Lola rushed in the direction of the four; she could not believe that Li of all people hit her friend. That was something she did not even see coming at all and she did not care about the fact that he had just saved their lives, she was going to give him a piece of her mind and maybe even get a punch in, if possible. She continued past Angela towards the direction of the others and clenched her fists the closer each of her steps brought her towards them. She focused on the furthest on the four, her target and continued until she noticed the one closest towards her, Nick Starr; stop her from going any further.

"Outta my way surfer boy!" Lola said ready to swing at him.

Nick's green eyes focused on Lola's instantly and she felt her body freeze with apprehension, "What good do you think it will do now to retaliate against a man who had just saved your life?"

"That asshole over there hit my best friend!" Lola screamed in the direction of Li, "What he did earlier has nothing to do with what had just happened!"

"Do you really believe that?" Nick answered, "Do you really believe that you have the right to attack a man who risked his life and saved you from what was in that Mall?"

"You're just defending Li because he is one of you!" Lola snarled.

"And you are defending Angela because you don't think she can when it comes to Li." Nick said guilelessly, "Which is admirable, but I don't think it is warranted."

"What do you…" Lola started but Nick moved his hand up to keep her from continuing.

"Look at what has just happened and do you think you two would have been better off without him or the others coming to save you? Do you think that even Angela with all her determination could have really made it out of there alive without him?"

Lola stood silent for a moment and knew that when it all came down to it, Angela was angry. Her friend cared for the guy and she didn't know how to show it without tearing into him. She sighed in defeat and said, "Yeah, we do owe him. But I just don't like how that went.

"None of us did." Nick confessed, "The man who saved you, is not the same Tommy Li we all knew a couple of years ago and I don't even think that guy is no longer around anymore. Go back to Angela and just be with her and tell her not to worry about Li, we'll make sure he'll come back in one piece."

Lola nodded quietly and continued back towards the direction of the approaching sirens and Angela. She took one more look back at the small group still walking towards the other side of the Mall, wondering what exactly it was they were going to do next.

"I can't believe that he slapped her." Steve Hart finally decided to let his presence be known to Nick after watching the whole conversation unfold in front of him. He had to admit he was still feeling a natural high from watching Li and Angela's conversation from earlier, but was more surprised by how Nick handled Lola.

Nick stayed silent for a moment watching Li and Nancy continue past them towards the area where they entered the Mall. Even though he was still new to this, he was very familiar with Tommy long before this day. Truth be told, he respected him for the craziness that he pulled when they were in Junior High. There wasn't a person at Hoover Jr. High that didn't remember the stories of the young idiot who got his butt kicked trying to do the right thing. He even saw one fight he had trying to protect a young woman from three people who were harassing her. The same young woman he had slapped just now. Would he have done the same to Amika if he was in Li's position? He wasn't too sure about that at the moment. Though he still wondered where exactly she was and would she still be alive when they found her. He didn't want to keep that thought close, instead he focused back on the present and the comment Steve had just made.

"He has been through a lot that much is obvious." Nick reflected looking towards Li and Nancy, "Those two had been fighting long before either of us. It just seems that he's fighting for something more than just the fate of the world."

"I get it." Steve moved up towards his friend, "He lost his mother and a whole bunch of friends; but I never thought he of all people would just slap Angela like that. I've wanted to, but those two have always been close. You should have saw him before everything went to shit, this guy here is nothing like him."

"I know exactly how he was." Nick said remorsefully, "I respected him a lot back then and if how he handled Angela is any indication of what this will do to any of us, I think that we will be in for a rough ride." he turned back towards his car and motioned for Steve to follow him, "Let's head back to the Lair and tell Kaku what has been going on over here."

Other side of the Parking Lot

Nancy looked quietly at the silent Li still licking his wounds from the fight and slapping Angela in the face. She had never seen him act so dark towards anyone like that before. Even in his most anger filled moments, he never crossed a line like he did right there. What was going through his mind right now? Why would he even go as far as hitting her like he did? She understood it and there were moments that she wanted to slap her silly because of the remarks that she made towards them. Yet when it came to him, it was like she sparked a nerve with him when it came to how he acted. In fact, she looked at the young man walking in front of her like a different person.

He had always been serious when it came to being the Kirin Ranger, but this was different. Almost like he was more driven to do what needs to be done; then she had to remind herself that this was his home. The last piece of humanity that he really had left in him, if that went then he would more than likely become an empty shell.

"I know you think I did the wrong thing back there." Li stopped a few feet in front of his bike.

"Think you did the wrong thing?" Nancy tilted her head slightly before she answered, "You hit Angela in the face! Since when did you think that it was all right to hit a woman in the face?"

Li stayed silent for a moment before he answered, "Would you have preferred that I would have used my Daibuster on her?"

"That's not funny and you know it!" Nancy snapped. "What the hell has gotten into you? Before the fight you were acting like you were gung ho to do the right thing and now you are one wonton short of a full plate? You didn't even show up when Steve and I were fighting Dansaku!"

"I had a situation of my own to handle!" Li turned around, his eyes were still filled with that coldness that it made Nancy shiver for a moment before she moved forward towards him.

