As of late Ollie had taken to midnight walks around the city. Maybe it was because he hadn't slept well since the final battle against the Sporix. Maybe it was because his body had never adjusted to Japan's time zone.
Or maybe it was because there wasn't a night Ollie didn't find himself thinking about Zayto.
It was illogical, Ollie knew that. He was still dealing with grief, Ollie knew that as well. In fact, he could pinpoint exactly which stage of grief he was waist-deep in.
But none of that made it any easier. It didn't do a damn thing to make the pain any more manageable.
For reasons the Blue Ranger couldn't quite grasp the only time he felt truly at peace was on those walks.
The crossing sign flashed red and Ollie froze. He took the opportunity to look around and absorb the beauty of Osaka. It was breathtaking, but it didn't distract him from how much he missed Pine Ridge.
Oh shit- he almost missed his chance to pass.
Once on the other side of the street Ollie instinctively checked his phone.
No new messages…
He thought about texting Amelia but dismissed it. She was probably working on a story for Buzzblast.
He couldn't think of a time that she wasn't.
Ollie knew he should be reasonable, after all, Amelia was dealing with her own stuff as well. But he found that no matter what he couldn't help but indulge in jealousy. He knew it wasn't the best look for him, but at the same time, he was unable to stop himself.
It felt like the part of him that was good, the part of him that loved, the part of him that his ability to be positive flowed from, got smaller and smaller every day.
There'd been a few months where Amelia was the only thing he could even think of. It had even begun to damage his relationship with his mom, a person who meant everything to him. But in the weeks after the battle against Void Queen everything changed. Zayto's absence did more than just splinter the team. It sent deep cracks through their very psyche.
After that Ollie not only found he didn't want to be around Amelia, he didn't really want to be around anyone. That was why he'd agreed to live with his mom in Japan. Here he was a foreigner with little understanding of the national language. Even when he walked down the busy streets he felt completely alone.
He looked at his phone again and felt a wave of raw frustration. How could someone so desperate to be alone be so upset when their girlfriend didn't text them back? The dichotomy left him feeling pathetic and petty.
And deep down he knew that it was somehow better than how he felt when he thought about Zayto…
It was then, on the busy city street, that the unpredictable maelstrom known as fate grabbed Ollie Akana by the wrist and pulled him towards a life he'd thought to be long over.
It started with a chorus of screams. A terrible panic-filled collection of cries that perfectly translated no matter the language barrier.
A chill crept down Ollie's spine, and before he even had time to process a single thought he was rushing towards it. He met the panicked mob head-on, weaving around frantic pedestrians as he tried to uncover its source.
A Sporix beast? He really didn't think so. After Lord Zedd Ollie had learned that there were plenty of other monsters in the world…
As Ollie approached the chaos he was greeted with a sight more akin to the setting than he'd have anticipated.
The monster was seemingly based on a chōchin, a Japanese paper lantern. More specifically it was based on the Chōchin-obake, a yokai from Japanese mythology. It sported a body that seemed to replicate the paper of a chōchin with the addition of flame accents. Its head resembled the lantern itself, with a long spout-like appendage for a mouth that shot fire like a flamethrower.
Ollie raised his right hand to transform his communicator into his Morpher, but before he had the chance to slam his hand down he was suddenly overtaken by a blur of golden energy.
Ollie looked around in stunned confusion, suddenly twenty feet away from where he was just standing.
"No need to be a hero," a voice said to Ollie. "The real heroes are here."
Ollie looked at the figure beside him for the first time and felt a whirlwind of emotions. It belonged to a Gold Power Ranger.
Before he could process that alone four more rangers flooded out from a nearby alley. Blue, Green, Yellow, and Pink. Each of the quartet wielded golden swords which they held at ready as they charged towards the foe.
As the shock wore off the analytical part of his mind took over. He recognized the suits from the Ranger archives. They were primarily their color from the neck to the waist, with a black section running down the middle to give the illusion of it being a robe or a kimono, and the pants of the suit were black. The helmet was simple, just their color with a visor designed after a different elemental kanji.
They were the Samurai Power Rangers, a team that operated out of Panorama City over a decade ago.
So, Ollie began to wonder, what were they doing in Japan?
No time for that now, unfortunately, Ollie realized as the team began to clash with the foe.
"Okay, the show's over," the gold Ranger said to Ollie. "Time for you to get as far away from here as you can."
"Sorry," Ollie said as he slapped his communicator. "But my show is just getting started. Link to Morphin Grid!" In a flash, Ollie morphed into the Blue Dino Fury Ranger and joined the fray.
