Hola, bonjour, and what not. Storm Hawk 21 here with the latest chapter for Samurai Forever. Again, I would've updated sooner, but I haven't been online in a while. Plus I was and still am working on two other, new fanfictions that I definitely will be posting as soon as I edit and revise some things. They aren't one-shots, and I've planned for them to be pretty long. How long I have no idea. But be on the look out for them.

Second and foremost, a very sincere thank you to everybody who's been reading this humble little story of mine. Samurai Forever has already passed 1000 views! I can honestly say that I wasn't expecting that. Heck, I wasn't even expecting me to continue with this. I wasn't feeling too sure about it, but I've already got a ton of ideas I can use. Again, thanks to everybody who's been reading along and I hope that you'll keep reading as long as I keep writing and posting new chapters.

Oh, and happy Singles Awareness Day, otherwise known as Valentine's Day to all you couples out there. Gotta say, not my favorite holiday, but hey, at least free candy is involved.

Disclaimer: I own Power Rangers, riiiiiight. Just in case you didn't know or are one of those people who require a sarcasm sign (guess which show I got that from), that was sarcasm. I don't actually own Power Rangers.

Chapter 5 – Of Dancing and Developments

Antonio hummed to himself as he prepared the last of his exotic fish. As tasty as it was, it was starting to get a bit old. Fish was meant to be served fresh, after all! But the fish over at the Panorama City docks is nothing compared to the fish he's caught around the globe. Ah, if only there was a body of water where every fish from all over the world resided; an "all-blue" if you will… Oh man, he could feel the drool threatening to spill all over breakfast.

Antonio was so busy fantasizing about his mythical (?) ocean that he almost didn't notice that he was salivating, or that his phone was vibrating and flashing. Somebody had sent him a message. He wiped his drool and flipped his phone open and began reading.

To: GoldFisher

From: PrincessofRed

Hey Antonio. Are you at the Shiba house? Jayden said that you would be back yesterday. We managed to catch an earlier flight, and Mia and I are right outside. I can't seem get in touch with my brother. Is he still sleeping? Anyway, we're heading inside now.

Antonio stared blankly at his phone for a few seconds, letting it all sink in. He found it sort of typical that Lauren would use proper grammar and spell out the words even in text messages, not to offend her in any way. He supposed that it was due to her upbringing and–oh flipping flounder. They're right outside. And in the living room was…

Emily was incredibly confused when Antonio dashed out of the kitchen and rushed outside, only to run back in screaming about something flaming fish. She was confused further when he ran back out; though she could've sworn she heard a click sound this time around, like somebody was snapping a picture or something. Oh well, she had other things to do than to ponder Antonio's odd behavior. Like how she could get out of her "predicament" (not that she was trying too hard, mind you).

"And save…" said Antonio, closing his phone. Jayden may be his best friend, but there are some things that he just couldn't resist. Plus a little blackmail material never hurt anyone, if you don't count the person being blackmailed.

He managed to catch Lauren and Mia just as they were entering the Shiba estate. Now all he had to do was keep them from going inside. Oh well, here goes nothing, he thought to himself.

"Hola chicas! Cómo te va?" he greeted. Before either could reply, he whipped out a remote and pressed a button. His cart, which he left over at the sparring grounds, opened up to reveal a high-tech, surround sound system. "Random dance party! To celebrate LAUREN and MIA, who ARE BACK EARLY!" Hopefully Emily had heard him. Ignoring the girls' weirded out expressions, he grabbed Lauren by the hand and shouted, "Octo Zord! Hit it!"

Tango music filled the air and Antonio began dancing as best as he could with his best friend's sister while their teammate is slowly inching away from them and his zords were busting out their own moves atop his cart. Needless to say, this was probably the weirdest thing he has ever done.

When Antonio noticed Mia had reached the door and was about to enter, he spun Lauren away and pressed his remote again, switching the music to rumba. "Partner change!" he exclaimed, dragging Mia away from the house. Lauren managed to stop spinning, but was rather dizzy and disoriented as a result. She began stumbling towards the house, but was once again blocked by Antonio. He changed the music again, this time to something livelier and reminiscent of a hoedown. Square dancing.

