The following few days after the incident with the mirror had been hectic for the rangers. They had stepped up their training to ensure they wouldn't get manipulated in the same way again. With some extra training from the veteran Rangers, the rangers were close to mastering their basic Chi powers. After their lessons had finished for the day, Doggie Cruger had summoned them to administer a special test of their new abilities.
The rangers stood in a line inside their training room and each of them had a different object on front of them. Doggie walked slowly behind the rangers before speaking, "All of you have come a long way but the question is how far?" He stood behind Lauren and opposite the red ranger was a straw dummy. With a nod of his head, Lauren flicked her wrist and the dummy burst into flame, "The power of fire, excellent", he praised the red ranger.
"Can I go next", Dayu raised her hand, leading to much eye rolling from the others.
"Do not mock", Doggie chastised them, "all of you could learn something from the Nylok attitude". He bowed to the yellow ranger and pointed towards the pedestal opposite her, "I would like you to remove the golden cup without being seen", Dayu nodded and blinked her eyes. A fraction of a second later the cup had moved into her hand.
"By Odin's beard", VK gasped.
"Eloquently put", Doggie said with an even tone before turning back to the yellow ranger, "a true master of speed and time can make anything look effortless". He walked down the line until he was next to Daniel, "Don't think I'm going to go easy on of you".
Daniel smiled and turned towards his pedestal which had a large egg sitting on top. Daniel waived his arm and a strong gust of wind blew the egg off the pedestal. It was about to hit the ground when another blast of air kept it in the air. Slowly but surely it drifted towards the pink ranger until it rested comfortably in his outstretched hand.
"Very good", Doggie began, "although don't let it get so close to the ground next time", he added, causing Daniel to pout. "Now onto our blue ranger", he tapped Kong on the shoulder, "on your pedestal is a lead bar. I want to believe that it's a bar of solid gold".
"Alchemy isn't my best subject", Kong said as he cracked his knuckles.
"You don't have to physically change the bar, just my perception of it's appearance". Kong nodded slowly and turned his attention to the lead bar. At first nothing happened but a few moments later the bar appeared to change into gold. "Good job", he praised the blue ranger.
VK had watched all his fellow rangers succeed and he was growing more nervous with each test. Everyone else had passed with flying colours, what if he failed? Would that mean he was expelled from the team? He had always struggled with his new powers from the very beginning. "Last but by no means least", Doggie voice dragged VK away from his thoughts, "You'll see two different items on your pedestal, a feather and an iron bar. All you have to do is levitate them off the pedestal".
"You make it sound so easy", VK mumbled to himself. In theory it shouldn't be any more difficult to life the feather than the lump of iron. The black ranger thrust his hand out and the feather rose into the air but the iron bar stayed in the same place. He tried again, however, the iron block shot up into the air at tremendous speed, crashing into the roof.
The other rangers sniggered but Ji wasn't impressed and shook his head. VK sighed and his shoulders slumped, "What have I told you, the concept of weight in all in your mind", the old man said.
"Clearly I'm not getting this", VK walked away and sat down on a nearby mat.
"VK don't be like this", Lauren began, "you just need a little more practice".
"That's all I have been doing", VK replied, "I've tried for hours but I'm just not as good as the rest of you".
Before anyone else could talk to the black ranger their morphers bleeped, indicating an attack somewhere in the country. The rangers quickly rushed over to the map, "Looks like the Oni's attention has shifted to the north of England", Lauren stated, "lets get going".
"Not you Void Knight", Doggie called out.
"But, we need him", Kong responded.
"Without control over his Chi, he will be a liability", Ji began, "now off you go". The others hesitated for a moment before Teleporting away to the battle. VK slumped on a mat in a sulk and placed his hands behind his head, "What am I going to do with you?" Doggir sighed and sat down next to the black ranger.
"Not much you can do", VK sighed, "perhaps you should find a replacement".
Doggie shook his head, "Now i don't think we should do that".
"Then maybe whatever force gave me these powers made a mistake", VK sat upright and faced the dog Alien " Mr Knight the Mystic Mother and the Morphin Grid makes no mistakes". Doggie frowned and thought for a few moments. He was getting closer to understanding the roots of VK's difficulties, now all he needed to do was find a solution. Perhaps he needed to approach this in a different way, "Maybe we just need to find something that works for you". He stood up and began to pace, "Focusing on your element is one way of channelling Chi but it isn't the only way, something I sure you hadn't heard of until a few weeks ago".
He grabbed VK's hand and touched the morpher, instantly teleporting them to the battle.
VK landed with the thump on a hard metal surface and took a look around. He was on top of a large building with a flat metal roof. In the distance he could see a river with a curved bridge crossing from one bank to the other, "It's been a while since I visited this part of the world", Doggie called out from the other side of the building. He was looking down to the ground below as VK approached him, "Fortunately this place has been abandoned for a while so there's no chance of anyone finding us".
VK looked over the edge and saw the other four rangers battling a blue bodied monster with a horse shoe shaped head. In his hand was a red coloured rod that he was using to assault the rangers with, "Magnatox", Doggie stated, "according to SPD's files, his main power is like one of yours in that he can bind a person to the ground. His power is generated using a magnetic field rather than gravity".
The black ranger could only watch helplessly as they were overpowered by Magnatox. After a few minutes, the rangers found themselves bound to the floor as the monster unleashed a powerful energy attack.
