Chapter 20
The day was beautiful at the Shiba household and the rangers were in the front yard practicing their brush strokes on the easels before them. Ji and Nariko were there over looking their practice while they observed, the samurai mentor advised his students "There is more to being a power ranger than mastering a sword. You must also learn to use your inherited samurai symbol."
Just at this time Kevin had finished writing his symbol with Nariko observing. The symbol began to glow and from it water shot out, hitting Kevin in the face. He cried out in surprise and sputtered out the water that happened to get in his mouth. Nariko giggled at this and pulled out a cloth with which she began wiping the blue ranger's face.
At this time Emily had also finished with her symbol, the kanji glowed and not like Kevin's symbol a rock appeared and fell upon the blue ranger's foot. He cried out in pain from the impact, Nariko gasp and quickly held Kevin up. Emily also held the blue ranger up while apologizing "Oh! Sorry! Are you ok?" through the pain Kevin smiled at her and reassured the yellow ranger "Yeah…I'm fine…"
Ji laughed a tiny bit as he saw this before going over Mike after observing Mia. It just so happens the green ranger was having trouble writing his symbol. He groaned a bit in frustration "Ugh! That's not right! Was it this way?"
After attempting to write his symbol again Mike smiled in satisfaction once he was done "That's it!"
Ji looked over Mike's work and shook his head "The order of the strokes is wrong…Mike you need to practice more."
"Ok I get it…Practice…"
Nariko stood by Jayden's side and watched along with the others, Mike's third attempt at writing his symbol. The green ranger stood there for a moment with his brush ready in hand before turning to Ji, placing his hand on the mentor's shoulder "How about a lunch break? You'd be amazed at how well I practice after a few slices of pizza."
The samurai mentor gave the green ranger a look, one that Mike did not miss and quickly pulled his hand off Ji's shoulder. Nariko couldn't help but giggle at this and covered her mouth in her attempt to quiet her giggling. Jayden saw this and little pinched his fiancé's side, this got her to look at him. The red ranger gave the princess a look to which she quickly cleared her throat and look the other way, still giggling a bit. Jayden saw this and couldn't help but smile a bit at his fiancé.
Meanwhile in the dark Netherworld upon the Sanzu River and on Master Xandred's boat, the nighlok leader himself was sitting upon the wooden floor sipping his medicine. While doing so Dayu was playing her Harmonia for her master, the nighlok leader sighed once he finished drinking another bowl of his medicine "Ah…This medicine makes me feel better but that music is giving me a splitting headache!" Dayu scoffed at this and continued her playing "Huh! Everybody is a critic."
Xandred poured himself another bowl full of his medicine "If only we could get this ruinous Sanzu River to rise and flood the human world! So we could sail into their cities and rule their pathetic world!"
Octoroo who had been reading through a book, walked over to Master Xandred "Oh ah ooh! Boss take a look! There's something of interest in this book!"
"What is it Octoroo? Speak up!"
"Legend has it, every time something bad happens on Earth, the Sanzu River's water level rises. So if we scare those humans their tears will fill our river so we can escape the Netherworld!"
Dayu ceased her playing and chuckled evilly at this "Ha, ha ,ha…Sounds fun…That noodle face can actually use his noodle."
Master Xandred got up from his spot and walked over to the window "Ha! That actually might work…I'm glad I thought of it…Scorpionic get over here!"
Out from the depths of the Sanzu River came the nighlok named Scorpionic. The faithful nighlok climbed onboard and approached Xandred "Master you rang?"
Back in the human world Kevin was busily training in the dojo, he currently practicing his kicks on a punching bag with Mike watching him. The green ranger then began to sip his drink rather loudly, Kevin glanced at him before continuing on in his training. Already bored by watching the blue ranger Mike asked him "Hey Kev…Do you ever take a break?"
Not once ceasing his practicing Kevin replied "Every second you're not training is a second wasted!"
"Ok, no need to blow a gasket."
Mike once again began to sip his drink loudly this time causing Kevin to stop his practicing and give the green ranger a look. Mike finally put down his drink and approached his fellow ranger "All right Kev let's see if your practice makes perfect." With that said the two rangers began to spar one another on the dojo mats.
