Chapter 27

It was a perfect beautiful day in the city, the sky was clear and the sun was brightly shining its rays. Near the ocean waters, sitting upon a hill was Antonio picking at the grass. He couldn't help but think about the experience when the gold ranger was almost eaten by a cat during the time his soul was trapped in a fish.

"I can't believe a cat almost ate me…Now…I can't even think about fish…"

Antonio was soon brought out of his thoughts once hearing his morpher go off, he reluctantly answered the call "Hello?"

"There's a mooger attack in the city center, we're on our way meet us there!" told Jayden

The gold ranger gave no reply, causing Jayden to ask "Antonio did you hear me?"

"Yeah…Yeah I'm on it…"

And with that he hung up, while closing his morpher Antonio gazed at the device "It's time to go to battle for the last time…"

Meanwhile at the city center Jayden and the others arrived in the ranger forms, immediately taking care of the attacking moogers. Just as they got rid of Master Xandred's minions, more of them appeared from the gaps.

"More of them?" wondered Kevin

"Dude it's no big deal, they're just moogers!" told Mike

"Then let's stop talking and let's start fighting!" declared Jayden

At this time Antonio showed up but not in his ranger form, the others looked at their fellow ranger in confusion as he began pressing buttons on his morpher and lowly mumbled "Go, go samurai…Gold power…"

Once in his gold ranger form, Antonio brought out his weapon "Barracuda blade…" his knees started to shake and he let out a shaky breath "Here goes nothing…"

Though as he looked down at his weapon, Antonio just saw his blade into an actual fish to which he let out a frighten cry. The ranger dropped his blade and fell back on his butt, this caused Jayden and the others to stare at him in surprise.

"Antonio what's wrong?" asked Mia

The gold ranger quickly back up on his feet as he gripped his right wrist "I…I can't do it!"

He then fell to his knees in defeat that greatly surprise Jayden even more "Antonio!"

"I'm sorry guys…I just can't do it!"

Thus the gold ranger went into a fetal position, whimpering a bit "I can't believe it…"

"What's the deal with Antonio?" wondered Mike

Jayden quickly notice of the moogers charging at them "We have to deal with this first!"

The rangers quickly split up and defeated all the moogers with no problems, once the creatures were gone the rangers ran over to the gold ranger's side.

"Hey it's all right buddy!" told Mike

"Antonio, are you ok?" asked Mia

"What's wrong?" asked Kevin

Antonio slowly sat up and tiredly looked at his friends "I'm sorry you guys…"

Emily bent down and picked up his Barracuda blade, holding it out to him "You don't want to forget about this."

Antonio looked and his eyes widen in terror, he quickly scooted away "No, get it away from me!"

He then turned away and muttered "I can't touch my Barracuda blade…It reminds of…Of…The fish…"

"What?" Mia said in disbelief

Back at the Shiba household, the rangers brought Antonio back in turn informed Ji and Nariko on what's going on, the news that they were told happen to greatly surprise the two.

"Fish? But Antonio grew up in a fish shop! I mean he fishes every day and what now he's afraid of fish? You guys have got to be kidding me." Told Ji

"This is no joke Ji." Said Jayden

"Well when that nighlok switched our souls into objects…Antonio did get turned into a fish." Reminded Kevin

"The neighborhood cat was really close to eating him before he switched back, now he isn't able to touch fish." Added Mia

The samurai mentor couldn't help but look at the rangers in disbelief "Seriously?"

Antonio put down the glass of water Nariko handed to him earlier "I'm through…The golden age of Antonio is officially at an end."

"The golden age of Antonio? All right look you didn't get eaten so pull yourself together!" told Kevin

Mike nodded in agreement "He's right dude…Look you taught yourself how to be a samurai, you can beat this!"

"Yeah…Anyone who can figure out how to program the black box, can teach themselves how to deal with their fears." Said Emily

Antonio shook his head at this "You don't get it! I almost got eaten by a cat!"

