As the rangers ran up to the pier, Octoroo watched them through his staff, aboard the boat that used to be Xandred's. "Ooh a ooh! There's rangers anew!" He said out loud, to no one in particular.
"Hehehehehe. Good." A voice said, causing the squid-faced Octoroo to jump. "Who are you?"
A man, wearing a pair of beat up hiking boots, silver colored jeans, a black shirt with the sleeves torn off roughly, and a snake-like dragon whistle on a black cord around his neck, stepped out from the cabin where Xandred used to live. "My true name is unimportant, call me Ryukodon."
The air grew cold as he uttered the name. "The-the-the Dark Silver dragon?!" Octoroo said, incredulously, taking a couple steps back.
"One and the same. Xandred thought he could beat me, but you have to destroy the dragon to defeat me." He tapped the whistle hanging around his neck.
"Well whatever happened, why are you here?" Octoroo demanded, "come to rub it in my face that Xandred's dead."
Ryukodon smirked, "no. Far from it. The fall of one dark lord shall lead to the rise of another." He said, snapping his fingers and teleporting in three figures. One had a very demonic appearance, with hints of both snake and Komodo.
The only female had a bit of demonic appearance as well, but looked very graceful, with hints of a fox in her. While the third was simply one of the Zhur, carrying a sheathed sword, which he knelt and offered to Ryukodon.
Taking the blade, he turned to Octoroo. "The remnants of the Nighlok army shall be integrated into the ranks of the Neltrins. Kamaza!" The female general bowed. "Take stock of the remaining Nighloks. In the mean time, send out one of the Neltrins, let's cause some chaos."
Mark and the others ran up to the scene at the docks, where a monster that looked like a cross between a crocodile and a tiger was casing people around. "Yes! Cause chaos and suffering! The more the river rises the more power we gain!" It called, and Mark gasped.
"Neltrin." He said, causing the others to look at him incredulously. "The Sanzu River was home to two major factions. The Nighloks, that you guys know about, and the Neltrins, a lesser known, but more powerful, group. Not much is known about them, thought to have been lost to history, but it's thought that they're lead by a dragon."
"A dragon?!" Irena asked, wide eyed, "how is that possible?"
Before Mark could answer, the monster turned to them, "Oh look! More humans!"
"Samuraizer! Go go samurai!" Mark called instinctively, followed a few moments later by the others. Drawing their symbols in the air, they morphed, using the same sequence as their parents. As they appeared morphed, the monster laughed.
"Zhur! Get them!" He said, thrusting his arm forward, as the foot soldiers swarmed forward.
Drawing their Spin Swords, the team charged forward to meet the attack, slashing through the Zhur. As they fought through them, Mark charged straight for the Neltrin.
"It's you and me, ugly! En Garde!" He said, raising his sword.
"Hahahaha! If you insist!" The Neltrin said, slashing at Mark. Barely ducking out of the way, Mark use the momentum to put his Lion disc on his Spin Sword, spinning it.
"Fire Symbol Strike!" He called, making four slashes to form his symbol with fire power, which knocked the monster back.
Meanwhile, the others fought with the Zhur. "Hydro Bow!" Cooper called, spinning the disc on his Spin Sword. The water-themed bow materialized in his hand, and he put the dragon disc on it, pulling the handle back and releasing it.
As several blue energy arrows flew out, they destroyed several of the Zhur. "Woo! Still got it!" He said, giving a small fist pump as Thomas and Lily flipped over him, landing together.
In almost perfect unison, both siblings spun their discs, summoning their weapons. "Earth Slicer!" Thomas called out, putting the ape disc on the back, throwing it to fly in a circle and take out many of the remaining.
"Forest Spear!" Lily called, putting the bear disc on it. Once the blade came out, she swept the spear in a tight arc, as Thomas easily jumped over it. "Woo! We're good at this!" She said, high-fiving her brother.
Irena summoned her Sky Fan, which was now orange-colored like the rest of her gear. Placing the turtle disc on the back, she sent several orange waves of wind, destroying the rest of the Zhur.
About this time, Mark got tossed back by the Neltrin. As he landed near the others, Irena and Cooper ran over "Are you ok?!" They asked, and Mark nodded and he used his Spin Sword to stand. After a moment, he held it up as though to spin it, but he hesitated, not sure if he'd be able to handle the Fire Smasher.
"What are you waiting for?! Do something!" Cooper said, before the Neltrin's colors began fading.
