Chapter 3

It happened to be just another day of training at the samurai household. And at this time Kevin, Mia and Emily were training inside. Nariko was there also but she simply just watched the trio, but was also sketching them at the same time. At that moment Mike came in wearing a helmet and carrying his skateboard, "Hey guys! Guess what?" Kevin who was doing push ups stopped and stood up, wiping his forehead with a towel "What? You overslept again?"

"Yeah well that's nothing new!"

The girls stopped their little sparring match and went over to Mike. "So what's up?" wondered Emily

"Ji just told me he wanted us to take the day off."

"Really?"

"This isn't a joke?" asked Mia

"But…We just started our workout…" said Kevin

Mike took off his helmet "Dude are you telling me you're going to disobey a direct order from your samurai mentor?"

"Well…I guess not…"

Mia then began pacing back and forth "What to do…I could shop for shoes designed for fighting monsters…Or I could catch a flick…"

"But it's such a beautiful day! It'd be such ashame to stay coped up inside!" Emily pointed out

"Em I could teach you how to shred!" offered Mike

"Well…I was thinking about Rainbow's End I never been on a rollercoaster before."

"What? Never?"

"They don't have amusement parks out where I'm from."

"Then it's settled." said Mia

"Rainbow's End here we come!" cheered Mike, he then noticed Nariko drawing in the corner. "Oh! I almost forgot! Nariko!"

She looked up at the call of her name, "Yes?"

"Mentor Ji said you can come spend the day off with us! So what do you say? Want to go to Rainbow's End with us?"

"Oh I um…"

Emily quickly went to her side and placed her hands on Nariko's "Mike is right you should come with us! I mean you really haven't stepped foot outside the household in awhile and besides it would be totally fun with you there with us! So please Nariko come with us?"

"Well…" seeing that the yellow ranger was giving her a cute puppy dog look Nariko couldn't help but sigh and smile a bit. "I don't see why not…"

Emily began jumping up and down in excitement, "Yay!" she then grabbed Nariko's hand and began leading her away. "Come on lets head to our rooms so we can change and get going!"

The others soon began to follow and immediately bumped into Jayden who had just arrived. "Hey Jayden we're going to the amusement park." said Kevin, Jayden simply gave them a small smile and passed by them, "Have fun."

"You're not coming with us?" asked Mia

Jayden stopped and looked back at them, "Not this time…There's something that I need to do."

Nariko made her way over to the red ranger and gently placed her hands on his arms, "Jayden…Come with us…"

"I'm sorry Nariko but it's important and I need to get it done…But don't let me ruin your fun for you…"

"Jayden…"

"Nariko I want you to go out and have fun with the others, it's a bit rare that Ji is letting you out of the household. Besides I can't remember the last time that you had fun so go on and have fun with the others."

"Ok…"

Jayden gently grabbed her hands and placed a kiss on each one, "But do be safe for me."

Nariko simply nodded and the red ranger took his leave, Mia went up to her side. "You know…Jayden is so mysterious…I wonder what's so important."

"So do I Mia…"

Mike who was waiting by the door said, "Our day off is a wasting, Jayden can take care of himself come on!" as they begun to make their leave Nariko couldn't help but stop and look back down the hall where Jayden left. Kevin saw this and stopped by her side placing his hand on her shoulder, "You ok Nariko?" "Yeah…I just…Nevermind…Lets go."

At the amusement park Mike and Emily were happily taking in the sight of the rollercoaster while following Kevin, Nariko and Mia. As they were strolling through the park Kevin couldn't help but wonder aloud, "I wonder why Jayden didn't come?"

"He seemed to have a lot on his mind." Mia pointed out

"We'll bring him back some cotton candy to cheer him up!" said Emily

Kevin immediately stopped in his tracks "Wait! Maybe this is a test! A samurai never takes a day off!"T

The blue ranger turned around to leave the park but Nariko stopped him,"Kevin…You need to stop being paranoid…"

"Look if he wanted us to stay he would've said so." Mike pointed out

Nariko nodded "He's right I don't think Jayden would take a day off until the last Nighlok is defeated."

Kevin nodded in understanding, "Ok…I'll stay for awhile."

"Whatever Kev the rides are awaiting!" declared Mike who went on ahead of the group

Both Mia and Emily grabbed Nariko's hands. "Come on Nariko let's check out some of the rides!" said Emily in excitement

Nariko smiled and let the girls lead her away with Kevin closely following after them.

