Ugh, this sweltering heat is unbearable! (pants heavily and wipes the sweat from my face) Well, speaking of bears, Mike gets to learn another lesson in today's chapter, "Forest for the Trees". And Emily actually gets to learn something too! Plus, a Legendary Ranger makes a comeback! Who is it, you ask? Let's see! (Battlewing flies by to reveal the Disclaimers)

Disclaimers: I don't own Power Rangers, as it is a product of Hasbro as of May 1st, 2018.

(No POV)

It had been a couple of days since the Rangers had rescued the Tiger Zord and the three Artillery Discs were sitting on a table in front of the Junior Tribunal, Jayden, and Mentor Ji, where Spencer, Ileanna, and Culpepper were having a word with Jayden and Mentor about the matter at hand.

"With the Tiger Zord back, the Samurai Battlewing is going to be a big help," said Ileana, "The thing is... you'll need a pilot for each. Kevin is an obvious choice for the Swordfish Zord."

"We already know that but the real question is, who to select for the Beetle and Tiger Zords," said Jayden.

"I think Mike would be an obvious choice for the Tiger or Beetle," said Ileana, "After all, the Tiger's element is Wood, and I have an idea on who can help Mike with his training. After all, you can't train somebody who is ever changing as the wind the same way you trained somebody who is forceful as fire."

"Wasn't that from Mystic Force, Ileana?" Culpepper asked with an amused smirk before continuing, "Either way, she's got a point. I think Xander Bly would be a good choice since he and Mike share the same element, and he can be a big help to Emily considering the fact that due to circumstances out of her control that got her the job as the Yellow Samurai Ranger."

"And from what we can make out thanks to our employer going over the past battles, Negatron did mention that Emily will never be as good as her big sister. But that doesn't mean she can't give herself a different style from her sister," said Spencer.

Mentor Ji was hearing what the trio were saying and so was Jayden, considering the three magicians served as Tana's eyes and ears while she was busy... sometimes, at least.

Jayden seemed pensive about the situation, however, and he had an idea, sitting upright. "If there will be a time where Kevin is out of commission, I think Mia should be his partner in using the Swordfish Disc. Mike and Emily together would be a good pair to handle the Tiger Zord, with him being the main controller and her being his backup. And I think it's obvious how me and Bekah worked together on mastering the Beetle Disc."

Culpepper nodded and smiled. "Pairing off would be a smart way to ensure power balance for each Disc. And it's pretty obvious Mike and Emily together would be a good pair."

Ji nodded. "Indeed. They seem to balance each other out as much as Jayden and Bekah work off each other."

Spencer gave a single nod. "Alright. Looks like we've got it settled. Let's go let the others know."

As soon as the team was assembled, Jayden gave them the low-down of what had been decided: "With three Discs, we've got access to the Samurai Battlewing. But we need appropriate wielders for each of them. Kevin's the obvious choice for the Swordfish Zord, since he's most connected to it. Mia, I want you to partner up with Kevin when the Disc is used."

The two in question nodded as Jayden passed Kevin the Swordfish Disc and continued, "Bekah and I will take control of the Beetle Zord due to our mastery of its immense power. Mike, Emily, we're leaving you two in charge of the Tiger Zord. But since we've agreed that a little extra training wouldn't hurt, we've got a friend coming over from Briarwood, a Legendary Ranger."

Mike's eyes widened in amazement. "Sweet!"

Emily looked up eagerly. "Who is it?"

Ileana smiled slightly. "His name's Xander Bly. He's the Green Ranger of the Mystic Force, wielder of magic that controls the Earth."

The two looked at each other in awe, clearly excited about working with a Legendary Ranger.

Kevin chuckled slightly. "I wonder if Xander's still his usual self after so long."

Bekah snickered slightly. "With Alex and Ileana keeping him in line, I don't think I'll be surprised if they smack him a new one."

The two of them shared a laugh with the Junior Tribunal in amusement. Seemed like this was gonna be fun.

