Chapter 3: Power of the Prism
In the Ranger's base beneath the antique shop, Hitoshi had his back turned towards the Rangers. Hitoshi sighed as he slowly turned towards the Rangers and saw them waiting for him to speak up.
"The Ninja Nexus Prism is a sacred item," Hitoshi said to the Rangers. "Barely anyone from the Takayama clan ever sees it with their own eyes,"
Hitoshi pulled a shuriken out of his pocket and revealed it to the teens.
"This shuriken is passed on to the next grand master and it grants access to the chamber where the Prism was hidden," Hitoshi told the Rangers.
"Then you're the current grand master," Jirou said as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.
"That's right," Hitoshi said as he nodded.
"Dad, why did you keep this a secret from me?" Jun asked her father.
"Because there was no point in being a grand master anymore," Hitoshi said as he sat the shuriken down on a table. "I was the only Takayama left that was trained to be a ninja,"
"Until Jun was born," Logan said to Hitoshi.
Hitoshi silently nodded as Beth walked up to the Ninja Nexus Prism.
"Then what was that shuriken that was inside the Prism before it split apart?" Beth asked Hitoshi.
"That was the Ninja Nexus Power Star," Hitoshi told Beth. "I didn't know it could split into six different Power Stars though,"
"You only knew it would grant powers to its holder," Logan said to Hitoshi.
"Yeah, but the star didn't work for everyone," Hitoshi said to Logan. "I'm still surprised it worked for everyone but Jirou and Jun,"
"Are you saying only Takayama's could use the powers?" Beth asked Hitoshi.
"Sort of, but it didn't work for me," Hitoshi told Beth.
"That was odd," Mason said as he sat down in a chair.
"Not only that," Jirou said to everyone. "We don't even know who took that last Power Star,"
"That sounds like something we should work on finding out first," Logan said to Jirou.
"It was only us and those freaks there," Mason said to the others. "One of them had to of taken it,"
"No, demons aren't able to phase through the Prism," Hitoshi told Mason.
Hitoshi walked over to the Prism and looked closely at it.
"Jirou, I'm stepping down as grand master," Hitoshi said to Jirou.
Hitoshi turned towards Jirou.
"I want you to take over," Hitoshi said to Jirou.
"Right after you finally told us?" Jun asked her father.
"Jirou is obviously meant to be the grand master now," Hitoshi said to Jun. "Plus I've done nothing as the grand master,"
"That's not true," Jun said to her father. "We wouldn't have gotten the Prism and our powers if it wasn't for you!"
"Will you take my place?" Hitoshi asked Jirou as he ignored Jun.
Jirou sighed as he slowly approached Hitoshi. Jirou placed his hand on Jirou's shoulder.
"Sorry, it's too late for me," Jirou said to Hitoshi.
"What?" Logan said in confusion.
"Jirou, what're you doing?" Beth asked Jirou.
"I had my chance to be a grand master before and I blew that chance when I locked myself away with Norio," Jirou said to the others.
"I can't believe it," Hitoshi said as he backed away from Jirou. "I didn't think you would decline,"
"Right now being a grand master isn't important," Jirou told Hitoshi. "Fighting for my family's name comes first,"
"I see," Hitoshi said as he sighed.
"Maybe once we take care of Norio, I'll reconsider," Jirou said to Hitoshi.
"Then as your grand master, I'll make sure you're all ready when Norio strikes," Hitoshi said to Jirou as he smiled.
Hitoshi walked over to a computer and pressed a key on the keyboard. An image of the large shuriken the Rangers used to morph suddenly appeared on the screen.
"I'm sure you remember this device," Hitoshi said to the teens. "It's going to be called the Ninja Battle Morpher,"
"Morpher?" Logan said in confusion.
"Sounds good to me," Beth said as she smiled.
"What about the swords we used?" Jun asked her father.
"That is going to be your Ninja Star Blade," Hitoshi said to Jun.
"I like the sound of that," Logan said as he nodded.
"I'm still studying the Prism in case it's hiding anymore secrets," Hitoshi said to the Rangers.
"You think that thing might have something else for us?" Jirou asked Hitoshi.
"I have no idea, but that's why I'm studying it," Hitoshi told Jirou.
"Dad, what exactly is all this gear made from?" Jun asked her father as she pointed at the images of the morpher and blade on the screen.
"Ninja Steel, just like Jirou's sword that was gifted to him," Hitoshi told Jun. "Even the Power Stars are made of it,"
Jirou pulled out his Power Star and looked closely at it.
"Ninja Steel," Jirou said as he gazed at his Power Star.
