Chapter 16
Back at the Shiba household the rangers returned from the gate and currently Mia, Emil, Mike and Kevin were in bed resting from their injuries. Ji and Antonio happened to be watching the four rangers from the doorway, looking on a bit worried. Antonio then turned his attention to the samurai mentor "Boy…They're pretty banged up with that run in with Arachnitor, huh?" "Yes…Now that the Sanzu River is seeping into our world, the nighlok are getting stronger…Soon they will be too powerful for even our team to stop." Ji began making his way to the living with Antonio following after. "It's crucial that you fill the Black Box with all the rangers' symbol powers." told the samurai mentor "Well once we rescue Jayden and Nariko…Jayden and I will get it running in no time." Antonio's reply made Ji stop in his tracks and turn around "Antonio you must focus the job at hand." "But Jayden and Nariko are out there!" "Jayden and Nariko will be the first ones to tell you the Black Box is the priority." the samurai mentor handed the gold ranger the black container holding the weapon to which Antonio took out, gazing at the small object "The original red ranger couldn't even finish this." Ji entered the living room while saying "Your lack of formal symbol power training will make this very difficult, but you did build your own samurai morpher." Antonio quickly followed after the mentor and took a seat at the table still having his focus on the Black Box "This is the ultimate hack job…My kind of challenge." "I have faith that your high tech skills will enable you to succeed when others have failed." "All right I'm on it…With the others down I know I have to pick up the slack."
Little did the two knew Kevin happened to overhear their conversation very clearly. Not liking how things were right now he threw the blankets off of him causing the others to look at the blue ranger who said "There's no time to rest! It's our sworn duty to keep the world safe!" Kevin got up from bed, gripping his side in pain while he stood "We're samurai! Nothing can stop us!" but as he took a step forward, Kevin immediately fell to his knees causing Mia to quickly get out of bed and help him up "Kevin!"
At the river Jayden was still following after Deker through the lake who couldn't help but scoff a bit "Heh…Rescuing you red ranger has become quite of a bad habit but one I intend to break." the half human, half nighlok then stopped and turned to Jayden handing Nariko over "Put your princess in the water and have her stay under. The water will purged the poison out of her system." "How do I know this is not a trap?" "Just do as I say…After all your princess has little time left so you better hurry…Besides I want you top form without having anything to distract you from our battle…So the sooner your princess recovers, the sooner I'll be able to battle and finally bring you down." Jayden glared at Deker then at his fiancé to find her heavily panting and occasionally groaning in pain. He gently called out to her "Nariko…" she slowly opened her eyes and tiredly look at him "Jay…Den…" "Love listen very closely…The water here is able to purge out the poison from your body, but I need you to stay under as long as you can. Will you be able to do that for me?" "I'll…Try Jayden…" With that the red ranger slowly put Nariko in the water, who held her breath and immediately went under.
Meanwhile in the Netherworld, Octoroo returned to find Master Xandred already finished with absorbing his new powers. Currently Master Xandred was staring out of the boat's window, feeling completely furious at Arachnitor's attempt to take his place but he easily took care of that with his new powers. While he stared out, Octoroo was trying to explain his actions to his master, not wanting to face the same fury that Arachnitor experienced "It was all a misunderstanding! I was trying to get rid of the red ranger and bring the Yamada princess to you! But I think you're thinking that I was thinking of betraying you! Oh ah oh…I hate all of this thinking…" "That's enough! You know better than to think for yourself! It gives us all a headache!" Master Xandred walked away from the window "What really upsets me is that we lost a chance to crush the red ranger and bring my princess to me! Next time see that you succeed or my vengeance will be swift!" the powerful nighlok quickly drew out his sword and rammed its blade right into one of the wooden buckets "Besides…There's another one we need to rid ourselves of, right Dayu?" the female nighlok who was quietly sitting on the floor the whole time, quietly gasp as Master Xandred approached her "I'm talking about that meddling Deker of course! Take him down." Octoroo went over to the two nighloks "Oh ah oh! Deker is too tough! He'll mash her into many little Dayu bits!" the female nighlok stood up while growling under her breath "Fine!" and stormed off of the boat to carry out Xandred's order, Octoroo looked back at his master "Oh ah oh! Your cruelty is boundless!" "Speaking of cruelty how's Arachnitor's punishment going." "He's about to transform, soon he'll be under your full control." Master Xandred went back over to the window and looked out to find Arachnitor on the shore, screaming out in pain from his powers making Xandred scoff "He wanted power now he has so much that it'll destroy him." he sheathed his sword and walked away from the sight "Keep an eye on him Octoroo, once he mutates send him straight to the human world so he can create misery!"