(Bekah's POV)

Later on, I watched Emily and Mike work on their swordsmanship and with what I had taught Emily thus far, she was coming along well with her blade mastery. At the same time, Mike was taking what he had learned from the battle against Rofer and utilizing it well, dodging Emily's attacks and countering like a professional. It was clear they wanted to be on their best behavior with the incoming legends, and they were giving their all in training.

Afterwards, I gave the two a lesson on understanding their symbol powers more as they practiced some symbols. "With each symbol power used, you gain a much clearer understanding of yourself and your element. Focus on the exercise. Let the symbols come from within you."

Emily was the first to finish, creating the symbol for sand (砂) and closing her eyes slightly as a small sand cloud blew in her face, spitting out some of the bulkier particles.

Mike chuckled slightly as he watched her. "That looked pretty good, Em."

She brushed some sand out of her face and smiled at him. "Thanks, Mike."

He nodded and returned to focusing on his own symbol, creating the vine symbol (つる) and smiling as a small vine appeared and curled up into a fist, which he fist bumped.

I smiled at them and nodded. "Very good, you two. As a matter of fact, I have an idea on what to teach you next."

They looked at me in confusion before I led them back to the training grounds and drew the symbol for blindfold (目隠し), creating a green blindfold for Mike and a yellow one for Emily before I walked over and got their respective blindfolds on. "Sometimes a samurai needs to fight without any vision whatsoever. These will help you guys practice the skill to sense your enemy coming from any angle through using your respective elements and respond accordingly. The master that taught me this calls it the Swoop Technique." I walked over to the side and summoned my Spin Sword, grabbing it and holding it down. "Use your other senses to get into your opponent's head and predict their next move." I slowly circled around them, waiting patiently for whoever would try to defend first before I swung at them.

To my surprise, Mike was the first one to block, and Emily used his defensive strike as an advantage of sound to swing in my direction. Thankfully, I parried it and battled the two as they traded off defense for offense and vice versa.

Unfortunately, our training was cut short by the sound of the Gap Sensor and my own senses alerting me to the newest Nighlok attack. "Uh-oh. Trouble." I ran inside with the other two as they removed their blindfolds and we all joined the rest of the group to get downtown.

(No POV)

As the heroes arrived in their suits, they noticed some of the populace acting miserable, as Jayden asked, "Hey, what is all this?"

Bekah looked at the soaked people and frowned slightly as she turned to her comrades. "I'll tell you what: The weather did not call for rain today, which means one thing."

Mike looked at her. "Lemme guess: You know the culprit?"

"Straight up," Bekah confirmed, her attention on the incoming Nighlok, Desparaino.

"Isn't it wonderful? Such delicious depths of despair from my rain. They're so lucky! They get to experience the purest, the cruelest, the evilist misery of all: the loss of hope!" the villainous creature spoke.

"That's horrible!" Emily said sadly.

"I've experienced worse," Bekah said nonchalantly.

"And some of us have actually seen worse," Culpepper agreed.

"We've gotta get rid of this guy fast!" Mia proclaimed, Mike nodding in agreement.

"Ooh, what a horrible, sunny outlook you have! Especially when the forecast calls for rain, my rain of pain!" Desparaino told them.

"Not this time!" Ileana said, launching fireballs at the Nighlok, but he simply blocked each one and returned fire with blasts from his staff, sending the others flying back with shouts and landing hard.

"We have to use the new Discs!" Kevin told them, holding up the Swordfish Disc.

"Right!" Bekah got the Beetle Disc out and readied it for her hammer.

"No! Wrong as rain!" Desparaino blasted her, sending the Disc out of her hand, but to everyone's surprise, a vine caught it in midair and dropped it back to her hand.

"What the?" Mia turned to Mike in confusion.

Mike held his hands up. "Hey, don't look at me."

Spencer smiled a bit. "Figures a space-time portal would be around this area."