Back at the household Jayden was in a secluded area, hidden from watchful eyes. He had his sword in one hand and an orange disk in the other, the red ranger slipped the disk onto his sword and spinned it. This caused the blade of his sword to be surrounded in fire and Jayden began swinging his weapon around a bit. Though as he held his sword still in a position, Jayden was overwhelmed by the disk's power that was surging from his sword. The power of it made Jayden be thrown onto his back, his sword fell to the ground and immediately the flame disappeared once it did. The red ranger groaned a bit from the impact and slowly began sitting up just in time to see Master Ji arrive. The samurai mentor crouched down and picked up Jayden's sword.

He gazed at it for a moment before turning his attention to the red ranger, "You're not ready to use the Beetle Disk yet. You're literally playing with fire." Ji stood up straight still holding the red ranger's sword. "Jayden…you must be prepared to give 100% of yourself not just physically but mentally."

"But I'm giving 110%!" retorted Jayden

The samurai mentor nodded, "Yes…But you're lacking balance in your life, you're pushing yourself too hard and that's not letting you be at your best."

Jayden finally gotten up and slowly walked over to Ji, "Yeah…Maybe I am pushing myself hard…But I am the red ranger now I have to be the best and keep getting better."

"It's about Nariko isn't it Jayden?"

The red ranger stopped and stared at the samurai mentor for a moment, he then grabbed his sword from Ji's grasp and turned to resume training. Ji sighed and went up to Jayden's side "I understand why you stayed behind to train today, but there was a time when you and Nariko were younger when you both trained hard but the two of you still allowed yourselves to have fun. Though the day Nariko became ill, it changed our lives mainly for you Jayden. You're trying to do everything you can in order to protect Nariko and make her happy. I know you wanted to go with the others especially with Nariko today."

"The Nighlok grow stronger and Nariko is the only one who has mastered the disk, but now that she's ill I have to master it for her before it's too late! After all…She's my fiance and it's my duty to protect her from any harm!"

"The responsibility you bear is great, but while you need to master the disk you also need to master balance in your life as a samurai and I know for certain Nariko would say the same thing to you Jayden."

The red ranger was still for a moment, deep in thought before resuming his training with the Beetle Disk.

Meanwhile at Rainbow's End, after going on some rides the rangers and Nariko decided to have a little break and have lunch. "Wow that ride was so much fun!" said Mia

Emily nodded, "Yeah, totally!" the yellow ranger turned to Nariko who happened to be eating a celery stick "What about you Nariko? Did you like that ride?"

"Definitely! I just…Can't remember the last time I ever had fun like this…Though I wish Jayden was here to enjoy it also…" Feeling sympathy for her friend, Emily rubbed Nariko's shoulder hoping the action would comfort her.

They continued to chat happily with each other when the group heard a frightened cry, "Help!" the group looked towards the sound of the cry. Kevin quickly stood from his seat "That sounds like trouble!"

Mia put down the churro stick she was eating and got up also, "So much for my normal day."

Emily stood too and turned to Nariko, "I think it's best that you return to the household for now Nariko you know…"

"I understand all of you be careful." Emily, Mia and Kevin nodded soon taking their leave. Though Nariko couldn't help but giggle as she watched Mike trying to finish off his churro stick before running off to catch up with the others.

20 minutes passed and back at the household the rangers returned after the Nighlok: Dreadhead escaped from battle. "Man that monster was working some bad mojo." said Mike who took a seat on the living room's soft cushion chair.

"I don't mean to sound like that Nighlok but…Our spin swords and our symbol power well…Useless…" admitted Mia

Kevin began pacing around the room, "It's scary to think on what he could've done to us if he hadn't dried out."

"No thanks I rather figure out on how we could beat him." declared Emily

Ji stood up from his seat, nodding. "Exactly Emily! Fear is the enemy! If you believe in yourselves you can win any battle! Confidence brings power!"

"You weren't there! Our weapons couldn't touch him!" reminded Mike

Jayden who happened to sitting right next to Nariko stood up, "That's not true, don't forget we did injure him. I'm working on mastering a new power."

Jayden walked to the front of the living and turned to everyone pulling out the Beetle disk showing it to them. Once setting eyes upon it Nariko stood up and went over to him "So that's what you've been doing today…"

"A new disk! What is it?" wondered Kevin

Nariko turned to the others, "There are secret disks passed down from previous generations of samurai."

"Most of them have been lost in battle this maybe the only one left. With this we at least stand a chance at beating the Nighlok." said Jayden

Nariko turned back to him, "However in order to master this disk one needs double the samurai power that they have."

