A/N: Part I of my new series, entitled Project Phoenix. As a disclaimer, this series is inspired by Kctimes2's The Adoption (one of the best stories I've ever read here). It will be a Tommy/Kim/Jayden series eventually. This is the epilogue of this story and how Jayden's dormant power awakens. Based around the Samurai episode "Fight Fire with Fire." Hints of Jaymia in this story.
A/N 2: Usual disclaimer. Power Rangers doesn't belong to me.
Epilogue: The Phoenix Awakens
May 11, 2012
The Shiba House
Panorama City, CA
It was morning in the Shiba House and the way everyone milled about doing their various activities, one could guess it was just another day.
But ask the Samurai Power Rangers, and they would have vehemently disagreed with you. They were all tense today. Something big was about to happen. It was a feeling associated with every Power Ranger team in history.
One of the things all Ranger teams had in common is they could sense the moment. They could sense the gravity of a certain situation. This was one of those days.
As Mia Watanabe stood at the door to the Shiba House watching Jayden practice, she couldn't explain it but she could feel it more than most.
Why was that? Was it bsecause she loved him so much?
Well, duh, she thought. She knew she loved him. Had loved him since the fake wedding deal. But having been part of the Ranger family and having been exposed to this life at an earlier age, she knew it was typical of Reds. They were too stubborn and thick headed for their own good. She'd loved him though ever since that whole fake wedding thing with Dayu.
There was just something alluring and charming about him, even though he refused to say anything, preferring to keep his mind on work. Still, he was a typical Red.
She chuckled inwardly at the thought of Hunter Bradley, the Crimson Thunder Ranger on her cousin Cam's Ninja Storm team of six. He was the PROTOTYPICAL red...hotheaded, stubborn, skull so thick you probably couldn't breathe in there. Jayden was just like him and every other red. Tori still loved him to death.
Mia was concerned for Jayden, always. And today, she was more tense than usual. Her tenseness increased as someone brought a letter to Mentor Ji, who was standing next to Jayden. Mia gasped at the symbol the letter held.
"The Shiba family crest," Mia said aloud, softly enough that no one could hear. The hell was going on here?
She saw the man she loved more than anyone else in the world take the letter, open it and read it.
She grew even more tense as Mentor Ji said, "We always knew this day would come."
"This changes everything. The other Rangers will finally know my secret," Jayden said. "I hope they'll be able to forgive me."
Mia gasped. All this time, Jayden had been holding a huge secret.
Mia's feeling of nervousness had been right all along. The Samurai Rangers fight with the dangerous Master Xandred had tested them to their limits. Now, it was about to spiral out of control.
And all this time, inside of Jayden, the dormant power was beginning to stir, picking up on the importance of the moment.
'You have many more secrets that lie ahead of you, my spirit holder. Your destiny is only just beginning,' the dormant, majestic spirit bird that lay inside of Jayden said. All it needed was one big moment to awaken...
And Master Xandred's crew, being the impulsive idiots they were, were only too willing to give the Phoenix that moment.
Because at that very moment, Octoroo and Dayu had summoned the dangerous Fiera to use fire from the Sanzu River to hopefully cripple or destroy the Red Ranger.
Little did they know that they would do the exact opposite. That not only would it not happen, but it would be the birth of the greatest Ranger the galaxy had ever seen.
Several Hours Later...
About mid afternoon, the alarms blared from within the Shiba house, causing everyone to meet at the same time in the front room.
Jayden was terse and tense. He could feel a big moment coming on...he got the feeling too that something was coming...and not just what he knew. Something bigger was afoot.
The six Samurais arrived at the park to find the Moogers terrorizing people. They immediately went to work when the coast was clear of all civilians.
"Samuraizer!" They called. "Go, go Samurai!"
"Gold Power!" Antonio called. With the morphs complete, the fight began.
"These Moogers get uglier every time I see them!" Antonio called.
"They're Moogers, they have the market cornered on being ugly," Mike replied.
"Stay focused, pick your targets," Jayden called.
Not two more seconds passed before an ugly, gray and red female bird Nighlok appeared, malice in her eyes and one target on her mind.