"What are you punks blabbering about?" Desparaino asked suspiciously before he got trapped by massive vines.

The Rangers (sans Kevin and Bekah) were surprised by the development before a voice spoke up on their right: "Surprise!" The group turned to see another Green Ranger nearby, holding his Magi Staff readily.

Desparaino fought his way out, but he suddenly got attacked by shadowy tendrils and knocked around, landing on his feet. "Now what?!"

"Howdy, partner!" Alex walked over, resting her staff on her shoulder.

The Nighlok looked at the two. "More Rangers?! But you two aren't samurai!"

"Darn right! We're magic users!" Xander told him as he stepped over by Alex.

"And according to us, you're nothing but a pile of Kentucky fried chicken!" The cowgirl spoke before she crossed her arms. "I summon the power of the unshakable Serpent!" Holding her staff out, she fired off several shadowy tendrils that struck Desparaino several times before striking him point blank, sending him flying through the air.

"Whoa!" "Amazing!" Mike and Emily spoke for the other two awed Rangers.

"Yeah it is!" Kevin smiled, glad to see his friends again.

Desparaino hit the ground before another blast shot him down, rewinding his landing and allowing it to happen again as a figure in shining silver armor complete with a rainbow cape and a mask that hid her features appeared while holding a staff.

The silver figure looked at the Samurai Rangers calmly. "Thought you could use some help."

As the two Mystic Rangers joined her and the Junior Tribunal, Desparaino groaned slightly as cracks started to appear on his body. "Ugh, looks like it's starting to get a little too hot for me! I gotta get drenched! I'll deal with you later!" He quickly teleported through a crack within a building and disappeared.

"Power down!" The Mystic heroes said together and they demorphed, Xander looking slightly scarred across his face while Alex had an eye patch over her left eye (which hid the damage it had taken from the last time she was in combat) and had a pixie cut now. But Tana still looked as beautiful as ever, her red hair flowing behind her in a non-existent wind.

The Samurais demorphed as well and went to the three heroes, Kevin giving them a hug. "I haven't seen you guys in almost five months!"

Tana smiled a bit and chuckled. "It's been eventful, I'll tell you that much."

Bekah smiled a bit. "I'm glad you're all okay. But those injuries..." She frowned a bit.

Xander shook his head. "These are small strikes. We can handle them."

Kevin nodded a bit and chuckled slightly before looking at the others. "Guys, these are two of the Mystic Force Rangers, Xander Bly and Alex Cambridge, and the Keeper of Time, Tana."

Alex smiled and nodded. "What's up, y'all?"

Mike and Emily looked at each other eagerly, excited to meet two of their predecessors as the former said, "We have so much to ask you."

"But this isn't a good place for that," Ileana reminded them, using her magic to teleport the whole group to the dojo.

(Emily's POV)

As soon as we were back at the base, we all walked inside and Mentor came out to greet us. "Is everyone alright?"

Kevin nodded a bit. "Yeah, thanks to a little extra help." He stepped back and let Tana and the Mystic Rangers forward.

Xander bowed his head politely. "It's good to meet you, Ji."

"Likewise, Xander, Alex. It's good to see you again as well, Tana. Please, come in." He led them to the meeting room with the rest of us following suit and taking places around the area as he spoke up, "I'm glad you came on Tana's advice, Xander. I'm sure you've heard from the Junior Tribunal about the lengths Mike and Emily are going to practice with their powers."

Alex nodded a bit. "You picked the right Ranger to teach them. Xander's come a long way since our own days as the heroes around the block."

Xander nodded in agreement. "My own teachers taught me a few things about understanding magic and its connection to the elements. If I can help my successor as a Green Ranger, I'm sure teaching him and Emily won't be a problem."

Mike smiled a bit, looking at me. "We've done some good teamwork in the past, but some extra training in the long run is gonna help a lot more than just us trying to wing it."

I nodded a bit and smiled back. "I'm ready to give it all I've got in the training."

