(Few things I want to say is that sorry I'm taking so long to update, I own June, her mom, father, Cobra, the new villains, etc. NOTHING MAJOR I OWN yadi yada, just sit back and enjoy. And tell me what you think when you're done reading. But you got to have an imagination for this chapter.)

Chapter Eight

Seven more months passed, and I grew to become a master Samurai Ranger. There were a few changes around the team, but none of them physically applied to me. Emily ditched her sunshine blonde curls for pin straight locks. Jayden even cut his hair too. I would always roll my eyes when Mia would admire it. At least Mike agrees with me on the fact that he looks like a nine-year-old boy.

I woke up early one day and decided to practice my symbol power. As I painted my symbols, I couldn't help but peak over my shoulder continuously. Besides myself and the nearby sparrows in the trees, it was unnaturally quiet. I felt like I was being watched. A fast breeze blew by me, followed by a spine-chilling laugh. In the blink of an eye, I grabbed the nearby spatula for the grill and threw it as hard as I could. But instead of hitting a ghost or something, it hit Mike square in the arm, knocking him down.

"Ow! What the hell June?" he shouted while clutching his arm. I ran over and helped him up. "Sorry Mike. I thought you were someone else." He grumbled but accepted my apology. One by one, the others woke up and we all proceeded to a usual practice. Kevin then came running through the door out of breath. "What's wrong Kevin?" asked Mia, running to his side. He pointed at me. "June. You. Have. Got. To. See. This." My eyes narrowed, but we all followed him to the front porch. Kevin caught his breath next to the open door. "What is it?" asked Mike. He didn't say anything, but shut the door to reveal a Mooger arrow lodged into the wall. A brown sack was hanging from it with a note attached to it. "It's addressed to you," said Kevin to me. I stepped a little closer, nervous. I grabbed the paper and unfolded it. The writing was a fancy script written in red ink. I held it up and read aloud.

"It appears the rumors are true. The Sacred Power has found it's way into your soul. Too bad it'll be my job to take it. I hope my little gift makes you realize what's coming for you and your friends. Until we meet, prepare for a war."-Crysus.

The note slipped through my fingers in shock. It was a total reversal. CRYSUS found ME. Without a word, I quickly and bravely opened the sack, only to fall back in fear. Crysus's warning was clear: a severed head rolled out, bloodied and with its eyes gouged. The face was in terror, as if he was screaming. Emily screamed to when she saw the head. Jayden knelt down and examined it. "Oh no," he gasped. "What?" asked Kevin, who was also kneeling. "It's a symbol master."

My eyes popped open. Why would Crysus target this master specifically? As I stared at the head even more, a crazy solution that tested my own sanity arose in my mind. I ran back inside and into the small library of Samurai facts, legends, and Zords. I found a date on a book five years before I was born and pulled it off the shelf. I flipped through the pages frantically and found a picture. I was shaking now. Ji came in and saw my panic. "What's going on June?"

"Crysus is coming for me."

I ran back outside, but everyone met me half way. They had the head and the arrow. I snatched the head and ran to the sofas and placed it on the center table. I ignored everyone's questions, stood the book up, and compared them both. Nobody spoke, but Mia grasped what I was trying to say. "Oh my God! That's the same guy." Ji dropped his staff in shock. I could tell he already knew. "This man," I began, "protected me for nine years. His name was Mika."

Once the gasps and shock died down, I told them both stories I heard from the Monks and my Mom. During the middle of Mom's story, Mike began pacing angrily. When I finished, Kevin slammed his fist on the coffee table. "This is low even for a fucking Nighlok!" he yelled. Jayden put his hand on Mia, who let a small tear escape her usually happy face. "Crysus seems to believe that Mika still has a protective hand over June," said Ji. I suddenly felt a hand intertwine with mine. I turned to see Antonio holding my hand. An electric shock raced through my body. Instead of releasing it in shock, I tightened the grip. Me must have felt it, because he stared into my eyes and raised my hand to his lips to kiss it. My thoughts ran down the X-rated path when Jayden said, "If Crysus wants to get to June, he's going to have to get through the rest of us." Everyone agreed. Just then, the Gap Sensor erupted into alert mode. Ji pulled up the water map and gasped. "It's Estallia. She's near the cliffs." Kevin jumped. "I thought she was sealed away with Xandred?" "No, the symbol only applies to Xandred. Not his mate." Without another question, we ran out the door and morphed while running to the cliffs.

We made it to the cliff quickly. And sure enough, there was the Mooger hoard. And in the center of them was, as I assumed, was Xandred's mate Estallia. She was a vision of pure nightmares. Her skin looked like a fish: gray and scaly. She had claws, piercing red eyes, fangs, one long ankle length braid of white hair cascading down her back, and gargoyle wings. She wore a white dress that was torn and blood stained. She laughed when she saw us.