"No!" VK called out as he friends were thrown against the side of the building. He clenched his fists in anger as he watched Lauren struggle to get to her feet.
"I think we've found your motivation", Doggir began, "you believe that you don't bring anything to the team but look where they'd be without you". VK looked in his general direction, "I taught SPD red that lesson once. Now go save them VK".
VK nodded and called on his morphers as he stepped on the edge of the roof. He ran along the side before jumping into the air, "Its Morphin Time!", he morphed in mid and landed directly in front of Magnatox.
"Ah I've been expecting you black ranger", Magnatox smirked
VK summoned his Star and spun it above his head, "Careful watch you wish for", he growled before leaping towards the monster. His Star clashed with Magnatox's staff with a resounding clang, pushing the monster back. VK was relentless in attack, shades of his villainous self cracking the creature around the head on a couple of occasions. Magnatox tried to attack with a shot of his own but the black ranger leapt over the staff.
He tried to blast Magnatox away with his gravity power and it briefly worked. Magnatox was able to react quickly and used his own magnetic power to get his feet back on the ground, "Nice try ranger", Magnatox chuckled, "let's give you a taste of your own medicine". Suddenly VK felt his feet lock on the ground and he couldn't move, "Not so tough now", Magnatox laughed.
Vak tried to move but it was no use. He looked behind him and saw the others slowly scrambling to their feet. He then noticed that Dayu was walking with a limp, an after effect of Magnatox's attack. VK's blood felt like it was going to boil and to his surprise, he began to inch forward, "Impossible", Magnatox cried in disbelief.
"This must be what Doggie was talking about", VK muttered and he focused on that feeling. He twirled his star again and left the ground. He began to run in mid air towards Magnatox and the end of his star glowed bright purple. He swung his Star in an upwards motion and knocked the monster into the air. Magnatox crashed to the ground in a broken heap several feet away.
"VK that was amazing", Lauren said as the others approached.
The black ranger looked at his team mates, especially the yellow ranger, "I just needed to remember what I was fighting for", There was a rumbling noise from behind them as Magnatox began to grown, "Not this again", VK groaned.
"Now we're all back together this'll be a piece of cake", Lauren said to her team, "We need zord power". Their zords appeared in the abandoned industrial area and the rangers quickly jumped aboard, "Alright prepare to form the Mystic Chariot", Lauren said over the communication system.
"No I have a better idea", VK began, "the other rangers zords could combine into a Megazord, ours can do that too".
"Not a bad idea", Lauren replied.
Momotaro converted into the Battlezord as the Oni and Dog zord folding up at the front until they resembled a pair of legs. The Battlezord slipped his own legs into the two zords as the Gorilla Zord broke apart and formed the arms. The Pheasant Zord wrapped around its waist before its tail slotted into place like a helmet.
"Momo Megazord", the rangers called out as they arrived in a shared cockpit.
"Let's see what this thing can do", Lauren instructed her team as the Megazord marched purposefully towards the giant Magnatox. The creature roared in anger and charged towards the Megazord, smashing it across the chest with his staff. The Megazord was unmoved and wrenched the staff out of his hand. He raised it high into the air before snapping it in two across its knee.
"Yeah we've got it on the ropes", Kong punched the air.
"Alright let's can this bitch", Lauren called out and the others nodded in agreement. The Megazord reached down to its waist and unsheathed a long, curved sword. Magnatox charged again but he was met with the blade of the Megazord. The Monster cried out in pain before crashing to the ground in a ball of fire.
On top of the roof Doggie smiled as the Megazord sheathed its sword and looked down over the city, "Well done, I knew you could do it", he smiled before teleporting away.
The battle had been late in the day so after returning to the Shiba Mansion, the rangers had to get to their common room. VK, Daniel and Kong headed to their rooms to get some sleep but Lauren stayed behind in the common room. It was approaching midnight when the red ranger heard someone walking down the stairs, "Lauren what are you still doing up?" Dayu asked.
"Sorry I got distracted", she replied. On a table in front of her were a small pile of ashes that she poked with her wand. The pile shone with a bright red colour before fading away, "I thought I had it this time", she groaned.
"Is that the remains of the mirror?" the yellow ranger asked as he took a seat next to her fellow ranger.
Lauren nodded, the rangers had saved some of the remains of the Gorma Mirror for further study., "I can't get any useful information from the remains".
"Can I try something", the red ranger nodded and Dayu placed her hand above the ashes. A few seconds later a spark shot up and struck the yellow ranger in the hand, "I wasn't expecting that", Dayu exclaimed, shaking her hand.
"What did you do?" Lauren asked.
"Tried to channel some Chi", Dayu replied, "The current SPD red can sense aura's, I thought that maybe I could detect it's Chi signature".
Lauren gaped, "Dayu, that's brilliant".
The yellow ranger blushed, "Well it didn't work,"
"You tried that's the main thing", Lauren swept the ashes into a pot as an awkward silence descended. Almost on impulse she leaned across and kissed Dayu on the cheek. Her eyes widened when she realised what she had done, "Well, night", she stuttered and quickly hurried up to bed. Dayu was momentarily stunned but she managed to gently touch her cheek and smile. She leapt out of the chair and practically skipped to her bed.