Mason sneered in disgust as he turned towards the exit.
"Where are you going?" Logan asked Mason as he saw him walking out the door.
"I don't have time for this," Mason said to Logan.
"Hey!" Jirou shouted at Mason as he put his Power Star away.
Jirou ran out in front of Mason causing him to come to a halt.
"Get out of my way," Mason said as he shoved Jirou aside and continued walking.
Logan caught Jirou as Jirou began falling to the ground.
"You're part of this team!" Jirou shouted at Mason. "We can't beat Norio without you!"
"I'm not a team player," Mason said as he sat his Power Star down on the front desk.
Jirou groaned in frustration as Mason left the shop.
"What's his problem?" Jirou asked Logan.
"He'll come back, I know he will," Logan said as he looked over at Mason's Power Star in concern.
On board Cosmo's ship, Cosmo walked out onto a stage where bright lights shined down on him as a crowd of aliens roared at him. Cosmo waved to the crowd as he chuckled. The crowd slowly began quieting down as Cosmo raised a microphone towards his mouth.
"Welcome to Galaxy Warriors!" Cosmo screamed through the microphone causing the crowd to roar once again.
Cosmo began laughing in excitement as the crowd continued cheering.
"Now for our first episode, we will be sending a random alien down to Earth and we're going to see just how much chaos they can cause!" Cosmo shouted as he raised his left arm into the air.
A mechanical looking alien with chainsaw-like arms walked out from behind the curtain as the chains on his blades moved.
"Our first contestant is Ripperat!" Cosmo shouted as Ripperat screamed at the crowd.
"What do I get when I win?" Ripperat asked Cosmo.
"Not only do you get your own planet to rule over, you also become the strongest warrior in the universe!" Cosmo shouted to Ripperat and the crowd.
"So, just torturing a few weaklings on Earth is all I have to do?" Ripperat asked Cosmo.
"Not entirely," Cosmo told Ripperat. "There will be five warriors who will try to stop you,"
"No one will survive my saws," Ripperat said to Cosmo. "Not even these so called warriors,"
The crowd began roaring for Ripperat as a pair of Kudabots walked him off the stage.
"To assist Ripperat will be a group of Kudabots!" Cosmo shouted. "Hopefully they make things easier for him!"
Cosmo stepped out of the way of a large screen as it turned on.
"Now let's watch Ripperat's carnage!" Cosmo shouted as Ripperat appeared on the screen with a group of Kudabots behind him.
Back down on Earth, Ripperat and the Kudabots began attacking people in the area. Ripperat struck a man's car with one of his saws causing the man to quickly get out in horror. Ripperat shoved the car aside as the man ran off in horror.
"This is too easy!" Ripperat shouted as he laughed evilly.
A little boy nearby was then heard crying and caught Ripperat's attention.
"This is going to be over soon kid," Ripperat said as his saw began moving.
The little boy screamed in horror as Ripperat's saw came up close to him. A rock suddenly hit Ripperat in the side of the head causing him to back off from the boy.
"Who threw that?" Ripperat said in confusion as he looked over.
"I'm assuming you're working for that Norio freak," Mason said as he threw another rock at Ripperat.
Ripperat knocked the rock away with one of his saws and groaned in frustration.
"Are you one of those warriors I have to defeat?" Ripperat asked Mason. "You sure look weak,"
Mason looked over at the little boy and saw him cowering against a wall.
"Run kid," Mason said to the boy.
The little boy rose to his feet and began running away until the Kudabots surrounded him.
"He's not going anywhere," Ripperat said to Mason.
"Targeting children I see?" Mason said to Ripperat. "That's such a cowardly act,"
"Who are you calling a coward?" Ripperat asked Mason. "I'm not the one throwing rocks!"
"Then show me what you're made of freak," Mason said to Ripperat.
Back at the Rangers base beneath the antique shop an alarm began going off. Hitoshi rolled over to the console in his chair and brought up footage from the location that set off the alarm. Jirou walked up behind Hitoshi and looked up at the screen.
"Looks like a monster attack," Jirou said to Hitoshi.
Jirou's eyes widened as he noticed Mason in the video.
"What is he thinking?" Jirou said in confusion.
"What's going on?" Logan asked Jirou as he walked over.
Logan looked at the monitor and gasped when he saw Mason fighting Kudabots on his own.
"He's going to get himself killed!" Logan said to Jirou.
"We need to get out there before Mason gets hurt," Beth said to the others.
"Or something worse than that happens," Jun said as she nodded.
