Jayden Shiba was never really able to turn off the part of his brain that hunted Nighlok, even after the defeat of Master Xandred. His whole life he'd been sharpened to be a weapon, and no matter how long the peace lasted that feeling of duty lingered.
So while all the others moved on Jayden found himself alone.
Even Lauren had taken up other activities. She'd committed to the more remedial tasks that fell on the head of the Shiba Clan. Last he knew she was setting up a Shiba House in Stone Canyon after some preliminary tests discovered it to be an optimal spot for Nighlok activity.
Finding himself with nothing else to do, he began to study. He moved from more recent documents to older scrolls written in Japanese. From Nighlok biology to ancient alchemy.
As he worked through everything available to him he began to see a particular pattern, something that he was initially sure was purely coincidental. Then he became convinced of its authenticity and knew that he needed to act.
So Jayden Shiba packed up and went to Japan. Back to where the Shiba Clan had begun their battle against the Nighlok.
He finally understood the truth, and with any luck, he'd be able to do the one thing his family had been striving to do for generations.
He was going to stop the Nighlok forever.
Three months later
Lauren Shiba was hunched over her desk while she examined Jayden's notes for the hundredth time. When her brother left for Japan all he'd left behind was a note explaining his departure and a copy of his findings.
Even now Lauren was beyond impressed with Jayden's work. Her brother had never really been the studious type but it seemed that he had a natural talent for it.
Through a combination of Shiba history and Nighlok science Jayden postulated that the original Nighlok incident in Japan had created a "pulse" of interdimensional energy that resulted in the weakening of the "wall" between their world and the Nighlok world.
Based on that knowledge Jayden had developed a sealing symbol that could reverse the pulse and prevent any future Nighlok incidents from happening.
At first, Lauren had wanted to come with him, but other obligations took precedence. Being the head of the Shiba Clan was more than fighting Nighlok. There was maintaining investments in various companies to ensure financial stability and numerous other tasks that were vital to providing the proper resources they needed to operate.
But after months with no contact, she decided all of that could wait a bit, so she sent out a call to the other Rangers and they all came without a second thought.
A part of her was jealous, and an even darker part of her wondered if the team would have arrived so fast had she had been the one to disappear.
Thankfully before her mind had time to ruminate on those negative thoughts one of the Nighlok detectors went off.
"Two back-to-back?" Lauren said to herself as she looked over at her computer. Usually, there were at least two or three days in between incidents.
Then another went off, and another. The computer-generated map of the city was rapidly becoming speckled with blinking red dots.
Lauren shot up, swallowing the panic and anxiety welling up inside her.
Whatever was happening, no matter how bad it looked, she needed to stop it.
The Red Samurai Ranger kicked Ollie into the side of the leftmost building. The limestone foundation cracked under the force of the attack as Ollie slid down to his butt.
The Samurai, in the meantime, used the opportunity to attack.
The Dino Fury Ranger rolled to the side as the spin sword cut through the stone like it was warm butter.
"Jayden please," Ollie begged in a panic, "we're on the same side."
The Ranger ignored his plea, instead choosing to continue his wild advance.
Ollie scrambled to his feet, nearly falling back to the ground on several occasions as he dodged the deadly blade. It was becoming terrifyingly clear to him that he wasn't going to be able to win this fight.
"Swift Key Activate!' Ollie yelled. As soon as the Swift armor appeared around Ollie he took the opportunity to dash past the Samurai Ranger.
With nearly a block between them, Ollie raised his Morpher to contact the Samurai Rangers.
But before he had the chance he was interrupted by a blow to the side that threw him off his feet and sent him rolling across the ground.
He quickly pulled himself up, expecting to see the Samurai Ranger in front of him. But instead, he found himself facing a bulbous Nighlok covered in massive growths.
"Now's really not a good time," Ollie muttered. "Can we do a raincheck?"
The Nighlok decidedly ignored his plea and instead uttered a guttural growl and raced towards him.
