Episode 6: "Heritage"
"I told you already Dan, we're going to do it and that's final!" snapped Vivian. She was in a fowl mood, considering Dan put up resistence to having the Kendo club do a public exhibition in the first place. Dan scratched his head and replied,
"But Vivian, you have to understand, everyone in the Kendo club doesn't have a cultural background in Japan." She held a finger to his face and said,
"That may be true, but you should know that has no bearing on being a Samurai." Dave walked in on the conversation and listened intently. Dan, noticing him but noting paying him mind continued,
"Your so quiet sometimes I never realized you were this stubborn!" She flicked her hair and spoke to him in a final tone,
"I'm only stubborn when I know something's right... my lord." Dan face-palmed himself.
"You know I hate it when someone calls me that." She smirked and said,
"I know..." She left to get ready for practice as Dave walked past her towards Dan. He patted him on the shoulder.
"Not sure about your preferences bro..." Dan slapped his hand away and retorted,
"Oh you should talk." He just shrugged and blushed.
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Later on, during the actual practice, Vivian announced her plans for the club.
"We will be during a cultural exhibition on Japanese sword-play. I want all members to participate, no exceptions!" She banged her wooden sword on the wall, as if it was some kind of gavel. Andrew and Rebecca were excited.
"This should be pretty cool. Never really participated in Heritage Week before." spoke Andrew to Rebecca, who in turn replied,
"Me either. Although..."
"Although what?" Andrew asked in a whispered tone so that the others wouldn't hear them.
"We aren't Japanese at all. That's obvious." Andrew thought about it for a few moments and said quite confidently,
"Well then... why not ask the experts?" She looked at him curiously as he refocused his attention on Vivian's words.
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Once school was let out, the five friends once again convened at the Sadiko household. Once the others were occupied, the Blue and Yellow rangers searched out and found the brother's father, Lee. He was surprised, but happy to help in any way.
"So my young Samurai, what can I help you with?" Andrew swallowed a bit and asked,
"That's just it Mr. Sadiko. We don't know if we're real Samurai or not." He gave them a puzzled look as he asked,
"Not Samurai?" He gave them a hearty laugh as he pointed to their hearts.
"Let me ask you a question. What qualities make a Samurai?" Andrew and Rebecca collectively said,
"Honor, Humility, Discipline, Dignity..."
"...Respect, Righteousness and inner tranquility." Lee nodded and said in a leading tone,
"All true, but the one thing that a great Samurai needs is heart. Without that, your no better than the Styxerons." The pair listened intently on his next words,
"Besides... in order to use the morphers in the first place, you need to have the blood of a Samurai running in your veins. See what I'm saying? You two are unquestionably Samurai. Never forget that." With that, Lee got up from his positionand moved to the next room, to see if his wife was preparing for dinner yet. Rebecca was alittle shocked by what Lee had said. Andrew smiled.
"Apparently... we have Samurai ancestors."
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Meanwhile, in the River of Styx, the inhabitants of the ship were in a mixture of moods. Kalacles was cross, all because of the new power gained by the rangers. Heshook his head a couple of times and shouted,
"Curse them! If they didn't find that accursed sealed origami in the first place, Bambina would have destroyed them!" Melodina simply carried on in her corner of the room, playing her eerie song. Kalacles banged his staff irritated. She replied in a bored voice,
"Well then, call a monster that's worthwhile." He was about to blow a gasket, with a greenish vein pulsating over him. He lashed back,
"Brave words from someone whose plan was supposed to be 'good'!" He made a step towards her, but she was faster, drawing the hidden blade under her cloak, she pinned him against the wall and said in a deep tone,
"Don't forget Kalacles... Lord Reapus will forgive me for harming you... but just imagine the other way around." Kalacles knew she was right and didn't put up resistence. She let him down and threw him an orange stripped orb from her shoulder. He looked at it strangely and she told him,
"It's an animal soul. Ferocious and untamed. Do what you will with it." Kalacles grumpily accepted the gift and held it over the water. More spherical souls jumped out from it, uniting with the tiger. They grew into the shape of a figure, one half an orange tiger, the other a red fish-like demon, similar to most of the inhabitants. Kalacles rubbed his beard and said,
"I don't recall this one... What is your name?" The half-n-half monster bowed and said,
"Tigrava. Here to serve my master." He nodded and said quaintly,
"Fine fine, go destroy the rangers!" The monster evaporated and disappeared on the ship. Melodina restarted a new song, one that was more melancholic than the last.