Xander nodded and smiled a bit. "Good. Then why don't you two follow me? We'll get started right away."

We stood up and followed after Xander, ready for whatever lessons he had for us.

(No POV)

"That nasty weather sure brightened up my day," Desparaino spoke as he walked onto the Junk, dripping with water as the Sanzu River water healed the cracks on his body. "But boy, were those newbies a real washout for me!"

"Rain, rain, go away!" Octoroo shouted while waving his arms around. "You're getting my book all wet!"

"Sorry. I didn't even know you could read," the rainy Nighlok told him before looking around. "Is Master Xandred resting?"

"Yes, he's in a bad mood!" Dayu reprimanded him. "You might say he's feeling 'under the weather'." She chuckled at her quip.

"Don't make jokes you can't pull off!" He told her before making a spectacle of himself. "I'll go use my rain to make a flood of human wretchedness. That ought to put Master Xandred on cloud nine."

She groaned slightly. "Just go already! All this water's getting my harmonium out of tune!"

"Yes, get to work!" Octoroo agreed with her.

"Right! Enough shooting the breeze!" Desparaino walked off.

Octoroo dusted his hands off. "I have to get back to my research. There's so much to read about the Red Ranger. So many big words too, and then there's Deker! It all makes me wanna tear out my tentacles!"

Dayu walked over and sat with him. "I'd be happy to help you tear out a couple. But why do you care so much about Deker?"

"I think we may have overlooked something important about him, something very important indeed," he responded.

As he spoke, Deker was out at a campsite sitting by a fire and looking at his sword contemplatively. "Patience, Uramasa. At last we have found him. All that remains is to find the right place and time, and then the most epic duel in history will be ours." He shifted into his Nighlok form as he sheathed his blade.

Back with Mike and Emily, they were being led by Xander through the forest with Mike asking, "Where are we going?"

Xander smiled a bit. "Someplace where we can discuss your inherited Symbol Powers, mate."

"But we already know our symbols are the forest and the earth. Why do we need to discuss them?" Emily pondered.

Xander stopped and turned to look at them. "It's important to understand the true meaning of your powers. Once you do that, you'll find it within yourselves as well."

Emily thought over his words, remembering the sensations she had felt from Bekah's moves through the ground while blindfolded. "Of course. It's like Bekah said: We can't rely on our Symbol Powers alone. We need to trust in ourselves too."

Xander nodded a bit. "And in doing so, you'll give your powers even more power than before. Magic works the same way. The more belief you have in it, the more powerful it gets." He motioned to a tree within a clearing he had made prior to the meetup. "Look inside yourselves and connect to your elements in a way you never would have thought possible. Find what the forest and the earth mean to you respectfully."

The two Samurais nodded to each other and closed their eyes, looking deep in their hearts as they embraced the peace and tranquility of their surroundings, feeling a sudden spark of... something miraculous, even... magical... awakening from within them.

Xander smiled a bit as he watched them awaken their magic. "Sometimes your mentor has a way of needing you both to understand where he's coming from, and sometimes there's always a chance for a little extra help."

Emily smiled and nodded, Mike following her lead as the boys fist bumped before Emily's Samuraizer went off as she flicked it open. "Yeah?"

"Desparaino's back. We could use some help." Bekah alerted them.

"We're on our way," Mike responded, looking at Xander. "Got any tricks up your sleeve to get us to the others quicker?"

The Green Mystic nodded in response. "The first thing I was taught by our White Ranger is that the trees are our passage." He led them to a nearby tree and passed through easily, Mike and Emily making the jump afterwards.

"Hydro Bow!" Kevin fired a shot at Desparaino, who deftly dodged by hovering in midair and taunted, "Back for another dose of delightful despair, I see!"

Tana looked up at Desparaino and rolled her eyes slightly. "Just like every monster of the week, always gotta have a gimmick." She fired off some of her time blasts at him, but he easily dodged them, making her look at the others. "Though this one's a little more tricky than most."

Bekah nodded. "Kinda his thing, unfortunately."