"Hey," Ollie said to his Morpher. "I could use some help here."
"We're all a little preoccupied at the moment," Lauren said. "The city is crawling with Nighlok."
"Yeah, I kind of noticed," Ollie said as he dodged the nighlok's club. Then, as if to exemplify that statement, a Nighlok appeared in front of him, a blue vine-like creature covered in eyeballs.
Ollie had just enough time to dodge the enemy's grasping hands before flinging himself directly into the first nighlok's path by accident.
He dropped to the ground just in time to feel the wind of the club sail over his head.
Ollie rolled several paces away and sprang back up.
He drew another Dino Key, if he couldn't run he'd have to fight.
"Dino Smash Key activate!"
In a matter of mere moments the entire city was overrun with Nighlok, and with Antonio and Mia unreachable the four remaining Samurai Rangers took it upon themselves to fight back against the invasion.
Mike and Emily stood side by side, fighting back a wave of Moogers, meanwhile, Lauren and Kevin dueled a horrific clam-like adversary with a grotesque red-skinned humanoid suspended from the clam's open mouth.
The creature unleashed a wave of dark energy but Kevin dodged with a leap and an aerial roll that he converted the momentum for into a corkscrew attack that struck the enemy and caused it to explode.
"Impressive," Lauren said.
"Thanks," Kevin replied. "Being a Pan-Global swimmer offers a bit of extra creativity."
"Okay, no need to gloat," Mike said as the other two Rangers finally caught up. "Not all of us have gold medals at home."
"Okay, but not all of us have 100,000 Twitch subs either," Mia joked.
"150 now," Mike said as he took the next Nighlok head-on, "but who's counting?"
Lauren watched the three other Rangers banter while they fought. She wished she could join in but feared being perceived as awkward.
From inside her helmet, she opened her mouth but was suddenly thrown from her feet and sent sliding across the asphalt.
She looked around, heavily confused. Nothing physical had struck her but whatever it was had hit like a semi-truck.
"So this is the 17th head of the Shiba Clan?" A female voice asked. "Personally I'm not impressed."
The three remaining Rangers snapped toward the voice, finding a Japanese woman in elegant purple-colored garments with a headpiece stylized like flames.
She glanced over at the blue, green, and yellow Rangers, then with a smirk she raised her hand and snapped her finger, creating a wave of powerful energy that struck them like a tidal wave.
By then Lauren had already pulled herself back to her feet. "So, who are you?"
"Empress Maki," she said with a heavy dose of satisfaction. Annoyingly so for Lauren because she was suddenly paralyzed.
According to legend, Empress Maki was the first Nighlok human hybrid and one of the people responsible for bringing the first Nighlok to their dimension.
Lauren half pulled herself together. If there was a time that her team needed her it would be right then.
"Alright team," Lauren shouted to her fellow Rangers as they pulled themselves back up, "look alive! This lady is not a joke, and it's going to take everything we have to survive this."
With the Super Samurai powers enhancing Antonio's already lighting fast attacks the Gold Ranger became an untraceable blur of destruction.
Unfortunately, the Shadow Ronin was no slouch either.
The two swordsmen danced back, waves of raw energy emanating from each clash of their blades. The Spin Sword was clunkier than his Barracuda Blade but Antonio made due. He was just thankful that Jayden had given him lessons over the years.
Which, however, led to an interesting observation on Antonio's end.
As he dueled the Ronin he couldn't help but observe that the warrior's style was oddly familiar.
"You're using the Slashing Lion technique," Antonio said to the warrior. "It's a modified variation but I can tell by the way you're holding your feet."
The warrior ignored him, more than likely electing to use the time to try and find an opening while the gold Ranger exposited.
"That means you were trained by a Shiba-"
Before the gold ranger could continue the Ronin lunged forward and struck Antonio with enough force to knock his sword from his grasp.