The Green, Yellow, and Pink Rangers were using a combination of plant, rock, and wind attacks to corral the foe into a single location for the Blue Ranger to deliver a devastating rush of water that sent the creature stumbling backward.
"Freeze Dino Key!" Ollie exclaimed as he placed the key inside his Chromafury Saber. In a flash of light, the Freeze Battle Armor wrapped around his suit and he aimed an ice attack at the creature's back.
The enemy stumbled forward half a step as the water from the Blue Samurai Ranger's attack began to freeze around the monster, leaving the foe frozen in place.
"What was that?" The Green Ranger asked.
"It was him," The Yellow Ranger interjected. "He messed the whole thing up!"
"What are you talking about?" Ollie asked. "I'm here to help you guys."
"Are you sure about that?" The Blue Samurai Ranger asked.
"Enough!" The creature roared and unleashed a wave of powerful fire that instantly evaporated the ice. "You Rangers have already caused us enough trouble. It's time you go up in flames!"
The enemy turned towards Ollie and prepared to unleash a raging inferno but moments before the torrential hellfire could reach the Blue Ranger another figure appeared and deflected the attack.
"Everything was going perfect before you showed up," The Red Ranger said to Ollie.
'I was just trying to help," Ollie said.
"Well, maybe you should leave the nighlok slaying to the people who know what they're doing," The Red Ranger snapped.
Ollie opened his mouth but the Ranger ignored him and turned back to their team who were in the midst of holding the nighlok off. "Alright team," The Red Ranger commanded. "Since formation gamma was disrupted we'll have to try formation zeta."
The four other Rangers responded thoughtlessly. Each of them raised flip phone-like devices and began to draw glowing symbols. From the Blue Ranger's symbol, the road began to flood with water. Then the Yellow Ranger's symbol caused the ground below the Nighlok to tear up into a small canyon that surrounded the creature. The Pink Ranger used her wind power to knock several power lines and street lights down around the enemy and Green Ranger summoned thick foliage to bind the Nighlok to them.
The Red Ranger drew a disc from the belt and placed it into their sword, spinning it as they said, "Shark Attack Mode!" A red colored vest appeared around their body and their Spin Sword transformed into Shark Sword. Slowly they approached the Nighlok.
"Where is he?" They inquired.
The Nighlok laughed, "I have no idea what you're talking about."
The Shark Sword took on a life of its own, the blade stretched out and wrapped around the Nighlok's neck. "Don't. Play. Dumb." Was all they said.
"I seriously don't know…" The Nighlok pleaded nervously as the sword began to tighten around them. "My Master ain't exactly a big talker."
"Why are you here then?" They asked, "Why are the Nighlok back in Japan?"
There was a moment of silence, then, "Oh, you seriously don't know." A chuckle escaped the creature. "That's rich."
"Tell me," The Red Ranger growled. The blade was now firmly wrapped around the enemy's throat like a hungry snake.
"You've got to be insane if you think I'm telling you any-"
The Red Ranger flicked their wrist and the Shark Blade tore the Nighlok's head off. Instantly its body dissolved into dust, but for a split second, the head remained intact as it fell to the ground.
"It doesn't matter anyway," The head said, "Soon you'll all be rust on my Master's bla-"
The gray-colored ash pooled around the water like snow.
"Well, that was another bust," The Green Ranger said in an annoyed tone.
"It's still another Nighlok destroyed," The Red Ranger said. "Besides, we can't just give up hope. We'll find him." In a flash of red symbol power, the Samurai Ranger demorphed to reveal a blonde woman.
Ollie couldn't help but be thrown off. He'd never really studied the Samurai Ranger section of the database but he swore that the team was led by a male.
The other four Rangers demorphed as well as they turned down the street and back the way they came.
"Hey wait," Ollie said. He wasn't even entirely sure why he said it. But suddenly he was overwhelmed by a strong emotion. "If there are Nighlok attacking Osaka I want to help you fight them."
"This isn't your fight," The man who'd been the Blue Samurai Ranger moments before said. "Besides, you'll only get in the way."
"My mom lives here," Ollie said. "So this is my fight." Ollie was surprised to find himself holding back to urge to beg them. Why did he even want to go with them so badly? The group was nothing but strangers to him.
"Antonino," The Red Ranger said after a few tense moments of contemplation. "Program our communication frequency into his com. That way if he sees anything he can get ahold of us."
"Yes ma'am," Antonio, the Gold Ranger Ranger, said and stepped over to Ollie and tapped a few digital keys on his datapad.
With that settled the Gold Ranger returned to his team and Ollie was forced to watch them grow smaller in the night.