Desparaino aimed at the heroes and fired a few blasts, forcing the others to dodge out of the way and take defensive stances.

Kevin pulled out the Swordfish Disc again, getting an idea. "Wait a minute! What if our weapons can gain alternate modes too? Like with the Cannon Blast Mode!"

Alex looked at him. "Ya ain't gonna know if you don't try!"

Kevin nodded and locked the Disc on his Hydro Bow, watching it as it changed forms, dropping a trigger handle from the front end and growing a blade as well. "Alright! Oceanic Crossbow!" He held his new crossbow up and fired at Desparaino.

"Whoa!" The Nighlok narrowly dodged the new attacks. "That's not a good sign!"

Kevin smirked slightly as he kept shooting at Desparaino, his senses instantly picking up on the incoming teammates. "This should distract him for long enough!"

"Long enough for what?" Desparaino asked him, but he got attacked by multiple vines and boulders from out of nowhere, or at least from Xander, Mike, and Emily, the latter two using their newly born magic to help their predecessor.

"Nice timing, guys!" Tana gave them a thumbs up.

Mia ran over and smiled. "I can't believe it! You two unlocked new powers!"

Emily chuckled slightly. "Not really. All it takes is understanding the power within us, and a little belief in magic."

Alex smiled at her fellow Mystic Ranger, grateful that he'd taught them well.

"Oh, goodie!" Desparaino's voice cut through their moment as he celebrated, "More deliciously delightful despair to cause!"

"You are way too fixated on that, dude." Mike said in annoyance before looking at the rest of the heroes. "Let's power up!"

Jayden led the charge as the Samurais shouted, "Go Go Samurai!"

Xander and Alex were up afterwards. "Magical Source, Mystic Force!"

The Junior Tribunal followed the call as well. "Magical Source, Trinity of Force!"

Tana spun her staff around and called on her armor, the group transforming in the blink of an eye.

Desparaino fired at them, but Kevin was the first to block the attack with his water magic as he looked at the other three who hadn't unlocked their magic yet. "Guys! You have magic! Just look inside yourselves and call on your belief in it!"

Bekah looked at Jayden and Mia before they all focused long and hard, Jayden being the first to react as he slashed back a fresh blast with flames wrapping around his Spin Sword, and not even from his Lion Disc.

Bekah smiled. "Nice one, Jay! My turn!" She summoned up some beams of moonlight and used them in tandem with Alex's shadows to strike Desparaino and knock him off balance.

Mia followed up by summoning a tornado for Mike and Emily. "Going up!"

The remaining two Samurais jumped up and balanced in midair as they faced Desparaino, Emily speaking, "Time for us to change the weather!"

They spun their Discs and delivered slashes like their respective symbols, sending the Nighlok flying and making him explode as they landed safely on the ground.

Mike rested his sword on his shoulder and fist bumped Emily. "Nice."

Emily laughed slightly in agreement.

Bekah frowned slightly as she sensed the second life. "Guys, hold off on celebrating! This Nighlok's about to go big!"

And go big he did; Desparaino's second life appeared. "This is just the calm before the real storm!"

Alex looked at the Samurais. "Y'all handle this drippy loser. We'll evacuate the premises." She led her team off.

Without hesitation, the Samurai Rangers summoned their Zords and formed the Megazord.

"I'd be impressed if that was going to do you any good!" Desparaino said, opening his umbrella and taking to the skies.

Bekah looked up at him. "Lucky not all of us need to be attached to the Megazord to do damage to you. Owl Zord, disengage!" She piloted her Zord up and hovered in front of him. "How now, brown cow?"

"Ha! Still not enough to dodge my tricks!" He fired at her, making her dodge swiftly and counter with her own aerial feather strikes.

Down below, the others watched nervously, Mike frowning slightly. "Oh man. I hate to agree with that Nighlok, but it's still not gonna be enough!"