Antonio stumbled back, summoning his Barracuda Blade in a rush of golden light but it was too late and the Ronin unleashed about a dozen strikes before the Ranger could even pull the blade into a guard position. His Super mode faded away, then thin cracks began to form around the suit, revealing streaks of gold light from within.
Antonio was too stunned to move, too overwhelmed but to watch as the Shadow Ronin pulled back his sword one last time to deliver the finishing blow.
Only for Mia to stab the Shadow Ronin through the chest with the Shark Sword.
The Ronin looked down at the blade sticking out of his chest, seemingly very shocked at the discovery. He quickly turned around to face the Pink Ranger, now clad in the Shark Attack Mode attire.
Then, the warrior fell to the ground, wisps of black pouring from his body.
Ollie pushed through the ranks of Nighlok soldiers, the massive armored gloves of the Smash Armor flailing like a Rock'em Sock'em Robot on ten caffeine pills.
Each fist sent a Mooger to oblivion as he pushed through their thick ranks. He headed downtown, not for any strategic reason but simply because he was subconsciously following the path of his night walks.
Although Ollie couldn't help but notice that the Nighlok seemed to be congregating thickest in population centers. This implied a sense of purpose or strategy, even if he couldn't understand it himself yet.
Look at you, all alone.
Pathetic…
At first, Ollie ignored the voice that seemed to emanate from his own mind.
Stress. Anxiety. Those kinds of emotions did all sorts of things to the psyche. It was probably nothi-
You deserve it anyway.
Ollie felt a pang of overwhelming emotion, then struggled to pull in a breath as the voice continued
After all, you're the reason Zayto is dead.
Ollie tried to pull himself together, with a scream he threw his fist at a nearby Mooger, completely obliterating it mid swing and allowing the inertia from the blow to continue to the building behind him. His armored fist hit the wall with enough force to send a splintering crack up its polished stone surface.
The crack began to glow. Crimson rays reflected back at the Blue Ranger as the voice continued, though now seemingly being projected out of the glowing fissure.
"You weren't strong enough to defeat Void Queen. And now your friend is dead."
The words hit Ollie like a physical blow, knocking the Blue Rangers to the ground.
Images flashed in his mind as his throat swelled and his chest tightened. He was back to that day, watching helplessly as his leader sacrificed everything to save the day.
"That's why you ran away.
You're a failure who doesn't deserve to be on a team."
In a bright flash, Ollie demorphed. A red-colored halo of energy enveloped him.
Despair bleed from every pore, feeding into a change that was overwhelming his entire being. Fissures appeared across his own skin, glowing the same crimson hue as the cracks had. Ollie screamed as the glowing enveloped his entire being.
When the light subsided Ollie was no more, instead the young man was replaced with a red-skinned Nighlok clad in a twisted metal chest piece and a knight-like helm over its head.
"Interesting.." the Red Samurai Ranger said as he approached the creature. "A new Nighlok joins our ranks."
The Nighlok turned to the Ranger and growled, then after finally understanding who stood before him, they instead lowered their torso to bow.
"Come," the Ranger commanded. "It's time for us to put an end to these Rangers once and for all."
The four Samurai Rangers were all near their breaking point. Empress Mika smiled devilishly as she assaulted the Rangers with wave after wave of devastating energy.
The rangers were battered, with smoke pouring from their armor, but Lauren stood tall… metaphorically at least.
"This has been fun," the woman said. "I haven't been able to slaughter like this in generations."
The head of the Shiba Clan pulled herself into a wobbly stance. Her sword trembled but she refused to let it fall.
"You're tough, little Shiba, I'll give you that," Empress Mika said. "However, I believe it's time you finally succumb to your fate."
"Never," Lauren growled. "I will strike you down just like every other Nighlok I've faced."
Empress Mika laughed. The kind of sarcastic snort that would've boiled Lauren's blood had she had enough fire in her soul.
"I'm not just a Nighlok you pathetic worm. My body was fused with the blood of Master Xandred himself."