Antonio groaned. It just had to be that. Well, at least now he could distract both girls at the same time.

Why did he even have to learn square dancing anyway? He was cursing his high school gym teacher for making him take lessons. It wasn't his fault he couldn't join the track team! He had samurai training! Jayden would owe him so bad for this.

Emily niña, que había hecho algo major por ahora! he thought. And I mean now! I'm running myself ragged here!

Antonio was so lost in his thoughts that he didn't notice that he had spent too much time on Lauren instead of switching his partner. Mia had managed to escape from the one-man dance party long enough to stagger inside, only to trip on something. As she fell, she managed to catch sight of what tripped her up. Or rather, who. A crash, followed by a rather loud and girly squeal broke through both the music and Antonio's thoughts. He winced when he realized what had just happened, and rushed inside with Lauren in tow. Hopefully Emily had…

Nope. Somehow she found herself in an even more mortifying and compromising position. She had panicked upon hearing Antonio's poorly hidden message, and had hurried to remove Jayden from herself. She was embarrassed when he decided to start unconsciously cuddling her as best as he could from his position. Emily had just managed to untangle him from her when Mia had come in and bumped into her. Now she was splayed out on top of her leader and – oh samurai spirits. He was spooning with her!

Mia was currently suffering from something that very closely resembled what she had once heard Serena describe as a serious case fangirlism. Antonio, though panting, smirked and the only thing that refrained him from making some sort of remark was that he was too busy trying not to cough out his lungs. And Lauren was just confused, almost adorably so.

A palpable silence descended upon the Shiba house. And to make matters even more awkward, Jayden chose that exact moment to wake up.

"Can't a guy get some sleep around here?" he crossly yelled before burying his head into Emily's hair. She let out a sound that resembled a squeak combined with some sort of dolphin noise. Her face was so red, it was practically a new color entirely.

It was at this point that Antonio decided to give in and fall over laughing. He didn't care if he lost his lungs; he couldn't breathe anyway! And it certainly didn't help when Lauren innocently asked about what her brother and Emily were doing and why was Emily so flustered.

After a series of explanations, separating the "lovely couple" ("Shut up Antonio!"), and setting Jayden down on some of the seats, Emily and Antonio decided to fill in Lauren and Mia about everything that had happened recently.

Lauren got over the shock pretty fast, almost too fast. Like she was already aware of the situation or had expected this to happen.

"I had hoped that I had erred with my premonition," muttered Lauren. Seeing the looks her friends were giving her, she decided to elaborate. "I had an… unpleasant dream the other day. I cannot seem to remember most of it, but some of the details I can recall were somewhat disturbing to say the least."

She shuddered. She did not wish to relive any part of that nightmare. She was hoping that it was merely that, a nightmare, but according to what Emily and Antonio had just told her, it may sadly not be the case. Then her expression changed to something else: sorrow.

"Had everything our ancestors fought for been nothing but a sham? All for naught? I refuse to believe it, but it seems to be so," she said in a dejected tone.

"Lauren…" Mia made to comfort her, but Antonio interrupted her.

"Hey! Try not to look too down chica. No se preocupe!" Before his friends could ask, he translated, "It means 'no worries'! Your ancestors fought their battle with a firm belief in their cause. Now it's our turn, and we can't be abatido, now can we?

"Besides," he winked at Lauren. "You look más bonita when you're happy."

"Stay away from my sister," Jayden sleepily mumbled. He yawned. "That includes you Antonio."

Everyone cracked up at that. That is, until the gap sensor went off. Then it was all business. Jayden shot up, one hundred percent awake and alert. He glanced at the gap sensor, and then at his friends. Lauren pulled up the city map display.

"Number twenty-one, the park! Rangers, let's go!"

"Right!" "How come I never get to say 'let's go'?"

They all glanced at Antonio. "What? It's true."

Jayden sighed. "Fine, you can say it now."

"No, you already said it. The moment, it is lost."

"Then you can say it next time. Let's go!"

"See! You did it again!"

"ANTONIO!"

[Scene Change]

Lauren opted to stay behind, as a reserve just in case something happens. That left Jayden, Emily, Mia, and Antonio to deal with… whatever it was that tripped the sensor. Speaking of which…

"Hey Jayden?" asked Mia. The park was relatively nearby, so they decided to just run there rather than take the car. "These guys are different from the Nighloks, right?"