At the Shiba household Antonio is in the living room working on the Black Box by using his symbol power. Mentor Ji happened to be by his side watching carefully, soon Antonio stopped using his symbol power and turned to Ji "All right I hacked in, now I just have to format it to absorb our symbol powers." suddenly the gold ranger collapsed on to the sofa chair and immediately Ji went to his side "Antonio!" "I'm ok…" "You must pace yourself! Using symbol power is incredibly draining, don't overdue it!" "And who told me the whole world is at stake here?" Antonio quickly got back on his feet "I have to do all that I can." he pulled out his samurai morpher and began the process again "Let's try this again." "Just be careful Antonio…What you're trying to do is dangerous work, keep in mind if there's another nighlok attack you're the only ranger that's healthy enough to respond." told Ji
In the other room where the rangers were resting in, Kevin had overheard their conversation again and immediately sat up in bed. Mia who happened to be awake saw this and turned to the blue ranger "Kevin? What are you doing? You need to rest." "I have to find someway to help!" he began getting out of bed only to have the pink ranger stop him "No! You don't have to do this…Not alone…Let's help each other that's the best way we can help Jayden and Nariko." Mia got out of her bed and held her hand out to Kevin who accepted the help. Mike and Emily slowly made their way out of bed and together, the rangers went to change their clothes and prep for the coming of the nighlok attack.
Meanwhile at a seaside cave, Deker and Jayden were watching Nariko rest after having the lake water purge the poison out of her system. Currently the princess was resting in the red ranger's arms, though she tried moving a bit but her movements came out all weak and slow. "The purity of the lake has healed your princess, but she'll still be weak for awhile." told Deker, Nariko tried getting out of Jayden's arms but he stopped her from doing so "Nariko don't, you need rest." "But Jayden…" "I mean it, love." she tiredly groaned and turned her attention to Deker "Why are you doing all of this?" "Simply princess…I'm searching for the ultimate duel…The duel that your precious red ranger and I will have." Jayden tightened his hold on Nariko while staring at Deker "I don't fight just to fight, I fight to protect people and the one I love." "Well we'll see red ranger, we're patient my sword Uramasa and I but eventually we will battle, I have quite the incentive to convince you…After all I was once fully human, all I know now is…Constant craving for battle…The nighlok in me gives me no choice." "But you always have a choice, you don't have to give into the nighlok's cravings." "It's easy for you to say." "Doing the right thing…Is always worth the effort, no matter how hard it is. That's why I won't fight just to fight." "Red ranger you will give me the ultimate battle whether you like it or not! It's the only way I'll be free from this terrible curse!" little did the they knew, Dayu was in the cave also hiding behind a rock as she listened to their conversation. Once Deker had finished speaking, the female nighlok couldn't help but sadly sigh and hug herself "Oh Deker…If only you knew the truth…"
Back at the Shiba household Antonio was still hacking into the Black Box when he fell to his knees in exhaustion "There…Formatting is done…" Mentor Ji walked over to the weapon, gazing at it "Now comes the really dangerous part: Infusing the Black Box with everyone's symbol powers." "That's where we come in." the samurai mentor quickly turned and was surprised to find Kevin, Mia, Emily and Mike standing there "You shouldn't be out of bed!" "Antonio can't take on all of this by himself. We need to help each other! Especially since Jayden and Nariko are gone." told Kevin, then the Gap sensor went off having Antonio ask "So what do we do now?" "Well I know what Jayden would say." started Mia "At all costs protect the innocent!" finished Kevin, Antonio nodded "That's golden! You guys go take care of the nighlok while I'll go find Jayden and Nariko!" the gold ranger was started to make his leave until Mentor Ji stopped him in time "You must finish the Black Box first." "I can't I need their power disks first! And they're taking them into battle!" protested Antonio only to have Emily pull out her power disk and hand it to the gold ranger "Here…It's yours…" the others followed suit having Antonio look at them in disbelief "Are you guys serious? How can you defeat the nighlok without these?" "We'll make due, but without the Black Box the world is in danger, and you're the only one that can program it." told Emily, Kevin nodded in agreement "It's true…No one else can match the skills that you bring to the team." "But…My best friends need me!" again Antonio protested "I know what they would say to that too." said Mia "One person is insignificant, compared to the fate of the world." told Kevin having Mike scoff a bit "Dude you have that impression down." reluctantly Antonio nodded "Ok…Man I wish you guys weren't right but you are…This has to come first…" Noticing that the rangers were still standing there, Antonio smiled and shooed them away "Well go on, get out of here! I've got work to do and be careful!" the rangers smiled at their friend before running out of the household to deal with the nighlok attack.
Once the rangers had left Antonio began his work on putting disks' powers into the Black Box. Currently the gold ranger is working on Kevin's power disk, he groaned in frustration when it didn't work the first "Ah no!" Antonio then sighed and rolled his shoulders "All right I can do this!" he punched some buttons on his samurai morpher and began the process all over again, this time Antonio successfully transferred the power into the Black Box "That's it Dragon Zord! Yeah!" "So far so good Antonio." said Ji, the gold ranger pressed began pressing the buttons on his samurai morpher again "Now let's keep it going with a little yellow." he did the same process again but it soon failed making him sit down, sighing in frustration "I just don't have enough symbol energy to finish it fast enough!" the gold ranger soon sat there in silence for a moment then turned to the samurai mentor "I'm sorry Ji…It's just that the whole planet is counting on me…" soon realizing what he said, Antonio looked at his samurai morpher "Wait minute…The whole planet! That's it!" he began pressing the buttons on his morpher "I'll piggyback on a global satellite system and use my light symbol power to triangulate Jayden's samuraizer." soon his morpher beep causing the gold ranger to stand up "Golden! I've found them!" Antonio turned to Mentor Ji "Look…I can't finish the Black Box now but I can help Jayden and Nariko." Ji stared at the ranger for just a moment and said "Go!" not even hesitating for just a second Antonio quickly darted out of the household and to location where Jayden and Nariko are located at.