Nariko quickly went over and sat by the gold ranger's side, rubbing his back in comfort "Calm down! It's ok."

Greatly annoyed by this Kevin turned to Jayden "It's not ok! He's officially lost it!"

"I'm a fisherman who's afraid of fish…I can't use my Barracuda blade…I can't be gold ranger anymore…" muttered Antonio

An hour later the group soon came up with a way to help Antonio get over his current fear of fish. They were still in the living room and at this time Emily stood in front of the gold ranger "Antonio we're not going to let you quit, we all have fears but we're going to teach you how to beat them…It's called aversion therapy…"

The two ranger then looked over at Jayden who took a seat "Look…Jayden is overcoming his fear of spiders." Told Emily

At this time Nariko approached her fiance with a spider in hand, once close enough she let the eight legged insect crawl onto her lover's arm. Feeling completely terrified right now Jayden managed to say to his childhood friend "Yeah…I'm fine with them…S-See? A samurai can overcome their fear."

Kevin then patted Mike's shoulder before grabbing a hold of it "Mike here…Hates enclosed spaces." Both he and Ji grabbed both the green ranger's arms and began taking him to the closet.

Once the samurai mentor opened the closet door, Mike warily looked at the inside of it "S-Seriously? It looks a bit cramped in there…"

"Come on Mike." Said Ji

"I-I don't know guys I'm thinking this is not a good idea…"

"It's for Antonio."

And with that said the green ranger was placed in the closet with the door shutting behind him only for him to cry out "Help!"

Seeing how Antonio was not reacting to any of their attempts to help him, Emily patted his back "Watch this…Mia has her own fears to overcome."

Nariko soon stood in front of the pink ranger with a small tray in hand, she lifted up the lid to reveal a frog underneath. Mia stared at in horror then to the Yamada princess, she smiled then looked to Antonio "Frogs make Mia's skin crawl."

Nariko lightly elbowed the pink ranger, who looked to Antonio giving him a weak smile "But maybe a kiss will turn him into a prince charming…"

"Come on Mia you can do it!" encouraged Emily

Slowly but surely the pink ranger leaned forward and placed a kiss on the amphibian, once doing so she immediately pulled away and began wiping her lips "Oh yuck!" Mia soon finished up and gave another weak smile to Antonio "S-See?"

To their dismay none of their attempts were helping at all for Antonio, Kevin soon placed a plate of fish in front of the gold ranger. Antonio's eyes widen in fear and quickly looked away, the blue ranger saw this and sighed in frustration "Antonio…You've touched thousands of fish! All you have to do is place your hand on this one."

Antonio made no move having Kevin to sigh again, Nariko walked over to them "Let me try Kevin, I believe I have a way to help Antonio get over his fear."

"No I got this Nariko."

"But…"

The blue ranger then lightly nudge Antonio in the side "All right wanna talk scary?" he showed his fellow ranger a bowl filled with some kind of food "Mia cooked this…Now I'll even take a bite of this…"

He stopped talking for a bit, trying make himself not throw up at the sight of Mia's food before continuing "If you touch the fish…Rangers together right?"

Antonio looked at him and nodded, then turned his attention to the fish in front of him and got ready along with Kevin.

"One…Two…Three!" exclaimed Kevin, who shoved a spoonful of Mia's food. At the same time Antonio reached to touch the fish but stopped at the last second "I can't do it!"

The blue ranger looked at him in disbelief soon making a face at the taste of Mia's cooking. Suddenly the gap sensor went off, Jayden looked at the beacon before quickly brushing the spider off his arm. He gave a sigh of relief and stood up from his seat, gathering around the table with the other rangers. Ji pressed the symbol upon the table to reveal the city map "At the edge of the city, near the western woods."

"Let's go!" told Jayden

He and the rangers ran out of the room to do their duty, Kevin soon came back in and spitted the food back into the bowl then looked to Antonio and pointed at Mia's cooking "This is really bad!" and ran back out of the living room to catch up with the others.

