Hello people of fanfiction! Sorry it took me so long to get out this latest chapter. A combination of an overload of schoolwork and computer problems can really mess up someone's schedule, y'know. Well, if I had a schedule. Now that it's somewhat resolved, I'll make sure to release more chapters in a timely manner.

Disclaimer: Really? Do I even need to say anything? I already put the word "disclaimer", which in this case means, "I do not own the Power Rangers or the Shinkengers".

Chapter 7 – The Shinkenmaru's Power

"Shodō Phone! IPPITSU SOUJOU!"

"Shinken Green! Tani Chiaki!"

Jayden managed to drag himself to his feet and shakily stumble around the newly-sprouted tree to witness a green-clad man emerge from a flash of light. Behind him, he could hear his friends stagger toward him, though it seemed like they were unaware of the presence of the Shinkenger on the other side of the tree.

"Impossible," B. C. cried out. "This area isn't even under your jurisdiction!"

Chiaki made a 'tsk-tsk' noise while wagging his finger. "Don't you know it's rude to interrupt someone when they're in the middle of talking? Besides, you guys chose to attack while I was supposed to be on vacation." He shook his head and shrugged. "Now where was I? Oh, that's right…

"Tenkagomen no Samurai Sentai! Shinkenger, mairu!"

Chiaki charged, his blade glinting in the sunlight. B. C. hastily snapped his fingers, but Chiaki tucked into a forward roll before leaping and driving his sword into the tree behind B. C.

Narrowly dodging, he lashed out with his claws again, but the Shinkenger was long gone. He cautiously swept his gaze from side to side, one hand on his gun and the other morphed into wickedly sharp claws. He was completely unprepared for what came next.

"WOOD SPEAR!"

A spear shaft descended from above, and B. C. couldn't dodge in time. He yelled and clutched at his bleeding shoulder, only to find himself face-to-spear-tip.

"Well? What are you waiting for?" snarled B. C.

"This is not my fight," Chiaki looked at Jayden. "It is a Ranger's battle. I refuse to fight it for them." He reverted his spear back into its sword from, which he promptly tossed to Jayden. Chiaki walked to the tree he grew, de-morphed, and sat down. "Hey Red, while the Shinkenmaru might help, you're still outclassed. So I'll give you a hint: the key to unlocking you Rangers' true power lies in your Zords; something that us Shinkengers cannot access as easily."

With that, Chiaki put his arms behind his head and leaned against the bark. Jayden was confused. What was that about his Zord? He had no time to think as B. C. lunged at him, despite his injury.

Jayden leapt back and the ninja flew past him. He held the Shinkenmaru in front of him, marveling at the strength and power he felt surging from it. Yet as right as it felt, somehow it also felt kind of wrong at the same time. As if it was something that wasn't meant for him, or Rangers in general.

Jayden ducked as B. C. sailed overhead, before tucking into a forward roll to avoid getting shot. This wasn't good. He was still fatigued from earlier. He could only go so far on adrenaline alone. Unfortunately, his opponent, though ragged, seemed like he could go on for much longer.

His Zord, huh? Red Lion flew out and hovered in front of him. It stared at him resolutely, like it was trying to tell him something. Ah, he didn't have anything to lose anyways. Besides, he trusted his Zord.

"Zord Power! Merge!" Red Lion erupted into a miniature inferno before flying straight at Jayden. Fire burst from the ground and enveloped him in a cocoon of flame. Wild tongues of flame licked in every direction before the cocoon caved in on itself and expanded until it burst.

Amidst a small patch of fire, Jayden stood, but he was no longer holding the Shinkenmaru. Instead, he was wielding a sword with his Lion Zord embedded in the hilt, which resembled a pair of fangs ready to bite. The blade flared near the hilt before narrowing to form the point. There was a spot on the blade to place disks, as well as a lock to keep it in place.

"Shinkenmaru no Red Ranger: Shishi no Kiba!"

A small twister of flames ignited from Red Lion and circled around the blade. Jayden looked at it in awe. Was this… the power of a Shinkenmaru?

"Nope!" Chiaki yelled from his spot underneath his tree. "That's a Ranger's true potential! The sword only acts like a key because you guys couldn't realize it!"

"The book said something about that,'When sword and Zord combine, the Rangers' true might shall shine,'" Jayden quoted. "I did not understand it before, but now it all makes sense…"

Chiaki whistled. "Yo Ranger! No time for standing around! You're in the middle of a battle in case you forgot!"

B. C., after being ignored for so long, decided to reassert his presence by shooting at Jayden's exposed flank. He barely managed to turn to see the bullets heading for him. There was no way he could possibly react in time!

Clang!

Jayden could only stare in shock at the sword raised in front of him, flames already melting the projectiles. His arm just moved on its own… no, his sword moved on its own.

A small roar brought his attention to Red Lion resting in the hilt. It roared again, as if it were trying to say, "Trust me to watch your back. So focus on defeating your opponent."

Underneath his helmet, Jayden smirked. "Got it. Let's go, partner!"