"Well would you look at that! I'm running out of juice. I'll be back! Mark my words!" It said, before vanishing down a Gap. Mark lowered his sword as it vanished, staring at where it just was.
As the rangers returned to the Shiba house, Jayden was waiting for them. "How'd it go? Defeat the Nighlok?"
Mark shook his head, moving passed his uncle to the bookshelves. After a moment, he pulled a book off and opened it to a specific page, handing it to Jayden.
"The Neltrins. Mom taught me about them during my history studies. Apparently, Xandred's power kept them from trying anything. But now that he's gone…" He left the thought hanging in the air to show where they were at.
"That's fine and everything, but can we please talk about how ineffective you were back there?" Thomas said, causing everyone else to look at him. "What? I'm just being honest here. You froze up back there when you could have used your Fire Smasher to take on that Neltrin."
"I see you inherited your father's blunt honesty." Jayden said, nodding. "Mark, you can explain, or not, it's your decision."
"Naturally." Mark muttered, sinking down into one of the seats around the table. "I'm no good with the Fire Smasher. I've been working with uncle Jayden on it, but I'm still no good with it."
"Did you not train with it before becoming a ranger?" Cooper asked, causing Thomas to smack him on the shoulder.
"No. Because my mom felt that swordwork and Symbol Power were a tad bit more important!" Mark said, standing up. He turned to look at Cooper. "Or should I remind you that Symbol Power is important to being a Samurai ranger!"
Cooper sputtered, as Irena looked at him, "your dad is Kevin, and you aren't good at Symbol Power."
"No. He wanted me to be real good with the sword and zord combat so we spent a lot of time working on those, and less time with Symbol Power. I have enough to be effective though! Unlike Lily!"
"Hey hey hey! Don't talk about my sister like that! She's actually quite skilled with her Symbol Power!" Thomas shouted, as the four non-red rangers dissolved into a shouting match.
After a few minutes on watching them, Jayden pushed himself between all of them. "Everyone calm down!" After the cacophony quieted down, Jayden spoke again, voice raised. "You all have your strengths and weaknesses, that's what makes you a good team. If you keep fighting among yourselves you won't even stand a chance against a Nighlok, much less a Neltrin!"
Ryukodon played a 5 note tune on his whistle, and then stood there expectantly. When nothing happened, he shouted in frustration. "I thought you said you caused chaos Overator!" He turned to the Neltrin, his eyes glowing a deep purple. Overator backed up.
"Master Ryukodon, he did. You were defeated almost completely. Remember that you used most of your power to restore the whistle and your human form. It will take much chaos to restore your spirit and your full power." The Komodo-like general, Goramo, said, placing a hand on Ryukodon's shoulder, causing the man to sigh.
"You're right. It's much too early. Overator! Get back out there! Squidface!" He shouted at Octoroo, "have you found those journals?!"
The five rangers were training outside in the training area, with Thomas and Lily paired up, and Cooper and Irena. Mark was in one corner, with Jayden, working with the Fire Smasher, when Jayden's Samuraizer rang.
"Hey Jii, what's up?"
"Hey Jayden, Garret's getting restless being cooped up here, but I have exciting news! We were able to locate the Wolf Folding Zord, and have begun the process of making new Folding Zords as well. It was Garret's idea." Jii sounded both excited and nervous at the same time.
"Before I forget, has Mark been given the Lightning disc yet?"
Jayden walked back up towards the house as he spoke."No, Lauren said he showed no talent for Thunder Symbol Power, so I haven't given it to him yet."
"Good. Garret has. He's actually really skilled with it, the first in over 6 generations. I think he should get it."
"I understand where you're coming from, Jii, but you do know he's not a ranger, right?" He turned to look back at the team briefly before continuing inside.
"Not yet, he will be. There's a book. Called 'The Lost Samurai' it should be the same one that talks about the Wolf Folding Zord and the white ranger. There should be a full auxiliary team. Containing the secondary elements of the Samurai Rangers." As Jii spoke, Jayden retrieved the book and opened it.
"Crimson, Thunder element. Interesting." Jayden said. "What's the origin of these guys, it doesn't say."
"Children of the Samurai Rangers who didn't have the talent for the main elements. If they showed promise elsewhere, they were still trained. Unfortunately, over time, the secondary elements slowly vanished." Jii responded. "But, I've also been training some people who should be ready soon to be the others."
"Are you sure that's wise, Jii? These guys have no knowledge of the Samurai Rangers or our history."
"Just trust me on this one, Jayden. Please."