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Back at the Sadiko household, Rebecca and Andrew sat in the ceremonial room, with their morphers out. Andrew said first,
"We could just look up our geneology through the library, but that would be too tedious. So..." He unfolded his morpher and wrote in the air "Yume" or "Dream". Rebecca was confused.
"Why are you using that character?" Andrew breifly explained,
"When your asleep, your subconcious is still awake, and according to Carl Jung, the subconcious is made up of past experiences and memories passed down by our ancestors." Rebecca clasped her hands together.
"So we can look into the past through our memories!" He smiled and nodded.
"Let's go." He opened a portal and both of them stepped into it, anticipating what they would find.
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On the other side, a swirl of blue and yellow bubbles floated by, each containing a type of memory or dream. Andrew pulled Rebecca down the long path and said,
"The supressed memories should be down more, c'mon!" She nodded and ran alongside him. They ran and ran until they faced a very large bubble tht blocked their way. It was a bright color of yellow, signifying that Rebecca's connection was the first. Together, they went through it, transporting them to a different period of time...
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When they exited, it was apparent that they found themselves in a Japanese village in a rural part of the country. Above their heads were apparent war jets and explosions could be heard in the distance. Andrew looked around and spoke,
"Looks like... World War II. I guess that makes sense, with all the occupation in Japan at the time." She was insanely curious as he saw a woman, who was a little older than she was. Her hair was the same coffee brown and she had the exact same facial features. She put her hands to her mouth as she said,
"Mi abuela?" She knew she couldn't hear anything, but it was a shock to see her so young. Next to the grandmother was an American soldier, who was also Japanese. It was clear as day that they were enchanted by each other and Andrew snapped his fingers.
"I remember now! That guy is from one of the four noble families!" She was amazed to be sure. Unfortunately, due to the strain on their ranger powrs, the memory ended and they were brought once again to the winding path.
"That was... enlightening...." Rebecca said, utterly amazed that she was part of a noble family of Samurai. Andrew's bubble soon opened itself to them and he was sort of nervous, hoping it was something good.
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What was waiting for them this time was a completely rural surronding, with not a city or piece of technology in sight. Rebecca said this time,
"Feudal Japan?"
"Seems right." Replied Andrew as the two of them quickly ran through the forest, not wanting to be ejected from the dream just yet. They reached the end of it and came face to face with a manor of some kind. Being like ghosts, they walked through the walls, into the deeper confines of the home. What they saw was even more surprising. A young Caucasian male was kneeling before the Shogun Tokugawa. It was Andrew's turn to be surprised.
"William Adams? I'm related to HIM?!" Rebecca was confused and he could barely contain his excitement.
"Why, is he important?" Andrew looked at her in disbelief.
"Yes! He's the first official Western samurai in history!" She shared his shock and then the dream ended, forcing them out. They looked at each other and smiled, glad they found their answers. A beep on their morphers indicated that a new monster had appeared. With their new knowledge and lineage brought out, they both nodded with a grin.
"Let's go!" shouted Rebecca in excitement. They both flicked the brush on the morpher and drew their characters. They called out,
"Samurai Soul, Burn Fierce!" At once, they were covered in their respective color of energy with the symbol wrapping itself around them. Their ranger suits appeared from the brilliant light, leaving only their heads revealed. Lastly, the kanji placed itself onto their faces, creating the helmet and visor.
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The monster laughed as innocent pedestrians began to run away from the freakish tidal waves and ferocious winds that it seemed to be generating. He said quite fiercely,
"Yes you filthy humans, tremble with fear!" He growled and set another wave upon them. However, a brilliant blue light cut through it as a voice rang out,
"Water Form, Cascade Blade!" The energy slice went through the waves and hit the monster, making it stumble backwards. It roared and shouted,
"Who dares challenge the great Tigrava?!" Out of the blue arrived Rebecca and Andrew, both with swords drawn. Rebecca pointed to the monster,
"You can never beat us. Not as long as we have the heart of a Samurai!" Andrew nodded.
