, but they had so many clothes in there! " Kotoha exclaimed in observation of Mia and Emily's closets, causing the others to sweatdrop.
"I'm not sure if she was fascinated or surprised more, but I had to keep her from making off with their wardrobes." Mako added.
Meanwhile…
"You're sure she'll like what we brought back for her?" Lauren asked Navcase off in the distance.
"Yes. "
"Are you sure she's not going to try and challenge me when she wakes up?" Jayden asked.
"Quickly! Let's get out of here!" Ryunosuke called.
The six ran back out the way they had come in, their mission accomplished.
"Did you guys hear something?" Kevin asked.
Everybody looked at him with looks that said they hadn't.
"We should really do something about that door she broke…" Jayden said, observing that one of the doors to the compound was still not repaired.
"We'll get to it tomorrow." Ji replied.
Back at Mr. Brown's…
"Okay Ryu, we copied their training outfits, even though it required us to break into their house to do it. Now what?" Mako asked.
Ryunosuke paused for dramatic effect; he was a kabuki actor after all. Then he proudly announced:
"Now, it is my opinion that our counterparts were missing something. So I asked myself what it was they were missing. And my conclusion was they don't have kuroko. So we're going to be theirs!"
"And just how are we going to do that?! How are we supposed to know when they need us to play dress up for them?" The boy in green asked.
"Yeah, Chiaki's right. We have no way of knowing when a monster will attack and where." Mako added.
Ryunosuke surprisingly had an answer for them.
"While we were at their house, I noticed their gap sensor is electronic, unlike ours at home. Whenever a monster trips it, it will send an alert and map coordinates to our Shodouphones. Then all we have to do is put up the screens, dress them up, and we're all set!"
"I'm going to bed…" Kaoru said, clearly reaching her limit from the flight over from Japan, breaking into Jayden's, and now Ryunosuke's crazy plan reaching its peak.
"Me too…" Mako yawned.
"Me three… Night Ryu-san, Chiaki-kun, Mako-san, Tono-sama, Hime-sama…" Kotoha replied, heading off herself.
Just then, the doorbell rang.
"Who could that be at this hour?" Chiaki wondered. He opened the door to find the seventh, technically sixth member of their little band.
"I MADE IT!" The incredibly happy young man at the door exclaimed.
"GENTA-SAN!" the girl in yellow exclaimed, turning quickly to greet the new arrival, only to slip and fall. "Ow…"
This brings this chapter to a close…