"Logan, grab Mason's Power Star," Jirou said as he walked towards the exit.
"What're you doing Mason?" Logan said to himself as he grabbed the Blue Power Star off the desk.
Logan ran out of the base right behind Jirou and the others and headed off towards Mason's location.
"I hope they know what they're getting into," Hitoshi said to himself as he watched the footage.
Out in the streets of the city, Mason was protecting the little boy from the Kudabots as Ripperat stood by watching in amusement. One of the Kudabots quickly grabbed Mason's right arm restraining him.
"Let go of me you piece of scrap metal!" Mason shouted as he struggled to break free.
"I'll finish him off," Ripperat said as his saws began moving.
Kudabots quickly grabbed the little boy causing him to begin screaming and crying.
"Leave him alone!" Mason shouted as he continued trying to free his arm.
"You won't be won't be so tough after I cut you to pieces," Ripperat said as he approached Mason.
As Ripperat came up to Mason, Mason quickly shut his eyes in horror.
"This is the end of you!" Ripperat shouted as he went in to cut Mason.
Out of nowhere someone wearing a black ninja gi with red accents and a mask kicked Ripperat causing him to stumble aside. Mason opened his eyes and saw the ninja standing in front of him. The ninja quickly kicked the Kudabot restraining Mason causing it to let go of Mason.
"Are you really that stupid?" The ninja asked Mason. "You could've gotten yourself and that kid killed!"
"I didn't need your help Jirou!" Mason shouted at Jirou as he turned away.
Mason looked over and saw the others wearing suits similar to Jirou's fighting the Kudabots off of the little boy.
"Your attitude is your problem!" Jirou said to Mason.
"No, my problem is people like you!" Mason shouted at Jirou. "I don't take orders from you!"
"Then you're just not a team player it seems," Jirou said to Mason. "Jun and I are the only ones who know what we're doing,"
"I know I'm doing the right thing," Mason said as he began walking towards Ripperat.
Ripperat rose back to his feet and saw Mason walking towards him.
"You're making a huge mistake," Ripperat said as he snickered.
"Mason!" Logan shouted as he held a Kudabot by its arm and saw Mason going towards Ripperat.
Jirou grabbed Mason by the arm trying to stop him.
"Don't touch me!" Mason shouted as he turned around and threw a punch at Mason.
Jirou ducked and easily avoided the fist.
"I'm not letting you fight that thing on your own!" Jirou shouted at Mason. "Especially not without your Power Star!"
"I'm not a part of your team!" Mason shouted as he shoved Jirou off of him.
Jirou quickly ran at Mason and tackled him out of the way of Ripperat as Ripperat went to strike Mason.
"Drop the attitude before it gets you killed!" Jirou shouted at Mason as he rose to his feet.
"How about you drop dead and join the rest of your family six feet underground," Mason said to Jirou as he turned away from Jirou.
"These two just won't stop bickering!" Ripperat said in annoyance.
Jirou quickly grabbed Mason's arm and flipped him to the ground. Jirou continued holding onto Mason's arm keeping him from getting up.
"I can tell you're hiding something that's troubling you!" Jirou shouted at Mason as he held him down. "I can help you overcome it,"
"Get off of me!" Mason shouted at Jirou.
Jun kicked the last Kudabot causing it to fall to the ground.
"Those two are just fighting each other!" Jun said to Beth and Logan.
"Do something Logan!" Beth said to Logan as Logan had the little boy by his side.
"Watch after the kid," Logan said to the girls as he ran off towards Jirou and Mason.
Logan ran up to Jirou and shoved him off of Mason. Mason quickly got to his feet and went to punch Jirou. Logan grabbed Mason's arm and stopped him in his tracks.
"That's enough!" Logan shouted at Mason.
"Get off of me man!" Mason shouted at Logan.
"No, not until you stop acting like this!" Logan said to Mason.
Jirou looked at the look in Logan's eyes.
"We need you Mason," Logan said to Mason as he continued holding him back. "Please just help us take out this monster,"
Mason groaned in annoyance as he stopped struggling.
"I need you," Logan said to Mason as he let him go.
Logan pulled out the Blue Power Star and held it out to Mason.
"I'm not taking orders from you," Mason said as he looked at Jirou.
"As long as that monster is destroyed, it's fine," Jirou said to Mason.
Mason took the Power Star from Logan as Ripperat stepped out in front of the boys.
"Get that kid out of here!" Mason shouted to Beth and Jun.
"Alright, we'll be back in a second," Jun said to Mason as she and Beth ran off with the little boy.