"Yeah. Hey Rebecca, you up for a little Double-Team action?" She gave him an excited response of,
"Of course!" They both spun the metallic portion of their swords, calling out,
"Hidden Blade, Power Weapon Mode!" Andrew's sword warped into a a bow with a silver pull-back, emblazed with his helmet kanji. Rebecca's changed into a shuriken, with her kanji on it as well. The monster wasn't impressed.
"Just try to defeat this! Tiger Storm!" From his right launched a rapid tsunami, from his right was a fierce wind. Andrew and Rebecca nodded to each other as they cried out,
"Unity Form! Hydro Spinner!" Rebecca handed over her weapon to Andrew, who placed it in the bow. Pulling the string back, the shuriken-like weapon began to spin faster and faster, until eventually it glowed a bright blue. With a cry of,
"Heh!" He let go off the string, launching the attack. With the combined powers of water and earth, they broke through the waves and knocked the monster back several feet until it hit the wall. It was then that the rest of the team showed up. Dan drew his sword and said quite out of breathe,
"Sorry we're late... Dave apparently forgot to tell us the phones were ringing."
"Oh it's MY fault? Your the one that was blasting your iPod!" Vivian just shook her head.
"Regardless, let's finish this up." Dan agreed and spun the metallic portion of his sword, calling out,
"Hidden Blade, Power Weapon Mode!" His signature weapon appeared over his shoulder and he took out the Forest Disk. He placed it onto the sword, which instantly converted itself into a cannon form, making the hilt into a trigger. He held it and called out,
"Samurai Disk Cannon!" All five of them loaded the cannon with their disks and they called out as a unit,
"Secret Disk, Forest Bullet!" He launched the attack, which rammed into the monster. He tried to fight the attack, but it went straight through and he roared out,
"NNNNNOOOOOO!" It was not a second sooner that water from the river flew from the bank and covered the remains, recreating him. He called out to them,
"ROAR! Now we shall see who is stronger!" Andrew and Rebecca spoke to their team as they said,
"Let us handle this!" Dan trusted them enough to allow it and they unholstered their origami. They all lined up and said together, bringing out their origami,
"Origami Unfold!" The shapes broke open as the phones stroked over them. They then threw them into the air and called out,
"Origami,
Flame Lion, Samuraizord Power!"
"Origami, Fluid Dragon,
Samuraizord Power!"
"Origami, Glide Turtle, Samuraizord
Power!"
"Origami, Noble Bear, Samuraizord
Power!"
"Origami, Mountain Ape, Samuraizord Power!"
They transferred into their cockpits and Dan said,
"Unity Form Activate!" The megazord appeared and the rangers appeared at the controls. Together they called out,
"Emperor Samurai Megazord, Going Forth!" The monster spread his arms apart and shouted,
"You won't block it this time! Tiger Storm!" But Andrew, with a snap decision, activated the Dragon origami, making the leg unfold, letting it jump high into the air. He looked over to Rebecca and said,
"Your turn." She nodded and brought her sword out by an inch. She spun the disk, which caused the Ape arm of the megazord to spin in a big wind-up. She called out,
"Earth Form, Hammer Knockout!" The megazord dived down towards the monster, hitting it with the full force of the attack. It was thrown back and rolled over the floor as a result. Dan quickly said,
"Good job. Now let's finish this." His team agreed, with a chrous of
"Right!" They all drew their swords and held it in front of them, calling out,
"Unity Form, Harmony Blade!" Bringing their hands down, they spun the metallic portion of their swords. They glowed a brilliant light, which was a rainbow combination of all of their colors. The megazord's sword also glowed the same color, only in its design. Making a circle with the blade, it resembled a lunar body, until it made a complete revolution. Bringing the blade down, they all cried,
"Ha!" The slice went straight down the middle of the monster, splitting the tiger and demon halves.
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Once the ordeal was finished, the gang found themselves all preparing for what was going to be the most successful Heritage Week ever. Althought the funny thing was, no one questioned the authenticity of the Kendo club's members. Everyone was having a good time. Vivian passed by Dan after a match (where she totally pounded on Andrew) and whispered,
"Told you so, my lord." He facepalmed. He knew she was doing that to vex him.... and it was working.
TO BE CONTINUED...
Next Time on Power Rangers Samurai Squadron:
A strange sickness has plagued the residents of River End. Suddenly, even the rangers themselves succumb to the illness! Can Andrew, who is strangely immune, find a cure in time to save his friends? Found out next time!