"You know I am not going to take that shit from you!" Nancy saw Li stand down and turned back towards his motorcycle, still reflecting on what had happened earlier. She swallowed before she started talking, "Why did you do it, Xiao?"

Li was silent, he did not want Nancy to see the pain on his face.

"You had been waiting to see her again for a long time and then when she got on you about everything, you just slapped her. That's not like you at all."

"She kept blaming us for what happened back there." Li started, "I couldn't stand it. We did all that we could to protect those people back there. I did what I could to keep her out of trouble and all I got from it was anger."

Nancy slowly moved closer until she was only a few inches away and wrapped her arms around Li and held him tightly, "You knew that this wasn't going to be easy."

Li sighed in defeat, "I didn't think that it was going to be this difficult."

"Give it some time." Nancy said soothingly, "You've only been home for a little bit. A lot of the people here are expecting to see the person you were."

"I don't even know if that person is ever going to be able to come back." Li answered.

"Give it some time." Nancy leaned into Li's back, feeling how much he was trying to keep his calm.

Nancy closed her eyes for a moment, feeling the distress in Li's body. Every time she felt him like this, a part of her wanted to tell him how she felt towards him. How she wanted to help him get through the pain that he had to endure right now. Even though, she had to remind herself that she wanted to keep all of this simple and not let him any closer than she wanted him to be. Was that really the right thing for her to do? Was the distance she kept between them really enough for her to keep going? She tightened her grip just a little more, ignoring the sound of the police sirens in the distance. Slowly, the sounds began to fade away into white noise until all she could hear was the sound of Li's body breathing.

Their quiet moment was interrupted by the sound of their Aurachangers beeping, immediately, Li pushed Nancy off of him and reached for his Aura Spader and activated the communications end of it, "Xiao here, what's up?"

A soft toned feminine voice piped through the device, "It's Chin Mei, Kaku wants you and Nancy to head back to the Lair."

"Everything ok?" Li asked.

"It has to do with what happened over at the Mall." She answered, "Just hurry."

Drip….Drip….Drip

The sound of dripping water filled Mishelle's ears; it was the only thing she could truly make out right now. She didn't remember much except for the fight in the Mall against that guy with the tentacles, how he wrapped his appendages around her and tried to squeeze the life out of her body. There was more going on, she remembered the two multicolored warriors trying their best to get to her and then things got real hazy, except for that large red dragon.

That's right! There was a giant dragon that saved her from what was going on and that was the last thing she remembered before she totally blacked out. Now she wasn't exactly sure where she was except she could hear the sound of something dripping nearby. Slowly, she opened her eyes noticing nothing but darkness, but she almost instantaneously regaining her bearing as her eyes fixed on a faint light in the corner, which shined on some old railroad tracks on the ground.

She took another moment to realize that she was underground somewhere, which meant that she was safe from the mysterious monster that was attacking her. Yet she was now somewhere else which could be either safe or more danger depending on who or what she would encounter from here.

"Hello?" Mish said looking around to see if she could get someone's attention.

She continued walking for a couple of minutes in the dark, until she noticed one more doorway with some light coming from it. Very cautiously, she walked into the room and noticed that this was some kind of living room, with a couple of couches placed next to a small television at the far left corner of the room. To the corner next to her, were trees and a counter covered with some Chinese artifacts and some Japanese newspapers. She took a look at the other corners and noticed that they had Chinese Statues of a man and a woman, and to the center she saw a large pedestal and a floating green orb next to it.

She slowly turned around to see a red motorcycle with the initials R.K.-1 on the sides. There was something familiar about it, she could not place it, but she moved slowly towards it and tried to touch the vehicle and before she could react. The motorcycle nudged her. Mishelle moved back and fell onto the floor in complete fear. She didn't understand what exactly was going on around here especially given all that she had seen in the past couple of hours.

"Get the fuck away from me!" Mishelle screamed heading into the room, noticing another door leading out which she immediately headed towards to find some way to safety.

She continued to run out of the room, her body feeling like it was losing strength the more she moved further on. She decided to ignore it and find a way to escape and hopefully get home and forget all of this. She regardless of the pain she was feeling in her legs while she noticed a light in the distance getting closer and closer until she finally headed through it into the outside. It took her a second to regain her bearing once more. Instead of finding buildings and cars, she found herself in the middle of an old cannery district. Immediately, she saw the skyline of Long Beach in the distance, telling her that she had to be in San Pedro or Terminal Island, at least in the area that was called Furusato by the Japanese Americans who lived here before the 2nd World War.

Mishelle took a look around and noticed that she stood in front of a Fish Cannery. She saw that there were Japanese characters written on the side of the building. She was definitely in the remains of Furusato and this cannery was the only thing that remained of the old village. There were no cars nearby nor was there the sound of a ship or a boat coming from the water. She was totally alone with no real way to return to the city.

"Welcome to the old Dairenoh Fishery, Mishelle Reynosa." A feminine voice said from behind her.

Mishelle turned around to see a young, athletic Chinese woman standing in front of her. For a moment she watched this newcomer staring at her, wearing one those traditional dresses that you would see in some martial arts movie, but what surprised her more was the friendly look on her face. Given all that has happened to her today, she felt uneasy by the look that this woman was giving her right now.