"And I'm the reason Master Xandred is toast," Lauren replied. "So taking you down shouldn't be much more of a challenge."
Lauren hoped her bravo was believable, but in truth, she was beyond terrified. Master Xandred had been the biggest challenge of her life, but Mika seemed to have twice his power.
With a steeling breath, Lauren raised the Shogun Power Disc in the air and slid it across her spin sword.
With a powerful spin, she activated the disc's power and summoned the armor of her ancestors.
"Oh, how nostalgic!" Mika exclaimed. Wisps of raw energy danced around her body as she summoned a golden sword. "Now the real fun can begin."
The Red Shogun Rangers turned to her fallen teammates.
"I'll hold her off for as long as I can," Lauren said. "Hopefully that'll give you enough time."
"Enough time?" Mike asked as he pulled himself up. "For what? We aren't going anywhere."
"Mike's right," Emily said as she joined the Green Ranger. "We aren't leaving."
"Right," Kevin chimed in. "We'd never abandon a teammate."
"Guys please…" Lauren replied desperately. "You don't have to do this anymore. You don't have to be our vessels-our soldiers. You all have lives worth living."
"And we're gonna," Emily said. "After we show this witch what happens when you mess with the Samurai Rangers."
Lauren looked back at the three other rangers. Tears stung her eyes. She wanted to argue but knew she couldn't. They were more than a team, they were a family.
Lauren straightened her stance. The Shogun Power coursed through her like lava, invigorating her almost enough to forget the pain.
She raised her Mega Blade. "Rangers together!"
The Blue, Green, and Yellow Rangers appeared beside her. "Samurai forever!"
Much to the horror of the Pink and Gold Rangers the Shadow Ronin wasn't done yet. Even as smoke rose from his fresh wound the warrior pulled himself back.
What scared Antonio wasn't a lack of pain on his enemy's end but instead, the more than apparent pain that the Ronin was pushing through.
The warrior's body was trembling with each movement as if he was struggling just to stay up.
Either he was the most devoted soldier ever, or something was overriding his survival instincts and Antonio wasn't sure which disturbed him more.
"Alright Mia, it looks like that we're gonna have a round 2 with this creep," The gold Ranger said as he prepared to morph for a second time.
"That won't be necessary," a voice like tires over loose gravel growled.
He turned towards the voice and found a knight-themed Nighlok and-
For a second Antonio was so shocked the entire world froze.
-a Red Samurai Ranger…
"Jay-"
Before the Gold Ranger could continue the Red Samurai was heading right for him.
Antonio had just enough time to duck under the swing.
"Jayden. What. The. Hell?" Antonio struggled to ask as his friend attempted to dice him up like an angry blender.
He looked to Mia for help but the Pink Ranger was too preoccupied fighting the new Nighlok.
Man, was Jayden always this fast? Antonio thought as he dodged the spin sword for probably the 50th time. If I don't figure something out I'm done for.
"Jayden please," Antonio pleaded. "I don't know what's going on with you but you've gotta snap out of it!"
The Red Ranger remained a silent whirlwind, and without his powers, Antonio wasn't sure how long he could keep this up.
"Amigo… I've missed you so much…"
"I…I," he muttered. "I should've been there for you. Just like how you were always there for me. You've always been my best friend and without you, I feel so lost. I should never have let my restaurant take up so much of my time. It's been great but at the same time hollow and I could never figure out why-"
Antonio stumbled back as the spin sword nicked his cheek, causing warm blood to run down his face.
The Red Samurai Ranger pulled his blade back.
Antonio watched in horror, knowing he had no time to dodge it.
The sword flew forward-
"It's because you weren't there with me. Jayden, I need you!"
-the sword stopped.
Antonio looked in amazement. His brain struggling to put everything together
The sword hasn't been stopped by the will of the Red Ranger.
It was instead stopped by the Shadow Ronin.
Antonio didn't understand, but he definitely couldn't afford to waste the opportunity. As the two warriors duled for superiority the Gold Ranger raised his Morpher and transformed in a flash of bright light.