Just as they had begun their match Mia came running into the room "Hey guys! I can't find Emily…" this caused Mike and Kevin to stop in their tracks, not only that Jayden showed up at this time too "Hey have any of you seen Nariko?" all three rangers shook their heads at Jayden's question.
"No…We haven't and I can't find Emily either…" told Mia
"That's not good…Come on we're heading out to find them." Said Jayden, the rangers nodded and followed their leader out of the household and to the city.
Upon reaching the city the four samurai rangers split up and began their search for Nariko and Emily. They looked high and low for the two missing females and soon Mia, Kevin and Mike met up at one spot after searching for quite some time.
"Any sign of Emily or Nariko?" asked Mia
Kevin shook his head "No…"
Mia then turned to the green ranger "Mike how about you?"
Too busy eating some kebobs he bought during his search, Mike looked to the pink ranger "How about what?"
"About Emily and Nariko! Were you even looking for them?" questioned Kevin
"Yeah but I got hungry! Look Emily probably went out sightseeing or shopping and probably had Nariko go along with her, I'm sure that they're ok."
Mia shook her head at this "I don't know…Emily is a country girl, she wouldn't wander around the city and besides I heard from Ji that lately Nariko has been feeling somewhat ill…"
Mike gave a simple shrug and was about to go eating his kebobs when he noticed Kevin staring at this food. The green ranger grabbed one of his kebobs and held it out to his fellow ranger "Want a bite?"
Kevin quickly looked away and shook his head "No…I don't snack between meals while I'm in samurai training."
"Man when aren't you in training?" wondered Mike
"Never…"
Mia happened to be surprised by Kevin's answer and said "Wow…You're really serious about the samurai life style…"
The blue ranger turned to her "Of course…Aren't you?"
"Yes but…I also want to have a normal life, you know…Find my prince charming someday…I'm getting use to the idea that now I'm a samurai but…It's a little scary…"
"Well it's a big adjustment but…You'll get use to it."
"What about you? I heard that you left your dreams of swimming in the Olympics to be here Kevin…Don't you miss it?"
"No…When a samurai decides to serve…He is committed…Forever…"
"Wow…Forever? That is a long time to go without a snack." Admitted Mike
Just then Jayden showed and went over to his team "There you guys are, come on I found Nariko and Emily." Happy to hear this Mia, Kevin and Mike quickly follow after Jayden who lead them to a park. There they spotted Emily practicing with a wooden sword with Nariko standing off to the side watching. Emily had just finished her practicing when Jayden and the others approached her and Nariko.
Pleased to see her practicing so hard, Kevin said "Yes! The dedication of a samurai!"
Emily smiled and shook her head "It's not just that, I promised my big sister that I would work hard and become a better fighter as the rest of you."
"Your big sister?" wondered Kevin
The yellow ranger pulled a wooden flute from the back of her pant pocket and showed it to them "My big sister was supposed to become the yellow ranger but she got sick and I had to take her place…"
"Wow…That's a lot to ask of you…" admitted Mike
"It's been tough to see her go through her illness…And anyways I wasn't a superstar at school…"
"Don't sell yourself short." Told Mia
"Oh I do have talent! I'm really good at playing the flute and I can definitely handle a sword! So becoming a power ranger is a fresh start for me!" said Emily
"Did you hear that? She has the true heart of a samurai warrior." Said Kevin
Mike handed her one of his kebobs "You've been training hard, you need this more than I do."
Nariko couldn't help but smile at the rangers bonding with each other, though suddenly she began coughing really bad. The rangers looked towards her and immediately Jayden went to her side. He wrapped his arm around his fiancé "Nariko are you all right?" she soon ceased her coughing and slowly nodded "Yeah…I'm all right…I'm probably just thirsty…" as soon as she said that, Nariko was overcome with another coughing fit though it sounded worse than before. Her coughing became too much that her legs gave out on her, Jayden quickly caught the princess in his arms "Nariko!"
He then felt her forehead and quickly pulled his hand away "Not good you have a fever, we need to get you back to the household right away." Jayden picked up his fiancé and once he had a good hold on her, he looked to his team "Come on we're heading back right now." The rangers nodded and obediently followed after their leader all the way back to the household.