"You don't have to be afraid of me." The woman said in a soft reassuring voice, "You are safe here."

Mishelle raised an eyebrow, "Safe?! Given that I have just seen people dressed in strange suits fight a tentacle creature. Not to mention I was just rescued by a giant dragon, I think I will be all right as I am."

Before the young woman could reply to Mishelle's statement, their attention focused to the sound of a car approaching the Cannery. A sign of relief appeared on Mishelle's face; she could get out of this place and then head back home. Her feet began to move slowly and with each step they picked up until they were near a run until she finally approached the vehicle.

"Thank God!" Mishelle screamed, "Can you give me a lift…"

She stopped mid sentence when she saw the faces of Nick Starr and Steven Hart greet her.

"You got to be kidding me!" Steve answered dumbfounded at Mishelle's appearance.

"I am all for coincidence." Nick said looking past Mishelle towards the young Chinese woman, "But this is becoming a little beyond that."

"Nothing is coincidence, Nickolas." The woman, Chin Mei, answered him, "Everything happens for a reason."

"Then you are saying Amika was captured for a reason?" Nick asked, his calm demeanor was slowly chipping away, "You are saying that these Gorma are…"

Mishelle interrupted, "What do you mean Amika was captured?"

"Yes." Nick said calmly, "Before the attack on the Mall, I was attacked by Dansaku as well. I had asked Steve and Tommy Li follow you, Angela and Lola because we weren't sure you would be next."

A look of confusion appeared on Mishelle's face, "Why would you want them to follow me?"

"Perhaps that is where I should explain." An older, male voice echoed from behind Mishelle.

An older gentleman dressed in a brown Zhongshan suit approached the small group of people. There was a look in his brown eyes that was one would not see in a man his age. He stood there in front of the four of them, almost like he was a deity that had come down from the heavens to pass judgment on those mortals who lived on Earth. He gave himself a moment to adjust the brown head band wrapped across his forehead before he continued to speak.

"Master!" Chin Mei bowed down in front of the new arrival.

"Relax, child." The older gentleman said calmly, "There is no need for formality right now. In fact I think that this conversation should be continued back inside the Cannery."

Chin Mei nodded and motioned for the others to follow. Mishelle was hesitant at first, but was reassured by the calm nod that Nick had given her.

"Forgive me for not being around to introduce myself sooner, Mishelle." The man's voice echoed with authority and kindness, "My name is Kaku and I am glad to see that you were able to survive an attack from Himo Dansaku."

"What?" Mishelle asked as she reentered the living room area, her eyes following the master as he sat down at in the center of the room.

"Himo Dansaku is from a race of ancient beings called the Gorma." Chin Mei answered, "The Gorma was one a mighty clan that ruled part of what you now call China. They were known for their brutality and military force. Kaku and I are part of a tribe known as the Dai; a clan that has been fighting against them for just as long."

Kaku decided to interrupt Chin Mei, "You have been chosen to become part of the mighty team known as Dairanger. Created mainly to keep the rest of the Gorma and other evils from destroying the Earth, and both Western and Eastern Civilization as we know it."

"Dai—what?" Mish asked.

"Dairanger. The chosen warriors of the Dai Tribe." Chen Mei said,

"Why me?" Mish asked, "Surely there are others that are more worthy of this."

Kaku answered, "Perhaps, but you have always known that you have been destined for something grand and mystic. That was definitely evident by the way you unleashed that power inside the Mall. This is the beginning of that journey Mishelle, and you have been chosen by Ryuu Sei Oh."

"I am impressed." Nancy answered as she entered the room, "But not surprised that you are the one that was chosen, especially after that little fireworks display."

Li walked in behind her, still smarting from what he did at the Mall, he nodded in acknowledgment to the people in the room and looked in the direction of Kaku patiently waiting for things to settle down.

The master calmly continued, "You five have been called together to stop the Gorma from destroying this world and enslaving humanity. I only hope that you all can stop this from escalating into something very horrific."

Mishelle took a moment to look around knowing that some of these people were strangers to her, and yet some were friends. She knew that they were chosen for a specific reason, and no matter that reason she would have to follow through. That whole incident at the Mall told her that something wrong and maybe they were the ones to stop it. She took nodded at the two people in front of her, letting them know that she was ready to follow through with the task that was given to her.

"Now you are the last to become a Dairanger, here is the one important thing you need to use." Chin Mei said as she handed Mishelle two small devices. The first one was a small oval shaped device with silver lining a little ring sticking out of it, with the phrase "Aurachanger" written in the center it, this device was called a Gyazar Bar. The second device was also rounded and had gold lining; on one side there was a slot to place the small circle, this device was called an Aura Spader. "These Aurachangers will increase your Chi abilities, and give you the edge to fight against Gorma."

She continued to look at the devices for a long time, this was the moment that Mishelle had waited for all of her life, the moment to prove that she was more than the young woman that everyone perceived her to be. This was her time to show the world that she was capable of being someone others could look to, she was a Dairanger!