Bulk and Spike wandered down the street, stopping outside the school. The next day was the first day of the new term, and Spike's first day. They had decided to walk out together to figure out the best route and make sure he didn't get lost and end up being late on his first day.
Bulk saw the way his nephew eyed up the school. It wasn't much to look at really, just a tall, smooth, modern-looking stone building, four stories high. There were a couple of other smaller buildings nearby, connected by walkways on the third floor, and a parking lot out the front, with a small section separated off for staff parking. The rest was for those students fortunate enough to own their own cars, and there was a sign nearby directed people to the back to the sports fields. The words "Central High School" were emblazoned across the front.
The building itself didn't really bother Spike. It looked like a nice school, clearly quite modern and well-funded, meaning that it likely had a lot of learning resources at its disposal. It was just that even though he knew he was going back to make friends, and that he already knew a couple of people, he was just now starting to become nervous. It had been a long time since he had been to a school properly, he had been home-schooled for over a year and a half to get him away from the bullying. Bulk saw his expression and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you sure about this?" Bulk asked him. "We can always enrol you a little later."
"No. I'll be fine." Spike replied quietly, looking to him. "I can't keep running."
"Come on." Bulk told him, jerking his head back in the direction of their house. "Let's pick up some chicken on the way."
As he left, Spike took one last look back in the direction of the school. Although he was still a little scared about what he would face tomorrow, he also felt a certain excitement. No more running, no more hiding at home with his uncle or his parents, he would finally stand on his own two feet and deal with his own problems. It was just something he knew he needed to do.
Back in the other dimension, Mia staggered into a wall to support herself, clutching her ribs. Her face, arms and body were now covered in cuts and bruises. She had no choice in the matter. Her other self had told them about the Nighlock Jayden's plan to release the new gang into the city to keep the other Rangers busy.
She knew they needed to stop that from happening. It was a miracle more people hadn't died in the street battles when the cartels went after the Scorpions, and they had yet to fully recover. The last thing they could afford was another incident like that.
She could hardly even breathe without hurting. In order for the plan to work, she needed to make sure she looked just like her counterpart, who the gang were expecting to come back to them and give them the order to move out. That unfortunately meant replicating her injuries.
What hurt more than the beating though was the look in Kevin's eyes as he did it to her. She had asked him specifically to do it, but she could see his heart breaking with every blow as she just allowed him to attack her, only blocking a few of the attacks in order to make sure she had some defensive wounds in case they checked her. By the time they were finished, and she was satisfied that they would not suspect her as an imposter, he couldn't even look at her, and he was in tears. She wished they had time for her to comfort him properly over the incident, but it was far more important that they did this now.
She arrived at the rail yard, finding the trucks assembled. She took a second to look around, seeing the men all standing waiting. There were dozens, maybe more than a hundred waiting, all checking weapons and waiting for the signal. She took a deep breath, and straightened herself up, fighting the pain as she composed herself, trying to get into character as a remorseless assassin. She walked into view with all the confidence she could muster. Three of them approached her, carrying rifles.
"It's about time." One of them announced. "What took you so long?"
"That's none of your concern." Mia told him coldly, trying as much as possible to replicate the demeanour and mannerisms of her other self. She gave him a harsh glare. "I'll take the lead."
"Wait, what?" He asked. "We already know..."
"There's been a change of plan." Mia interrupted him. One of the others just snorted.
"I smell a rat." He told the others.
"The boss said there was another her." One of the others reminded them.
Mia saw them going for their weapons, and was about to just let them satisfy themselves, but she suddenly got a thought. Would her other self take that? Would she just let them question her? As loathe as she was to do so, for the first time, she used her symbol power in a potentially lethal manner, directing the air from their lungs. The three men fell to their knees, looking up to her in horror.
"Are you convinced now?" Mia snarled. She hated this. It was completely against what she had been trained. They held on for a second, and she was about to release them, but eventually the leader just nodded. She released them from the grip, relieved that they hadn't pushed their luck and forced her to risk their welfare. "Good, now if that's everything, follow me."
She went to one of the trucks, getting into the passenger seat. The gang members all got into trucks, ready to move out.
"Alright, drive." Mia instructed the driver. "I'll tell you the way."
In another part of the city, the Nighlock Jayden was standing on the roof of the race track, waiting for his other self to show up. He was wearing a gleaming white suit, and had Urumasa strapped across his back. The rooftop itself still showed all the signs of the previous battle. The area was still scorched from where the flames had burned, creating the arena. There was some crime scene tape still around, but he hadn't taken any notice.
The Samurai Jayden kicked open the roof access door, striding out to face his other self. The Nighlock Jayden turned towards him and gave him a slightly judgemental look.
"God, did I ever dress like that?" He snorted in disgust.
"You wanted me to come here." Jayden told him. "I came."
"Oh, there's no reason to rush into anything." The Nighlock Jayden stated, beginning to pace. "We'll duel soon enough, but I'm just curious. You appear to still be..."
"Good?" Jayden suggested.
"Boring." The Nighlock Jayden answered. "I guess you've never had to face any real opponents."
"My team was called, yours wasn't." Jayden answered. "If anyone's had it easy..."
"Easy? Hardly! I only had to defeat the Cursed Warrior!" He boasted, gesturing to Urumasa. "I destroyed the most powerful..."
"You mean Dekker?" Jayden asked him. "I defeated him ages ago."