"I've picked mine!" The bird known as Fiera called before firing a blue beam from her beaked right hand. It slammed into Jayden before he could react, and the fire that came with it attempted to course through his veins. Little did Fiera or anyone else know that even as these events were happening, a power beyond their wildest description would help save Jayden's life.
Well, his life would have been saved anyways. But the fire of the Phoenix that even now roared through his body was keeping him from being crippled.
As the Rangers wondered what was happening to Jayden, he said in reply, "It feels like my insides are burning up."
'Yes, continue with your foolish plan, Fiera. You and your Nighloks are the beginning of the greatest Ranger to ever live,' thought the bird as its fire flowed through Jayden and even now counteracted the evil Sanzu flames.
"Then let me get you even more fired up," Fiera cackled right before unleashing a devastating onslaught of Sanzu River fire. When it was over, Jayden took cover behind a tree.
"It won't stop burning," he gasped, noting that the Nighlok who had been blasting him was nowhere to be seen. "What are those things?"
Then he noticed the Nighlok was nowhere to be seen. He was confused for just a split second. Big mistake.
"Hello. Want another?" Fiera cackled as she appeared and blasted Jayden again at point blank range. It nailed Jayden, who was in clear agony as the internal battle raged inside Jayden, unbeknownst to anyone.
"Agh! It burns!" Jayden screamed.
Meanwhile, Fiera was smelling blood.
Kevin could see this, as she loaded another blast and fired. Instead of Jayden being hit, Kevin took the hit instead.
"No! That would have finished him!" Fiera screams, frustrated.
Jayden for the moment was grateful Kevin had protected him, giving him a brief reprieve.
"Careful, those blasts are powerful," Jayden warned but Kevin assured his teammate and friend he was barely scratched.
"I think we can block her shots, Rangers," Kevin said and right as Fiera teleported in behind Jayden for another point blank shot, the Rangers flanked him. She fired anyways and while the Rangers took the hits, Jayden got hit too and could feel the burn inside him again.
"Why is this just happening to him?" One of the female Rangers asked.
After Fiera gave the Rangers the explanation of the Shiba clan head's fire symbol power, and the plan to use her fire flashers to make Jayden burn from the inside out, she went back to her attacks, certain that one more blast would finish Jayden for good.
As was the case with most Reds, despite the need the other Rangers believed they had to protect Jayden, he was going to try to do this on his own. He also finally felt an internal battle raging inside him. He used the momentary respite that the Rangers had provided him to mentally latch on to the comfort of the fire that was combating the Sanzu flames.
He didn't even know how he was doing it, but he was able to stand back up again, ready for another round. Unbeknownst to him, it was that comforting fire that was not only combating the Sanzu flames, but giving him the strength to stand up again.
He called for Super Samurai mode, and dared the Nighlok to fight him. Which was exactly what she wanted.
"Nice vest," she shouted as she nailed him point blank again. The burning started all over again, as the comforting fire that he'd held on to started combating the Sanzu flames again.
Jayden wasn't dumb; he knew that even he couldn't take every hit imaginable, even though he couldn't feel quite as much of the evil flames. He had to get to cover somehow.
'God, I don't know how much more of this I can take,' he thought as he ran for cover.
'Yeah you can. You have me,' a reassuring voice sounded inside him as he felt a roaring he that really couldn't describe.
'Who the hell are you?' Jayden thought.
'I am you and you are me, my child,' the reassuring voice told him. 'The reason you can stand and run is because I am even now and have been expunging Fiera's attacks from your body. I am a part of you. She cannot kill you anyways, she can only kill your sister, but she had the potential to injure you to where you can't function normally. Not while I'm around.'
'I'll explain later, but there's no time now. Now watch out. She's about to attack again.'
'Not if I have anything to say about it,' Jayden thought as he summoned one of his weapons. If this internal voice was trustworthy, and every indication was that it was, he didn't doubt it. 'It's time to fight back.'
He heard his friends call that she was about to attack, but he knew that already, and he was ready. Now that he knew his life couldn't be ended, he had little to lose. If he went down then this monster would go with him.
"This will finish you!" she shouted as she launched another blast at him. The blast hit him, but this time Jayden had a surprise for his opponent.