"Well, well, well if it isn't the Samurai Rangers here to stop me." My mouth fell open. Her voice sounded like a vampire from Transylvania. "Alright Estallia, you better have a good reason for leaving the Netherworld. What is it you want?" ordered Jayden. She laughed again. "Oh nothing much. Just to please my mate and destroy all of you,"-her head suddenly jerked in my direction-"but I can't do that with the Silver Ranger breathing." I stepped forward bravely clutching my Spin Sword. "You'll be the dead one when I'm though with you," I bravely taunted. Once again, she laughed. "Oh such humor. I shall not be fighting you," she explained. She suddenly stretched her arm towards everyone else as lighting shot from her fingertips. They fell to the ground in pain. "No!" I screamed. Moogers overpowered me as my team was tied to nearby trees. My adrenaline boiled and my bloodlust raged. Estallia was now at the top of my most hated list. She then snapped her fingers, and out of thin air, another Nighlok appeared. He roared in fury. This new Nighlok resembled the Minotaur of Greek mythology. "Arador!" shouted Estallia. With a roar, he charged at me, and he rammed my chest, knocking my Spin Sword out of my hand, and slammed me into a boulder. The rock cracked under pressure. I helplessly tried to fight him barehanded, but to no avail. As he rammed my lungs again and again, I tried to grip his horns and throw him down. But as I did, he used his power to throw me ten feet in the air. I landed on my back and hollered in pain. Arador readied for another charge. But he made a mistake. I was now inches away from my sword. As fast as I could, I grabbed it and attacked. As he charged, I landed a good slash and his left horn fell. Blood poured from his head and he bellowed and charged again. But this time I spun my sword and used my cudgel to lasso onto a tree branch, swing around, and land on his back. I grabbed the rest of my chain and wrapped it around his throat. I tightened my grip as he screamed and kicked. Soon, he began to slow down. His breath turned to quick gasps as he was brought to his knees. With one last long breath, his screams turned to chocked gurgles and then pure silence. He fell to the ground, dead.

I arose victorious. The Moogers began to dance in terror. Estallia's eyes grew wild. She began quivering and snarling. I pointed my now sword at her. "You're going to have to do better than that." She screamed and flew from the cliff into the distance. When she left, I powered down. Her Moogers scattered and the bonds on the team were lifted. Everyone seemed recovered, but Antonio seemed to be in the worst shape. He fell to the ground as everyone checked on each other. "Oh no, Antonio must have took the worst hit out of all of us," cried Emily. Jayden turned Antonio on his back and found a five-inch long hole that was stained with fresh blood just over his heart. "He really did get the worst of it," he said. "Lets get him back home." Mike and Kevin lifted Antonio up, I looked around and noticed Mia was missing. Emily did too. "Mia!" she called. No answer. She wandered a little ahead, ignoring Mike's calls to her. Suddenly, a noise that sounded like a falling tree was heard. Estallia came back. Before we could react, she rocketed through the trees with an unconscious Emily in her grip. Then, a flying Mooger followed her with an unconscious Mia in his claws. Estallia's laughed echoed all around "No! Mia!" cried Jayden. Mike cried after Emily, but they were long gone.

Estallia had kidnapped Mia and Emily

We made it back home just before dusk. Jayden had called Ji to have him ready the medical supplies. When we got there, Antonio's room was set up like a hospital. "Antonio needs rest, but this wound is pretty deep," said Ji while examining Antonio. Jayden turned to him with tears of fury. "We have a bigger problem now. Estallia's kidnapped Emily and Mia." Ji's mouth dropped as he asked why. "We have no idea," said Mike as he and Kevin put Antonio on his bed, "but whatever the bitch is planning, Emily and Mia are definitely bait." Ji then saw the bruises on my arm. "What happened June!" he gasped. Jayden answered for me. "It was an Arador. Estallia tied us all up to have June go one on one with it." Ji walked out and came back with a black book. He turned the pages and stopped near the end.

"The fact that you're in one piece is a good thing June. You're definitely strong. But you facing an Arador is more than what you think. These creatures are Nighlok animal slaves of Xandred. They are bred by Crysus. My assumption is Crysus is behind all of this"-he put the book down at the foot of the bed for all of us to see. It was a drawing of an Arador century's ago.-"these monsters unleash their fury on a targeted opponent. This one must have been trained to kill you. With you defeating this one, Crysus knows your every strength and weakness. He could find you at any moment."

Those words sunk in. I sat next to an injured Antonio and said, "But why would he want Emily and Mia?" "Probably to find this mansion, and to find you. Crysus never stops until an order from Xandred is fulfilled, and with you being alive, that order isn't over." I sat there shocked as Jayden had Mike and Kevin help him with a plan to get Emily and Mia back. He ordered me to take care of Antonio. And I did.

It was late at night, probably two in the morning when Antonio woke up. I got out of the chair I was sleeping in and held his hand. "I'm here Antonio," I whispered. "I got hurt didn't I?" he asked. I moved aside his shirt and put his hand over his wound. "Yeah you did. But you'll survive." "June," he said roughly, "I got to tell you something." I sat closer. "What is it?" He looked me square in the eyes and said three powerful words: "I love you."

I felt my mouth fall open I thought he was joking but his eyes said different. "You love me?" I choked out. He sat closer to me. "Since the day I met you"-he brushed my hair aside-"you have no idea how perfect you are." I couldn't speak. All this time he felt the same way. "I didn't know you felt that way." I whispered. Antonio cupped my face in his hands. "June, I'd rather die admitting this, than live my whole life hiding it." I felt our bodies get closer than our lips as I admitted my feelings too. Before I knew it, Antonio pressed his lips to mine and my heart did a back flip. His lips were soft and sweet. He unbuttoned my shirt as I lay down on the bed and removed all our clothes. Our bodies moved together with every kiss. His lips caressed every square inch of my exposed body. I couldn't hold back the pleasure as I latched my legs around his hips as he got inside of me. I've felt this feeling before, but Antonio was gentle and romantic. The bed creaked as we moved together and breathed at the same pace. His lips never left mine as we finished together. I was very careful of his wound, but after he rolled off of me, he pulled me on top of him and I rested on his chest. He ran his hands through my hair as he panted, "Long overdue huh?" I kissed him and said, "I guess so." He looked up at the ceiling and asked, "Are we rushing things?"

"No no, I like it this way."

"Me too."

All I could think of was how this was going to change things. But, at the moment, I really didn't care. We kissed again as he rolled back on top of me. "I love you girlfriend,' he whispered. "And I love you boyfriend," I answered. After a long kiss, he entered me again..