"I'm done…It's over…" muttered the gold ranger, he looked to the Yamada princess and samurai mentor "I'm sorry Nariko…Mentor…I can't got with them…I just can't…"

Ji looked to Nariko who nodded at him, the samurai mentor turned his attention back on Antonio "Maybe so…But there is something you can do in the meantime."

"What?"

Nariko stepped out of the room for a few seconds then came back in holding a lantern in hand "Ji gave you the Claw zord and you brought it back to life." She held up the lantern for Antonio to see "This is the Light zord…An ancient zord that no samurai has been able to unlock for centuries and it has been under my clan's care…Antonio…Your symbol is light and I strongly believe that you could be the first to unlock it."

The gold ranger stared at the lantern for a bit before looking at Nariko with a smile "Ok…I'll try…For you Nariko."

Meanwhile with the rangers, they were just taking care of two Spitfangs when from out of nowhere meet a new nighlok by the name of Serrator. Jayden and the others tried taking on the new enemy but he proved to be too strong. So strong that the rangers had no choice but to inform Ji that they need Antonio's help badly.

The samurai mentor quickly ran out to the front yard and approached the Yamada heir who was painting at the time "Nariko!"

She looked away from her easel "Ji…What is it?"

"Jayden and the others…They met up with a new enemy who calls himself Serrator and they're having a hard time fighting against him, they said they really need Antonio's help…Do you know where he is?"

"He left long ago to work on the Light zord, but still hasn't come over his fear…"

"This is not good at all…The rangers really need him."

Nariko put her paintbrush down on the easel "Then leave it to me."

"What do you mean?"

"I have a way that I know will help Antonio come over his fear of fish."

"You sure it will work?"

"Positive now just leave it to me!"

And with that said the Yamada princess ran out of the front yard, making her way over to where Antonio is. She soon found the gold ranger at his spot by the ocean water; he was hard at work programming the Light zord. Antonio was so busy that he failed to notice Nariko approaching him from behind.

"Time to end his fear once and for all!" the Yamada princess determinedly thought

Once standing behind him, Nariko patted his shoulder having Antonio turn to look at her in confusion. She took this chance to stuff a piece of sushi into the gold ranger's mouth "Stop your nonsense and eat this sushi!"

Antonio's eyes widen in surprise as he was caught off guard but happily ate the sushi. Nariko smiled and nodded in approval once seeing this "See? You're cured." She then held out the gold ranger's Barracuda blade in front of him "Now go and join your team, they really need your help."

Antonio smiled and grabbed his weapon "I can't thank you enough Nariko, it would have been better if you did this earlier for me but once again thank you."

"Anything to help out an old childhood friend…What about the Light zord?"

"I've just finished programming him just as you showed up. Now if you'll excuse I'm gonna go help your fiance and our friends!"

He gave a swift kiss to Nariko on the cheek and quickly ran off, carrying the Light zord with him.

Much later after Antonio met up with the other rangers and help them defeat Serrator's minion, the group returned to celebrate Antonio's triumph over his fear. Currently in the front yard the gold ranger was once again cooking up some fish for his friends that gathered at the table.

"So…You've clearly gotten over your fear of fish." Said Mike

Antonio nodded "Yup…Not only that we now have the Light zord in our hands."

"You've got to tell us, how did you get over your fear?" asked Mia

Antonio thought for moment before looking at Nariko who was sitting next to Jayden "Let's just say Nariko taught me to follow my gut."

Nariko giggle a bit at this before going back to eating her meal that the gold ranger prepared. Jayden then wrapped his arm around her waist and whispered in her ear "And just what did you do to help Antonio get over his fear?"

"Easy…I just stuffed a piece of sushi in his mouth and made him eat it, along with telling him to stop his nonsense."

"Really?"

"Yes really I told Kevin that I had a way to help Antonio to get over his fear."

"You're really intelligent you know that right?"

"I know…But it's nice hearing from someone else especially you Jay."

He chuckled and gave a sweet kiss to his fiance before the couple went back to their meal and enjoying the rest of their day with their friends in peace.