More flames surged from his blade, and Jayden noticed a slight drop in his remaining stamina. Apparently, his new sword reacts according to his determination. The stronger his resolve, the greater the firepower. However, he would have to be careful to make sure it doesn't backfire on him and burn up all of his energy.

Although, even if he conserved his strength, his opponent would definitely outlast him. Might as well go out in a blaze of glory. 'Blaze of Glory', huh…

Jayden got into his normal stance, with the blade resting over his shoulder. Rather than burn him, the flames flowed around him until his entire arm gave off a fiery aura.

B. C. winced due to his own injury, but met his stare with one of his own. Despite the pain he was in, he's never had more fun before! And this kind of all-out battle was exactly why he was here in the first place.

There was no noise other than the other Rangers, having long since demorphed due to fatigue, shuffling around the tree to observe the clash between their fearless leader and the mysterious adversary. A single leaf floated right in between of the two combatants. As it fluttered its way down, everyone present mentally counted down, waiting for the moment it would hit the ground. Then it would begin…

Now!

Both sides rushed forward, B. C. lashing out with his claws and Jayden rolling with the attack to slash at his prone form. The ninja leapt to the side, which ended up saving him as a jet of fire followed the attack, searing the ground and very air a good two, three meters away. Warily, the two circled around each other, refusing to take their eyes off the other. Jayden reinitiated combat by thrusting his sword and firing off a fireball. B. C. swatted it to the side, only to find that his claws were beginning to melt.

Angrily he threw them aside and withdrew a second gun, though of a higher caliber than the other, and promptly unloaded a barrage of ammunition. Jayden countered with his own salvo of flying sword slashes, trusting Red Lion to move accordingly as he concentrated on generating more flames. The fire and bullets met halfway, colliding and kicking up a fair amount of smoke.

Jayden sprinted through the smoke and charged. B. C. let off a few more shots, but Jayden learned something from his previous battle. He weaved in between the paths of the bullets, using every ounce of his reflexes to narrowly dodge without slowing down once. B. C. gave an angry grunt and hurled one of his guns at Jayden, who raised his sword and cut it clean in two.

Both sides showed a fair amount of exhaustion, but neither was willing to slow down. B. C. backflipped and threw a couple of kunai, but they were easily brushed aside. Jayden plunged his sword into the ground and a pillar of fire erupted from underneath B. C., who backflipped again to dodge. He unloaded the remaining contents of his other gun before throwing it down and pulling out some shuriken.

Jayden swept his blade up, straight out of the ground, and caused a wall of flames to burst from the ground. By the time the fire died, he was nowhere to be seen. B. C. warily scanned the entire field, even checking up this time, but not a trace of the Red Ranger was to be seen.

Suddenly, in his peripheral vision, he saw a streak of red fly past and B. C. threw his shuriken. The hit their mark, shattering the visor, and pinning the helmet to a nearby tree. Just the helmet. The rest of his adversary was yet to be seen.

"Blazing Lion Fang!" Jayden shouted, leaping from behind B. C. and brought down his sword, which was engulfed in flames bigger than him. Right before impact, the fire took the shape of a lion and gave off a mighty roar that echoed throughout the city.

A large column of fire shot off into the sky before dissipating to reveal two figures kneeling in a charred circle that was roughly four meters in diameter. Jayden, helmetless, was teetering on the brink of consciousness. B. C., though considerably worse for wear, coughed and climbed to his feet.

"Much better. Now if only you were like that for the entire fight," he spat out. "No matter. My energy is nearly used up. Next time, you won't be around to help these pathetic excuses of Rangers on account of the 'other' front moving." He faced Jayden. "Weak as you may be, you managed to keep me entertained for this long so I'll tell ya something good.

"Akuma is awakening. Our two major factions, Kuro and Shiro, are mobilizing to attack the two fronts which prevent us from completely storming into your world and seizing control. The Shinkengers might be able to put up a fight, but these puny Rangers shall fall beneath our might. And so long as one side falls, the other will follow shortly. So if you want to at least have a fighting chance, I'd advise you to get stronger. When I return, I will have gotten much more powerful.

"Until then!" He threw a small sphere which released a massive smokescreen. A shadow darted out before disappearing.

"Jayden!" The other Rangers dashed frantically towards their leader. Antonio helped him rise to his feet, but found that he could easily stand by himself. After making sure that his friend would not fall, Antonio took a step back and began looking at that burned, blackened area around him.

"Jayden, that last attack was muy fantastico! Where or when did you get that kind of power?" Antonio asked. Emily and Mia nodded, the same question reflected in their eyes.

Jayden looked at his new sword, but unsurprisingly found that it had disappeared. Well, it was only a rental, he mused. To his friends, he simply said, "That was the power of a Shinkenmaru combined with our Ranger powers," much to their amazement.

Applause reminded the others of the mysterious stranger that had been observing the battle. Jayden was fairly certain that they hadn't seen his Shinkenger transformation, if their confused expressions were anything to go by, and he felt immense relief flood over him.

Considering that this was kept top-secret since the days of the Mighty Morphing, he figured that there was a reason that the Rangers and the Sentai were kept separate. He was one of the few on the Ranger side who was even aware of the Sentai, and that was all purely due to his whole family situation. The Shinkengers only knew about them due to a certain incident involving the reemergence of a particular enemy shortly before he and his team had met.