"Oh come on, that fight was fixing to get good!" Ripperat shouted at the boys.
"I'm fixing to show you a good fight," Mason said as the morphers appeared in the boy's hands.
"It's Morphin Time!" Jirou shouted as he and the others set their Power Stars in their morphers.
"Ninja Spin!" The three shouted as they spun the Power Stars activating their morphers.
Ripperat screamed as a bright light flashed before him briefly.
"What's going on?" Ripperat said in confusion as the three morphed.
Ripperat looked up and saw three Power Rangers standing before him.
"Let's get started!" Mason shouted as he ran towards Ripperat.
Mason quickly kicked Ripperat and sent him flying across the street with ease. Ripperat narrowly landed back on his feet as Jirou ran towards him.
"Ninja Battle Morpher, Blade Mode!" Jirou shouted as a blade formed on his morpher.
Jirou struck Ripperat with the blade on his morpher and quickly moved aside.
"Ninja Battle Morpher, Claw Mode!" Logan shouted as he jabbed Ripperat in the gut with the three blades that appeared on his morpher.
"Looks like there's one more mode," Mason said as his morpher changed into a new mode.
Logan and Jirou quickly moved out of the way as Mason took aim at Ripperat.
"Ninja Battle Morpher, Bow Mode!" Mason shouted as he fired an energy arrow at Ripperat.
The arrow struck Ripperat and exploded on contact causing Ripperat to crash into a wall behind him. Ripperat fell to the ground moaning in pain.
"Had enough yet freak?" Mason asked Ripperat.
"I've got plenty of gas in my tank," Ripperat said as his saws began glowing.
Ripperat fired energy waves from his saws and struck each of the Rangers causing them to fall to the ground.
"I didn't see that coming," Logan said as he slowly rose up.
"We need to hit him harder," Mason said as he got to his feet.
"We're going to need Jun and Beth for that," Jirou said to Mason.
"Now it's time for you to die!" Ripperat shouted as he slung two more energy waves at the boys.
"Oh no!" Jirou shouted as he prepared for the attack.
Two energy arrows quickly hit the energy waves causing them to explode in midair.
"Wait, what?" Ripperat said in confusion.
Ripperat looked over and saw a Pink Ranger and a White Ranger join the others.
"Nice timing," Logan said to the girls.
"I knew you guys couldn't handle this without us," Jun said as she giggled.
"We were making sure you didn't miss the action," Mason said to Jun.
"Now's my chance to get all five Power Stars!" Ripperat said in excitement.
"That's not happening," Jirou said to Ripperat. "Not now, not ever,"
All five of the Rangers transformed their morphers into bow mode and took aim at Ripperat.
"Ninja Battle Morphers!" The Rangers shouted as the energy arrows began glowing.
The Rangers fired the five arrows at Ripperat hitting him one after another.
"I'm still standing!" Ripperat shouted as Jirou pulled out his Ninja Star Blade.
"Not for long," Jirou said as he dashed towards Ripperat.
Jirou placed his Ninja Power Star on his sword and spun it.
"Red Ninja Strike!" Jirou shouted as he began striking Ripperat continuously at blinding speed.
Jirou suddenly landed in front of the others as Ripperat fell to the ground in the background and exploded.
"Where did that speed come from?" Beth asked Jirou.
"That's what training to be a ninja grants you," Jirou said as he held his sword over his shoulder.
Up on Cosmo's ship, the crowd of monsters were booing loudly as they watched Ripperat fall easily to the Rangers. Cosmo walked out onto the stage trying to settle the monsters down.
"Alright, should we give Ripperat another go?" Cosmo asked the crowd.
The crowd began cheering loudly causing Cosmo to turn towards a console behind him.
"Then let's head to round 2!" Cosmo shouted as he pressed a large button on the console. "Gigantify!"
A laser fired from the ship and went down towards the city.
In the city the Rangers gasped when they saw the laser strike where Ripperat was defeated. Ripperat's body suddenly reformed as it began growing. The Rangers backed away as Ripperat continued growing and regained consciousness.
"I'm back!" Ripperat shouted as he towered above the skyscrapers near him.
"How do we deal with something that big?" Mason asked the others.
"Hopefully dad knows something," Jun said in concern.
"Don't' worry Jun, the Ninja Nexus Prism always has an answer," Hitoshi said as he walked up to the Rangers.
"What're you doing out here?" Jun asked her father.
"I just came to deliver you something," Hitoshi said to his daughter as he revealed a new Ninja Power Star.
Hitoshi handed each of the Rangers a new Power Star.
"These will summon your zords," Hitoshi told the Rangers.