He stared at her for a moment then turned his attention to his team, "Don't worry you all focus on recovering."

"But twice as much power? Can you handle that?" questioned Mike

"Thanks to Ji I've been trained to believe that I can do anything I put my mind to."

"So why didn't you use it earlier?"

Jayden remained quiet for a moment then replied "Next time…" he turned away from everyone and began walking down the hall. Nariko stared after him for a second before quickly following after the red ranger.

She soon caught up to him and grabbed his arm "Jayden!"

He stopped and turned to her "Nariko…"

"Tell me what's on your mind I don't like it when you're acting this way."

"Do I really have it in me to master this disk just like you did?"

"Jayden…"

"I'll train every night and day if I have to!"

"Jay…"

"I know what you're going to say I can handle it and no matter what I will master it for everyone's sake including yours." before Nariko could say another word Jayden quickly walked away.

Surprised by this she stared after him and called out "Jayden!" the red ranger continued on, walking around a corner causing Nariko to tiredly sighed and close her eyes.

That night Jayden was once again training in the secluded area to master the Beetle Disk. As he trained, both Ji and Nariko came to watch in secret. The two quickly crouched behind a rock and paid close attention to the training. Jayden was then thrown onto his back again at the power of the disk.

"Jayden!" Nariko lightly exclaimed

She stood and was about to go to him, but Ji grabbed her shoulder and made her crouch back down, "No Nariko!"

"But Ji!"

"He needs to do this on his own just like you did!" knowing that he was right Nariko continued to watch Jayden in worry.

The red ranger slowly stood and picked up his weapon thus resuming his training only to be thrown upon his back again at the power. Nariko's worry for her red ranger began to grow and caused her to bite her lip as she continued to watch.

Jayden began to slowly stand again, "My team…Nariko…The whole world is depending on me! I can do this! I must do this!" he picked up his weapon and prepared to train again,

Nariko who of course heard the whole thing had a tear slid down her cheek. She then stood up and stepped away from the rock, facing Jayden. "Believe in yourself! I know you can do it Jayden! I believe in you!"

Jayden stared at her in surprise, "Nariko..." and just like that, with the sight of his fiancé standing there and cheering him on gave Jayden the strength he needed to continue his training.

The next morning Nariko had gone back to the secluded training area to check on Jayden after getting some sleep. Upon arriving she saw the red ranger laying on the ground unconscious with his weapon right in front of him. Nariko quickly went over to his side and gently started to shake him, "Jayden! Are you ok?"

She then brushed his hair away from his face and stared down at him in worry, "You should have given it a rest…But you acted the same way when you were a little kid, insisted on doing things until you got sick…You will never stop trying to save others and never cease protecting me and I understand that…" Nariko then shook Jayden a bit harder "Jayden wake up! The Nighlok is back!"

Once hearing this the red ranger immediately woke up and slowly stood. He stumbled a bit having Nariko quickly support him. Jayden softly panted and looked at her, "It's time to clash again."

She nodded and kissed his cheek, "You be careful out there…" Jayden gave her a small smile and took his leave to join up with the others to fight Dreadhead again.

Later that day, Jayden had successfully mastered the Beetle Disk and used it against Dreadhead. With the power of the disk it helped the rangers defeat the Nighlok once and for all. The rangers soon returned to Rainbow's End with Nariko and this time Jayden tagged along. As Kevin, Mike, Mia and Nariko were strolling along, the pink ranger looked at her friends, "I'm so glad Mentor gave us another day off!"

"It's only fair since our last one involved fighting Nighlok!" Mike pointed out

"Well if Mentor felt that it was all right I guess I shouldn't argue." admitted Kevin

The group stopped just as Emily showed up with some cotton candy, "Who's gonna argue with cotton candy?" While handing Mia, Kevin and Mike the sweet treat, Jayden showed with two more cotton candy and handed one to Nariko who smiled, happily accepting it.

"This really isn't in line with my training diet." admitted Kevin

"That's true but it's ok, cotton candy and a day off from training is good for you, Ji reminded me that keeping balance in life is important it lets us be at our best." said Jayden

Kevin simply shrugged and took a bite out of his treat. Mike then wrapped his arm around the blue ranger's shoulders and began leading him off "Come on you stick in the mud the rides are this way!" Emily and Mia immediately followed the boys. "Gosh my first rollercoaster!" exclaimed the yellow ranger

As the others went ahead Nariko looked at Jayden, "Shall we?"

"We shall." He thus wrapped his arm around her waist making Nariko smile and she began eating her cotton candy, letting Jayden lead them to follow after the others.