"You lie! How could you possibly have destroyed Dekker?" The Nighlock Jayden asked him. "You do not have Urumasa!"
"Why don't you try me and find out how strong I am?" Jayden replied, pulling out his Samuraizer. "Go Go Samurai!"
The other Jayden changed into his Nighlock form, pulling out Urumasa and rushing towards him. Jayden only just got his spin sword out in time to parry.
In one of the many retail areas of the city, the Samurai Rangers and the RPM Rangers were waiting for the signal to move in. They had taken up positions out of sight all around the complex, ready for the trap to spring.
In their hiding spot, Mike and Kevin were waiting for Mia to pull off her part of the plan. Mike looked to the Blue Ranger, seeing the way he just stared at his swollen knuckles. He breathed a sigh and put a hand on his shoulder.
"You're beating yourself up worse than you did Mia." He told him, before realising what it sounded like. Kevin just looked to him, unable to answer. "Uh...sorry, I..."
"I never...I hate..." He started to try and force out. "She's everything to me. I didn't want to hurt her."
"Well, look at it this way, if you didn't, then there was a much higher chance she'd have been hurt by those gangsters." Mike replied. "I mean, if they thought she wasn't who she said she was..."
"That's not the point Mike." Kevin interrupted him, before shaking his head dejectedly. "You just don't understand."
"I know how much it pains me any time I see Emily hurt." Mike told him. "When it happens in training, and I'm the one that hurts her..."
"Accidents happen Mike, that's part of training!" Kevin snapped at him. "When was the last time you deliberately slapped Emily across the face as hard as you could?"
"Well..."
"When was the last time you punched her on purpose?" He continued to press on. Mike couldn't imagine what he was feeling. Before he could ask after him any further though, he saw some movement.
The trucks carrying the gang members pulled into the centre of the shopping plaza, at which Mia called her driver to come to a complete stop. All the other trucks did likewise as she disembarked.
"Kev, she's here." Mike told him. "He's here."
"Alright, what gives?" One of the gang members called out, coming over to her as they looked around, unable to see the purpose behind this stop. "What is this?"
"This is what they would call a trap!" Mia told them, pulling out her Samuraizer and morphing. "Come on out guys!"
The Rangers all morphed and burst out of the shops, surrounding the crooks. They all dropped their weapons and scattered.
"Right, let's round them up quickly!" Antonio screamed, activating his symbol power and ploughing through the mobsters, taking them down as the military vehicles started to arrive to help with the arrests. "Something tells me Jayden will need us!"
Over at the site of his battle, Jayden was indeed finding himself under pressure. His Nighlock self was far more powerful than he had imagined. He was facing himself, one that had every bit of knowledge and experience he did, but it was backed up by the destructive might of Urumasa.
The Nighlock struck him with a hard slash, sending him to the ground. As Jayden tried to get up, he stepped on his wrist, preventing him from retrieving his Spin Sword. He just started to laugh.
"This? This is what I became without Urumasa?" He taunted him. "So much for the strength your friends give you."
He raised Urumasa over his head, preparing to strike.
"It depends on the friends!" Scott called out. "Street Sabre Strike!"
The Nighlock only just turned around in time to see Scott blurring towards him, and the Street Sabre smashed into him sending him flying off the roof, into the centre of the race track below. Scott turned to Jayden and offered him a hand.
"I thought you were meant to stay at the Garage." Jayden remarked, taking the hand and hoisting himself up.
"Can you honestly tell me you would have done anything different?" Scott asked him. Jayden just laughed.
"No, I guess not." He replied. "How's the head?"
"It'll feel better when we take this guy down." Scott told him, looking to Jayden. "I know vengeance is wrong, and I can't guarantee that if I get the opportunity I won't kill him, but if you want my help..."
"I'd be honoured." Jayden replied. "Now, let's do this!"
Scott and Jayden both leapt down, landing on the grass in the centre of the race track, finding the Nighlock just pulling himself back to his feet. He looked to the two Rangers standing before him and started to laugh.
"Well, I guess this just makes things a little more interesting." He growled, preparing a guard. "So, who's leading off?"
The two Red Rangers looked to each other, before charging him together.
Back at the shopping plaza, the Rangers were helping the military deal with the last of the gang members, bringing them down and bundling them into transports to be taken to headquarters for processing. As they finished up, the RPM Rangers all powered down.
"Uh, guys, you...don't need to worry about identities here." Dillon told them. "No one knows who you are anyway."
"Well, that's not exactly true is it?" Emily asked.
"Yeah, I mean...there are other us..es um...other..."
"There are other versions of us here." Antonio clarified, helping Mike explain the confusing situation.
"If someone saw us, it might not cause us any problems when we go home, but it might just cause some hassle for those guys." Kevin agreed. "After all, we wouldn't want them having to deal with that kind of publicity when it's not down to them."
"I guess you have a point." Summer replied. "Just wait until we get out of sight."
As they boarded one of the transports and the doors closed, the Samurai took the opportunity to de morph out of sight. Mia sat next to Kevin. As she put her arm around him, Kevin just looked away from her.
"Kevin?" She asked. He kept looking away from her, unable to see her this way. Mia looked to Mike, who just gave her a look that told her what she needed to know. Kevin was indeed upset about the way things had happened. She just pulled in close to him, holding him warmly as the transport began the journey back to The Garage.