"Zords?" Beth said in confusion.
"Large machines capable of handling giant problems like this," Hitoshi said as he smirked.
"Then let's try these bad boys out," Mason said as he pulled out his Ninja Star Blade.
The other Rangers pulled out their Ninja Star Blades and placed their Zord Stars on them.
"Ninja Spin!" The Rangers shouted as they spun the stars on their swords.
The stars began glowing causing the Rangers to gasp in awe. Behind Ripperat, a side of a building suddenly turned around revealing a large red robot was hiding inside. Up in the sky, a large kite suddenly appeared and transformed into a dragon. Ripperat turned around and saw a piece of the road flip over and reveal a large dump truck.
"What's going on here?" Ripperat said in confusion.
A train rode past Ripperat and transformed revealing a large dog riding in the back compartment. Jirou leapt into the air and landed on the left shoulder of his zord.
"Jirou, that's your Robo Red Zord!" Hitoshi shouted at Jirou from below.
Mason landed on the head of his zord as it flew by over Ripperat's head.
"That's your Dragon Zord Mason!" Hitoshi said to Mason.
Logan landed on top of the dump truck and kneeled down on one knee as the dump truck began moving.
"The Nitro Zord is yours Logan," Hitoshi told Logan.
"And that just leaves us," Jun said as she and Beth landed on their zords.
"The Zoom Zord and Kodiak Zord are a dynamic duo for you two," Hitoshi told the girls as the Zooom Zord went by.
"I can handle your new toys," Ripperat said as he approached Jirou and the Robo Red Zord.
"Let's see what these things can do!" Jirou shouted as Ripperat went to attack his zord.
The Robo Red Zord instantly disappeared in a cloud of smoke confusing Ripperat.
"Where did he go?" Ripperat said in confusion.
The Robo Red Zord suddenly appeared behind Ripperat and kicked him in the back. Ripperat stumbled forward as Logan launched large caltrops out of the hull of his Nitro Zord. Ripperat stepped on the caltrops and screamed in pain as he continued stumbling.
"My feet!" Ripperat shouted as he screamed in pain.
Ripperat looked up ahead and saw the Zoom Zord coming towards him.
"Fire!" Jun shouted as her zord began firing energy shurikens from the star marking on the front of it.
The energy shurikens struck Ripperat as Beth's Kodiak Zord leapt out of the Zoom Zord. The Kodiak Zord rammed into Ripperat and sent him over towards the Dragon Zord.
"This is it!" Mason shouted as the Dragon Zord began flying around Ripperat.
The Dragon Zord began breathing flames and surrounded Ripperat with a blue flaming tornado.
"It's getting too hot!" Ripperat shouted as the flames grew hotter.
Ripperat suddenly exploded within the tornado causing the tornado to fade away. The Dragon Zord let out a loud roar as the zords gathered up.
"Nice going guys," Jirou said to the others from the left shoulder of his zord.
"I think I can handle doing this every now and then," Beth said in excitement.
A few minutes later the Rangers returned to the base and removed their helmets in front of Hitoshi. Hitoshi looked over at Mason and saw that something was troubling him.
"Mason, are you still not pleased?" Hitoshi asked Mason.
"I'm fine," Mason said to Hitoshi.
"Come on, if something's wrong, just tell us," Beth said to Mason.
Mason looked over at Beth standing beside Jirou and sat his helmet on a table.
"Seriously, it's nothing," Mason said as he rolled his eyes.
"Well, are you at least going to stay with us this time?" Logan asked Mason.
"Who else is going to protect a dork like you from all those monsters?" Mason asked Logan as he began smiling.
Mason gave Logan a high five as Logan began laughing.
"You five need to remember, this is just the beginning," Hitoshi told the Rangers.
"We know," Jun said as she nodded.
"Tomorrow once you get out of school your training begins," Hitoshi said to the Rangers. "Even Jirou and Jun will need to train with their new gear,"
"And I'll make sure you all learn the ways of a ninja," Jirou said to the others.
"I'm not training with him," Mason said as he turned away from Jirou.
Mason gasped when he saw Jirou standing in front of him.
"How did you do that?" Mason asked Jirou.
"You'll find out when you train," Jirou said as he patted on Mason's shoulder.
Mason stayed behind as the other Rangers walked out of the base laughing. Hitoshi walked up to Mason and looked at the look on his face.
"Whatever the problem is, we'll help you get over it," Hitoshi said to Mason. "No matter what's causing it,"
"Hopefully," Mason said as he looked in the next room at the others celebrating without him.