Just as the Gold Ranger armed his Barracuda Blade the Red Ranger knocked the Shadow Ronin's sword to the ground and unleashed a quick strike across the Nighlok's chest wound, causing a series of cracks to erupt from the monster's skin as it fell to its knees.
The sword flew down again, but this time Antonio was the one to block it.
"Consider us even," The Gold Ranger said to the fallen Nighlok as he continued his duel with the Red Ranger.
Antonio redirected his whole focus to the Red Ranger. A twisted pang crawled through his stomach. If he couldn't reach through to Jayden then he couldn't afford to hold back.
With a flash of symbol power, Antonio summoned two duplicates of himself. His doppelgangers rushed towards the Red Ranger and intercepted the duel.
Jayden was fast, but not two Antonios fast.
With the clones distracting him Antonio was free to prepare his next move. He began frantically texting across his keyboard. Digital symbol power had a ton of advantages, mostly involving the speed and ease of activating it. But there were also drawbacks. One of which is that if used too excessively it could essentially drain its battery and lose the ability to morph altogether. Antonio prepared for this and incorporated a battery large enough for this to never become an issue but this battle was dangerously close to finally tapping his Morpher out.
With an unsure hand, Antonio commanded the Morpher to channel its remaining energy, then he drew a rather unfinished-looking power disc. He glanced down at it and its exposed wiring, he'd hoped that it could reach a more perfected state before testing it.
Unfortunately, that wouldn't be the case, and it seemed that his fate now hinged on its success.
Antonio unleashed the built-up power, causing his suit to explode with enough energy for it to obtain a metallic hue. Then he placed the disc on his Barracuda Blade and spun it.
"Gold Rush Mode!" Antonio exclaimed as his whole suit transformed. The navy sections of his suit turned black and he gained a golden version of the Super Samurai vest.
Adapting his powers to work alongside the Super Samurai mode had been a proof of concept. This was the culmination of his research.
The two clones fell to the ground, quickly dissolving into a storm of raw symbol power.
Antonio didn't waste a breath and charged toward his best friend, his body dissolving into a blur of lighting as he zeroed in on the target.
Jayden blocked the attack, but the resulting whiplash was enough to send a shockwave of power exploding like a supernova between them.
Both Rangers flew backward, forcibly demorphing as they hit the ground.
Antonio felt a numbness creep over him.
Damn it, he thought. I overloaded myself.
A laugh escaped the spot Jayden lay. A laugh that sent an icy dread through the immobile Gold Ranger.
It wasn't Jayden's laugh.
"That was quite the show," the voice said. "But it wasn't enough to stop me."
Using all of his strength Antonio craned his neck up to confirm his fear. He was right. The man who'd been wearing Jayden's suit was revealed to be a Japanese man clad in fedual-era robes.
"Who are you?" Antonio asked.
The man chuckled darkly. "I am Akio Gedoshu."
With his spinsword still in hand the man approached Antonio.
Only for the Shadow Ronin to strike first. The warrior knocked the spin sword from the man's grip but before he could deliver another blow the Nighlok collapsed. The cracks forming around his body erupted in purple light-
Revealing Jayden Shiba, his face ghastly and a heavily bleeding wound blooming around his white shirt.
Akio frowned, his left eye twitching. "The Empress…" he muttered. He turned to his other Nighlok companion, still locked in a duel against Mia.
"The Empress is in danger. You can finish off your play-thing later!"
The Nighlok nodded and the two of them disappeared into a crack in the road.
Mia demorphed with an exhausted sigh. The color drained from her face as she saw the two lifelong friends collapse beside each other.
She rushed towards them. Her eyes locked on Jayden's wound as the horror of her actions dawned on her.
"Jayden I'm so sorry…" she breathed. "I-I didn't know it was you…"
"Mia… it's okay," Jayden managed to breathe.
Mia pulled Jayden towards her chest and began to cry.