"Think again. Say hello to my Bullzooka," he stated as he launched a blast of fire at Fiera, which knocked her off a roof.
Fiera couldn't believe it. What sort of freak was this guy?
"You're supposed to burn up, not me!" she screeched as she exploded in a blast of flames.
As Octoroo and Dayu watched Fiera explode, they wondered the same thing she did.
"If he's the head of the Shiba family, there should have been enough fire symbol power in him to destroy him," Octoroo said. "There's only one explanation."
Dayu agreed with him, but wondered if there wasn't more to it. No mere mortal would be anything less than unconscious from that sort of attack. Yet, Jayden was still conscious. They thought about going over to confront him, but Dayu convinced Octoroo to think better of it.
There was something working in Jayden's favor that Dayu couldn't put her finger on, and to her at this point discretion was the better part of valor. She had a sneaking feeling she'd better watch herself around that Red Ranger.
Meanwhile, Fiera was resurrected and grew to massive proportions, which caused the Rangers to call for their Zords.
The next few minutes were all a blur. He saw the Rangers get tossed around in their Zords, saw their Zords get broken apart, and for a few minutes, he thought about going up there to help him.
'No, my child, you must rest,' the voice inside him said. 'Fiera will be defeated.'
Just then, he glanced over to the woods and saw the latest arrival. No doubt, the reason Fiera would be defeated.
His sister, the subject of the letter with the Shiba family crest, had come home.
Jayden nodded, he could almost hear Lauren speaking to him, but he just numbly watched as Lauren called on her powers and her Zord. The fight was quick and decisive once the Lion Zord was in full gear.
"Mega Blade, activate," Lauren called, even though Jayden couldn't hear it from below he could see it. "Pentagonal Fury."
The resulting attack consumed Fiera and this time, she was done for good.
"Samurai Rangers, victory is ours," Lauren called. Jayden would have heard it, but he was still resting below.
The thing was, now that his sister was back, what was going to happen to him?
Almost as if his question was being asked he received his answer.
'You must leave them at least temporarily my child,' the voice inside him said.
"No," he muttered aloud, "please don't make me do this. They won't understand."
'I didn't say it would be forever. It may be, and it may not be. But at this moment, there is only one true Red Samurai Ranger and this is her spotlight. You know this, my child,' the voice inside him said. 'Besides, you have some loose ends to tie up elsewhere.'
'Like the Deker problem,' the voice finished, almost answering his question for him.
"No, God no please not Deker again," he muttered.
'Yes, Jayden. The Deker problem must end, if for no other reason than it has gone on too long. There is more history behind that, and you will find out more later. The duel must be fought as much as it pains me to say it.'
Moments later, the rest of the Rangers appeared, all propping Jayden up as best they could. Though he would regain his strength eventually, he was very, very worn out. Fiera's attack, while not crippling, had left its mark. Then, Lauren appeared, and demorphed, showing her face to the Rangers for the first time. Naturally, it was Mia, the one of the current Rangers who loved Jayden most, who didn't jump to conclusions and fire off a million questions.
Later That Night
The Shiba House
The second they had arrived back at the house, the seven Rangers excepting Jayden and Lauren were in the main room, as Mentor Ji told them of what had happened back in Lauren and Jayden's youth and Jayden's father's final fight with Xandred.
It had been really hard for the Rangers to learn of what Jayden and Lauren had gone through in their youths, but it was especially hard for Mentor Ji. He couldn't tell the Rangers, or Jayden, the REAL truth about Jayden's history. Not yet.
Ji was beyond thankful that Jayden had leaned on the dormant powers that lay inside of him or he would have been much worse off. He was quite sure Jayden didn't have a clue about what these powers were. Nor would he unless Xandred was either beaten or sealed.
Meanwhile, Jayden was back in his own room, licking his wounds from that massive assault. He was still tired, but he found he had more energy than he thought he did.
And all that time, the voice inside his head spoke to him over and over again.
'You still must leave them in the morning, young Jayden.'
'Please don't make me do this, whoever you are. It's going to disrupt the flow of the team.'
'If only it were that easy, my child. Like I said, there are loose ends that need to be tied up and soon. The Rangers, as important as they are, can wait. You must go alone indefinitely. You know your sister is the true Red Ranger as it is.'