Jayden nodded. "You're right. We need to up the ante! It's risky, but we have to try the Samurai Battlewing combination." He pulled out the Beetle Disc and loaded it in. "Beetle Zord!"

Kevin followed up by summoning the Swordfish Zord, and Mike with the Tiger Zord, all three boys teleporting into each cockpit.

"Let's do this." Jayden told the two, drawing the combination symbol. "Zords, combine! Samurai Battlewing!"

The three auxiliary Zords formed into a crane like Zord as the boys spoke in unison: "Samurai Battlewing: We are united!"

Mike noticed he was in the center and looked around. "Wait, what?"

Jayden smiled as he looked at Mike. "You earned it today, Mike. Don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise."

Kevin nodded in agreement. "It's not easy controlling magic, trust me. But you have a good handle on your symbol power and your innate magic."

Mike smiled a bit at the compliments. "Thanks, guys. Now let's put this new Zord formation to good use!" He led the boys in flying the Battlewing.

"You'd be wise to fly away from here, birdbrain! You can't weather this storm!" Desparaino fired at the Battlewing as it flew forward with Bekah's Zord, but together the Zords deftly dodged the attack.

"Hit it!" Mike said, pushing his controls forward.

The Battlewing flew forth and struck the Nighlok with a wing strike.

"That's right! There's a new storm coming in! And it's gonna blow you away!" Mike said confidently.

"You fools are becoming tiresome! I'll defeat you in the air, and after that-" Desparaino was cut off by Bekah's feather shots as she passed by.

"You're becoming the tiring one." Bekah responded coolly before she turned to the Megazord. "Mia, Emily! Let's give him a blast he'll never forget!"

Mia nodded in agreement. "Roger. You ready, Emily?"

"Yeah, let's do it!" Emily agreed with her.

Bekah's Zord folded up and landed on the Megazord's head as the ladies shouted, "Girl power!" They blasted Desparaino, taking out his umbrella keeping him up and sending him falling towards the ground.

Then the boys activated their Mega Blades, readying the finisher: "Samurai Battlewing: Charging Slash, final strike!" The Battlewing shot out three Discs like its component Discs and shot through them, striking Desparaino and destroying him.

Bekah smiled and gave the boys a thumbs up from her cockpit. "Great job, guys!"

Down below, Alex watched the others defeat Desparaino as she looked at Xander. "Think the world's in good hands with them?"

The Green Mystic nodded a bit. "Absolutely."

(Bekah's POV)

After the battle, Kevin and I were outside talking with the others as I asked sadly, "Are you guys sure you have to leave?"

Spencer smiled a bit. "Hey, someone's gotta help Tana watch over the timelines."

Xander nodded a bit. "And Briarwood will need us back soon enough."

Alex smiled and took our hands. "Just remember, you two: We're always just a call away if you need anything."

Kevin and I shared a chuckle before we gave each of the group a hug, waving goodbye to them as they jumped through a portal and disappeared.

Kevin smiled as he looked at me. "I sure hope it's not another five years before we see them again."

I giggled slightly. "Knowing them, it'll be more like five days in their times."

We shared another laugh before heading inside to join the rest, seeing the team showing Ji their new abilities.

"This is quite extraordinary," he mused out of intrigue. "I highly doubt any of your predecessors would have been open to using magic with their Symbol Powers."

Mike shrugged and let his vine disappear. "Hey, magic or not, each Ranger is different in their own ways."

Mia nodded a bit. "Some of us just need a little help to connect."

Jayden folowed her thoughts, "and some of us need tutoring from the best."

I smiled and nodded a bit. "Couldn't have said it better myself, guys." I joined the others with Kevin as Mike showed us how he was taking care of the new plant with a little magic.

And scene! I know it felt a little cliche to give everyone magic, but it works in tandem with their Symbol Powers as those with elemental abilities would. Next time though, it's gonna get pretty heavy for our two Samurai leaders as secrests are exposed and Bekah's loyalty will be tested. What will happen? Stay tuned!