Chiaki slowly approached them and whistled at the damage Jayden had caused. "Not bad Jayden. That was impressive."

Emily stared at him warily. "Jayden, who is this guy? And why does he know you?"

"He's… a family friend." Technically, it wasn't a lie, but he still felt kind of bad for keeping another secret of this magnitude from his friends, but he would not be the one who spilled everything. Not yet, anyway.

"Shinken–err, Tani Chiaki," he immediately stopped himself after seeing Jayden send him a look. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to talk to your fearless leader for a minute." He slung his arm around Jayden, who winced and glared at him, and hauled him a fair distance away.

"Chiaki, what are you doing here?" Jayden asked once they were out of earshot. Fortunately his friends respected him enough not to eavesdrop. At least, that's what he hoped. "And try not to mention your, ah, profession."

"Straight to the point as ever, eh Jayden? Glad to see you're still the same after two years. You and Takeru really need to lighten up." Chiaki replied nonchalantly.

"Chiaki…"

"Fine, fine. No need to get your spandex in a bunch." Jayden took note that he was still in his Ranger suit and promptly demorphed. "I was just on vacation when all of this happened. I saw you needed a hand, so I figured I'd intervene. It's all just a coincidence, I swear."

"Seems too convenient. What exactly influenced you to take a vacation here of all places?"

"That's easy. It was… huh?" Chiaki tried to remember, but found literally nothing. It was like that part his memory had been wiped. "I… can't remember."

Jayden shivered and looked around. There was nobody aside from him, his friends, and Chiaki. So why did he suddenly feel so anxious? A slight gust blew through the park, carrying a few black feathers that made both Jayden and Emily unconsciously tense. Chiaki was still preoccupied with trying to recall the reason why he was there, so he didn't notice.

"Chiaki," Jayden said, getting the current Shinken Green's attention. "Let's go back to the Shiba house. We'll talk there."

"Alright." Chiaki replied, still distracted by his missing memory. Jayden motioned to his friends that they were going home.

"… and on the way you can tell me all about Takeru and how awkwardly he's trying to adjust to a normal life even after half a decade."

THAT got Chiaki's full attention. He grinned and began chattering about his former lord's current misadventures. "Alright! Well, get this: Kusakabe jii-san pressured Takeru to go out and date since he's already at that age. So what does Takeru do? He goes all the way to Kyoto and announces to Kotoha's – you remember Kotoha, right? Kind of clumsy, but the one of the kindest people you'll ever meet and has a fondness for yellow – parents that he would very much like to date their daughter, and I'm not talking about Mitsuba, right in front of her and her sister!" Chiaki paused to laugh for a bit. He actually doubled over while walking. After his laughter died down, he straightened up and wiped away some tears.

"Poor thing nearly fainted! She didn't refuse though. All of us suspected that she had some sort of feeling towards the young lord after the whole butler episode. And Takeru was always particular towards her. Still, none of us would've ever thought that Takeru would propose after about a week! This time Kotoha really did faint!" Chiaki burst into another uproarious fit of laughter.

Jayden smirked, hearing what his cousin was up to always brighten his day. Jii and Kusakabe-san always tell them that they're not that different from the other. Though Jayden would beg to differ (Takeru was too 'uptight', as Chiaki would say. Not at all a free spirit like him. Unbeknownst to Jayden, Takeru thought the same exact thing), he always got along with his cousin every time they met, even if they truly weren't related by blood. Kindred spirits, that's what they were. He didn't care about who Takeru was, he cared about who Takeru was.

Still, even after hearing his cousin's (very) amusing foray into the field of romance, he still could not shake that feeling of anxiety…

B. C. panted as he leapt from tree to tree, desperately trying to shake his pursuer. Of all people, it just had to be him!

Something thudded into the branch he landed on, causing it to snap and send the ninja flailing to the ground. He landed with a sickening crunch, and he knew that something had broken, but his fear completely overruled any pain he felt. More things embedded themselves in the ground near him, each one closer than the last. One grazed the side of his face and B. C. whimpered.

"Please! Give me another chance! I will not fail you again!" he pleaded. There was an unbearable silence for several seconds before a new voice spoke up.

"Yes, you most certainly will not." It was sinister, malicious, and cold all rolled into one. B. C., despite being used to it, still shivered. "You belong to my organization. Your orders were to gauge their strength and eliminate them if they did not meet the requirements."

"But, but a Shinkenger interfered! What was I supposed to do?"

"Your job. This conversation is over." B. C. sighed in relief. "And so is your time." B. C. could barely let out a horrified yell as a massive force collided with his broken body, resulting in a tremendous explosion that did not leave a single trace behind. All that remained were a large crater and a scant few ebony feathers which were eventually carried away by the wind.

Over at the docks, Crow felt a disturbance. It had to be him. Nobody else could cause his senses to go haywire. He growled, which was uncharacteristic with his laid-back nature. If he was moving, then Crow hoped that those Rangers would be able to put up a decent fight.

Even if they had absolutely no chance of winning.

So, what do you think? Remember to leave a review!