Upon arriving at the household Ji was waiting in the front yard and became alarmed once seeing Jayden pass through the gate carrying Nariko in his arms. The samurai mentor quickly ran over to them "Jayden what happened!" "It's her illness…It's finally showing signs of itself." "Then we must get her to bed immediately and I'll start treating her." Jayden nodded and looked back at his team "I want you guys to wait in the living room for the time being understand?" the rangers nodded at their leader's order and left for the living room.
While doing so Jayden carried Nariko to her room with Ji closely following behind. Upon entering her room Jayden laid his fiancé on her bed. Ji took this time to wet a cloth in a bowl of water he happened to grab along the way. Wringing out the access water the samurai mentor gently laid the folded cloth on the princess' forehead.
At this time Nariko slowly opened her eyes and looked at her red ranger, weakly reaching out to him "Jay…Den…"
He immediately grabbed her hand and held it while kneeling by her bedside "Hey you're awake…You gave me quite the scare there…"
"Sor…Sorry…"
"Hey you don't need to apologize."
Ji placed his hand on Jayden's shoulder "I'm going to go prepare some medicine for Nariko to take…Can you stay with her while I do so?"
"Of course Ji."
The samurai mentor patted the red ranger's shoulder and walked out of the room. Noticing the worried look on Jayden's face, Nariko weakly smiled at him "Hey…I'm gonna be all right…Don't worry…" seeing her smile ease Jayden's worry somewhat, he gave Nariko's hand a small squeeze and brought her hand up to his lips where he laid a gentle kiss, not saying a word at all.
20 minutes flown by and suddenly in the living where the rangers were waiting at, the samurai symbol upon the wall began blinking red and an alarm went off.
Mike looked at the alarm as he was caught off guard "What is that?"
Ji quickly entered the room "That's the Gap sensor, it goes off when a nighlok enters through a gap from the Netherworld."
The samurai mentor stopped at the table and pressed the samurai symbol upon it. A holographic scroll appeared to which Ji unrolled it, revealing it to be the map of the city.
Mike couldn't help but look at it in amazement "Wow!"
Mia also looked at the map and wondered out loud "Where are they?"
"City hall…" answered Ji
Jayden entered the room at this time and gazed down at the map for a moment before making his way to the front doors "Samurai we have a battle to fight!"
The rangers stared after their leader and seeing how they weren't immediately following after Jayden, Ji said "Well don't just stand there, follow him!" with that being said Kevin, Mike, Mia and Emily quickly left the household to follow after Jayden.
The battle against the nighlok named Scorpionic was a bit long and hard, though the rangers managed to get rid of the moogers the nighlok had with him. Once facing the nighlok as a giant the rangers didn't hesitate in defeating Scorpionic once and for all. Seeing that the nighlok was gone for good, Jayden and the other rangers made their way back to the Shiba household.
Upon entering the household the rangers couldn't help but talk about their battle with the nighlok. While they talked Ji who came around the corner approached the rangers "Well done, all of you!" "Thanks Ji." Said Jayden
Noticing the look the yellow ranger's face and how quiet she was, Mike asked "Hey Emily what's up?"
"Well…I almost let you all down today…"
"You did great Emily, you were really strong." Said Jayden
"Your big sister would be very proud of you." Told Mia
Emily smiled a bit at this then realized something and looked to Ji "How is Nariko doing?"
"I'm doing just fine…"
Everyone turned around to find the Yamada princess standing behind them; surprised to see her there Ji scolded "Nariko! You're supposed to be in bed resting!" "I know Ji."
Jayden went over to his fiance pulling her into an embrace "Nariko…Ji is right…You need to get back to bed and rest." "I'll be fine Jayden…"
Mike took this time to divert everyone's attention on Nariko to him "Hey guys I've got a big surprise for you. I've learned a new symbol."
A bit pleased by this Ji couldn't help but wonder "Really?"
Mike gave a cheeky smile and pulled out his samuraizer, he turned toward the practice dojo and drew the symbol "Symbol power fun!"
The kanji glowed and from it produced yellow confetti as the confetti fell to the ground, music began to play and Mike started to dance to it. Emily began to giggling at this along with Nariko, the others simply just smiled and watched the green ranger dance his heart out. Seeing the smile on Nariko's face caused Jayden to kiss her head and hold her tightly. The princess smiled more at her fiancé's affection and returned the embrace thus continuing to watch Mike dance along with the others.