Back at the seaside cave Nariko was still in Jayden's arms resting who still had her in a protective hold. Then Deker grabbed his trusty sword: Uramasa and stood up from his spot "The princess should be fully recovered by now." seeing where this is going Jayden released his hold on his fiancé and stood up "Why do you want to fight me? There are plenty of good warriors in the world." "Yes but like me, you have a secret festering inside you. We're both warped, twisted." the red ranger took a step closer to his enemy "What do you mean?" "You'd sacrifice everything before giving Octoroo the sealing power, there's a spirit inside you that I never found in any other samurai…A warrior spirit…And that's why you're the perfect opponent." Suddenly Deker turned into his nighlok form and drew Uramasa out causing Jayden to summon out his spin sword. Nariko automatically stood up at this "Jayden!" "Stay right there Nariko! Do not get involved!" "But Jay…" Deker scoffed a bit "There's no need to worry red ranger. I have no intention on hurting your beloved princess. All I want is to duel you and I will have it, now go ahead the first move is yours!" but before anything could happen between the two warriors Antonio showed up just in time "Hold on! This isn't gonna happen on my watch!" Nariko ran over to the rangers and stood in front of them, staring at Deker head on "If you want a duel so badly then how about fighting me? I'll gladly give you a good fight." Antonio immediately grabbed her shoulder "Nariko are you nuts? By the looks of it you're in no shape to fight!" "Out of my way princess!" ordered Deker, Jayden came up behind Nariko and wrapped his arm around her stomach and glared at Deker "There's no way I'm fighting you not while Nariko is still recovering which is why you're letting us walk out of here." Deker was silent for about a moment before scoffing "Fine…Now go! But remember this red ranger the nest time we meet we will battle." once hearing his answer Antonio immediately grabbed his best friend's shoulder "Hey the nice creepy guy is letting us go Jayden! Let's go!" the gold ranger then pulled out a smoke bomb and threw it to the ground, in turn smoke began appearing and once it was gone Jayden, Nariko and Antonio were nowhere in sight. Deker soon sheathed his sword and began leaving the cave, not noticing that Dayu was watching his every move who couldn't help but sigh sadly "I'm sorry for what I've done to you Deker…"
Once escaping from the cave Antonio and Jayden went to help the others rangers with the nighlok attack while Nariko returned to Shiba household where Ji immediately took care of her. Not long after that the rangers returned safely after defeating all the Moogers along with Arachintor escaping. Out in the front yard Jayden was sitting upon the bench near the pond garden in deep thought about what Deker said to him. He was so in deep thought, Jayden failed to notice Nariko approaching him from behind until she gently put her hand on his shoulder "Jayden?" he jumped a bit at this and immediately turned to his fiancé "Oh Nariko…" "Is something wrong?" "No, why?" "Because you've been acting a bit different every since you and the others returned…Is it what Deker said to you back in the cave?" "How did you-?" "I kind of figured…Jay don't let what Deker said get to you." "I know it's just that…" "Hey…If you don't want to talk about it that's fine with me." Jayden smiled a bit and stood up, wrapping his arms around Nariko "You know that I love you right?" "Of course and I love you too Jayden." the red ranger then leaned down and kissed the Yamada princess who automatically returned it.
Though before the kiss could get passionate someone asked "Uh…Is this a bad time?" the couple immediately broke their kiss and looked to find the others standing there. "Oh…Uh…No, what's up?" asked Jayden "Um…Well…First we wanted to make sure you and Nariko are ok after all that you both been through." said Mia only to have Mike cut in "And we're gonna chow down on some pizza and figure out some new strategies for these new powerful nighlok." "Wanna join us?" asked Emily "Uh…No thanks guys we're fine. Why don't you go ahead without us?" suggested Jayden "Oh…Are you sure?" asked Mia only to have the red ranger nod as the others began making their way back into the household, Jayden looked back at his fiancé "Sorry about that Nariko…You can go join them if you want." "Hey that's all right besides that was your choice after all." "My choice…" "Jayden?" "You know what I change my mind, come on!" Nariko laughed a bit as she let Jayden lead her into the house to catch up with the others. "Hey guys we changed our minds, we'll join you!" told Nariko, her answer made them smile and they made their way into the living room, not before Antonio stopped his best friends "Hey I'm glad to have the two of you back." "Thanks…Might not have been back at all if it weren't for you Antonio." said Jayden "Well…I do have my golden moments." this made the red ranger playfully push his friend while Nariko jumped on the gold ranger's back who laughed and carried her into the living room with Jayden following behind.