"Right."

"Then how do they set off the sensor? They aren't coming from the Sanzu River."

"Yeah, I've been wondering that myself," Emily added.

"Allow me," Antonio chimed in. "Jii had me modify the gap sensors so they could detect evil and malicious Nighlok or Nighlok-like presences in the vicinity. They don't have to emerge from the gaps for us to sense them anymore. You could say that it was a precaution taken against Deker and other rogue Nighloks."

"Oh," the Yellow and Pink Rangers nodded. Jayden just focused on what was ahead of them. They were nearing the park, but he was hit with the feeling of déjà vu. It wasn't until they had arrived did he realize why.

The park was empty. They were standing under a particularly thick copse of trees near the center of the park and they couldn't see a single trace of anybody or feel the slightest of breezes. It was like the park was completely and absolutely devoid of wind along with any form of life other than the plants and a few small animal. The latter of which were completely spooked and bolted as soon as they were spotted. But he knew it wasn't that snow woman. Something was off, different.

The temperature! It was still warm, and he did not feel the temperature shift in the least. So it wasn't her; someone related to the organization perhaps?

Jayden suddenly felt something tingling in the back of his mind. His senses were alerting him to some sort of danger, but what? He looked up, and his eyes widened.

"FORWARD ROLL!"

Jayden dove past his friends as soon as he finished shouting the order. Instinctively, the others somersaulted forward just as a tree branch the size of a large horse fell where they were standing mere moments before. It hit the ground with a large thud, reminding them that they had very narrowly avoided being crushed.

"Whoa," Emily nervously sighed. "That was close. Thanks Jayden."

Jayden wasn't listening. He looked left and right, trying to catch sight of something. "On your guard team," he told them. "Something's out here."

Slow, sarcastic clapping filled the air, making the Rangers tense up. Jayden scanned the entire area around them… there!

In one of the trees, in one of the shadowy boughs, a black-clad figure was applauding them. He leapt down and landed with very little noise. The team took note of his appearance for the first time. He was decked out in classic ninja gear, only without the top portion of the mask. What was noteworthy about him was his hair. It was styled in a way that resembled two cat ears. Other than that, it was pretty messy, as if he had just gotten out of bed or something. He also wore a long strip of cloth that went around his waist before trailing behind him, giving the impression that he had a tail.

As soon as his appearance was revealed, Emily felt her blood run cold. Snippets of her dream came back to her, but their adversary in her dream wasn't dressed as a ninja. Still… there has to be a connection.

"You," the ninja pointed at Jayden, "are one sharp katana. As for the rest of you," he looked at Mia, then Emily, and finally at Antonio and made a 'so-so' gesture. "Could be worse I suppose. Definitely need to learn to be more in tune with your surroundings." He jotted something down in a notepad which he pulled out of his sleeve.

"Are you from Akuma?" asked Antonio.

"Hmm?" the ninja looked up from his notes. "Straight to the point, huh? I guess you do have some redeeming qualities after all!" He clapped once more before jotting down something else in his notes. After a few seconds, he put the notepad back wherever it came from and fully focused on the Rangers.

"To answer your question, yes, I am from Akuma. If you want to be specific, I am of the Kuro Battalion. In your language, my name's 'Black Cat', codename: 'Jinx'." He visibly winced at his words. "I know, not the most original. It's downright cliché and an overused concept. You know what, just call me B.C.."

"Let me guess," Jayden spoke up. "Your codename is Jinx because it's unlucky for people to meet you."

"Well, there's that," B.C. nodded, apparently deep in thought. "But it's also because of my specialty: I'm a bad luck magnet. And I can share that with or have it affect others when I want to, thus turning it to good luck for me. That tree limb on the ground is proof of that." He slowly and deliberately brought his middle finger and thumb together. "I'd run if I were you. Even I don't know what could happen."

B.C. snapped his fingers. The once serene park erupted into chaos. It had begun.

"Go go Samuraizers!"

"Samurai Morpher! Gold Power!"

Thanks for reading! Remember to review! Good night everybody!