'You will play a far greater role in the fate of this world down the line. In the meantime, you must leave your team.'
Jayden sighed, defeatedly. He couldn't turn his back on that comforting power that had helped him vs Fiera. And whoever this voice was, was right. Lauren's role in the fight with Xandred had to come to fruition.
As he drifted off to sleep, he hoped the others wouldn't be mad at him.
If he'd have stayed awake just a little bit longer, he would have noticed a silhouette creep across the wall, as the figure made itself carefully away from Jayden's room.
"I am sorry young Jayden, but this is how it has to be," a voice said as the figure standing outside went to talk with Mentor Ji.
May 12, 2012
Around Noon
The Shiba House
Panorama City, CA
"Well, look who's finally up," Antonio said as Jayden made his appearance. "It's your sister's homecoming, and we've even got cake!"
The Rangers mood changed quickly though. There was something off about Jayden. This was confirmed when Jayden handed Lauren the box which held his Samuraizer.
This couldn't be...
"You all need to follow Lauren now," Jayden said. "She is the new Red Ranger and your leader."
He contemplated briefly on whether to tell the Rangers if he was coming back. Since he honestly didn't know, he felt it would be best if they prepared for life without him in case he didn't return.
"I'm going away," he said. Emily was confused and Mike asked him if it was on a trip, but he shook his head and said, "permanently."
The Rangers vehement disapproval was evident, as Jayden knew it would be. But he stood firm.
What he, or the others, didn't know was that Jayden's journey was just beginning.
1492 Valencia Drive
Reefside, CA, same time
In addition, what no one in the Shiba house knew, except Mentor Ji because a trust and respect had been built between Ji and Jayden's biological father, was that the conversation was being watched.
Dr. Thomas Oliver, as Jayden's biological father, was not happy. Not at all. He had the Dodgers game and Vin Scully in one ear, but the other ear was focused on the conversation 90 minutes away.
He knew Jayden was taking orders from the dormant powers inside him. But that wasn't any consolation for him, or Jayden, whatsoever. Jayden was having to go against his friends, against his very own will. And for what?
A duel to the death? Or at least, that a Ranger was going to be severely hurt?
Even worse, unbeknownst to anyone in the Shiba house was this was a fight that didn't need to happen. A fight between former Rangers. Red Rangers no less.
The other participant in the fight had a tormented history himself; he had been the one to destroy Serpentera 10 years ago, and had led a blissful life with one of his former teammates, Alyssa, but thanks to awful luck while he was out in the woods on a run, had been transformed into the monster his son would have to face. His family had been torn apart, just as the real Deker's family had.
But then, what were torn families anyways it seemed? Just so a damn prophecy could be fulfilled? Was this the price they all had to pay?
Jayden's upcoming opponent was known to those in the Shiba house as Deker, but Tommy knew him as Cole Evans.
He turned to the figure next to him, who he considered a longtime ally, but right now he was boiling.
"I hope you and that Phoenix spirit inside Jayden know what the hell they're doing, Ninjor," Tommy said sternly. "If Jayden gets hurt at all, someone's going to be responsible for this."
"You know this fight has to happen, Falcon," Ninjor said. "None of us like it any more than you do. But, you need to be very careful right now."
"Why?"
"You and the Crane are still connected. If your anger gets too out of control, Kimberly's evil half could find out the truth," Ninjor said truthfully.
That shut Tommy up pretty quick and he sat down and slumped back in his chair.
Now that was something that COULD NEVER happen. If the Crane's evil side found out about Jayden...
Tommy knew now there was nothing he could do. He knew Cole had honor, and didn't blame him for the situation as it was just bad luck, but that didn't make him any less scared. Urumasa's control was very strong and this would be a fight to see who survived.
10 years after saving the world from Venjix and Serpentera, there was a chance Cole could destroy all hope for the world.
"Lean on your newly awoken powers, Jayden, please," Tommy murmured and Ninjor nodded solemnly. This was a very dangerous situation. One bad day and all hope could be lost.
The End...for now
Review box is at the bottom. Please review/follow/favorite if you wouldn't mind. Thanks. Keep your eyes open for the next part of this series!