Chapter 11 - Revelations

Sanzu River

shootari poured over several scrolls. He was trying to figure out a way to not only speed up the process of overflowing the waters of the River but also allowing Doukoku to break free into the human world. And what it has to do with the Lord Shiba. He knew there had to be some sort of connection but he couldn't find anything related to it. "Maybe I should just kill him," he muttered quietly. Doukoku had been restless lately, getting up at odd hours to throw tantrums. Lack of progress raising the waters made him irritable, as well as the increasing power ravaging his body.

shootari wasn't sure but he suspected if Doukoku wasn't allowed into the human world, he might destroy the Sanzu River. There were things he did not know and should.

"Do it. Kill him," Dayuu said as she strummed her shamisen. "If you think you can," she taunted with a smirk.

"Quiet, woman. No one asked you," shootari grumbled. He stood and paced for a while stroking his tentacles. He wondered if killing the Shiba Lord would cause more harm than good. At the moment, however, things couldn't possibly get much worse. "I know just who to send," he declared.

Dayuu snorted and shook her head. She couldn't wait to see how this turned out.

~*~

Dr. Billie Davis-Doyle was studying the schematics of the three extra Origami Zords. One had been designed by herself, the other two by researchers who stole her data. It the basis of them all was her work. So maybe, with the right coding, just maybe--

A beep snapped her out of her reverie. "Enter," she said even as she set up a virtual simulation and wrote up some coding. She didn't even bother to look up at her came in, gawking openly. "Have you ever heard of a martial art called Iaido?" she asked, frowning slightly as she considered the next set of commands.

"No."

She nodded slightly. She finished inputting the code and executed it. She faced her guest while she waited for the computers to process it. "Well, you are about to learn it and I am about to open up a world to you that you've never experienced before," she said.

~*~

Juzou sat high on a hill overlooking the Watanabe-Stapleton land. He was well off the land so the wards had no effect on him. Saeko appeared beside him. "Uncle. Why did you come to this place?" she asked. She didn't mean this particular spot, merely this place.

Juzou gripped his sword. "My blade hungers for battle yet battle against the weak is no battle at all. Once, there was a young man whose blade could have satisfied the hunger. I followed him to this place, but eventually, I wandered elsewhere in my search. I returned to this place to see if he was ready. He was an old man by then. An old man and a small boy where not the ones who could appease my blade," he explained. "And for a time, my blade went quiet, almost...twenty years now, it was silent, blessedly silent," he said and closed his eyes.

His eyes popped open again. "Yet it has awakened again, more insatiable than ever. When we traveled here, I found out why. That small boy...may finally be the match that can silence the
hunger forever," he said thoughtfully.

Saeko nodded and peered over the land. It was pretty and peaceful. She always knew Uncle hunted for the one who could give him the best fight. She always wanted to follow that lead. "What about the creatures?" she asked him.

Juzou got to his feet. "Perhaps I also felt that the connection to the Sanzu River was switched here. It happens to those who have tasted its waters," he said in a faraway sort of look.

Saeko nodded slightly. She didn't know very much about that. Uncle was usually quiet when it came to that subject. As well as what it meant to 'taste the waters' of the Sanzu River. She wasn't sure she wanted to know. Her loyalty to Uncle was unflagging, even if he had secrets he would not share with her. Besides, she wanted to follow in his footsteps and defeat the best rival for her.

A small smile tugged her lips. The question was what she would do with him once she defeated him. Or he defeated her, whichever happened. He was very good, after all. Her eyes popped open when Uncle cleared his throat. He was giving a stern dark-eyed look. "Yes, Uncle?" she asked, wondering what she'd done to earn such a look.

He shook his head. "It'll be dawn soon. We should go get breakfast," he said and began walking away.

Saeko nodded in confusion but followed behind him.

~*~

Yawning widely, Tai Stapleton shuffled into his study with a large mug of coffee. He sat down heavily in his chair and took a large drink, and grimaced when it burnt his tongue. He clunked it down. It wasn't even dawn yet, but he found himself unable to even sleep. He slid out of bed without waking Lani and threw on a robe and made his way down to find Stagehands prepping for the day. Luckily, Stagehands drank coffee as well.

Sometimes it still amazed him how quickly he got used to having them around. He would miss them when he shipped them back to Japan when all this business was done. He jumped when Billie appeared on one of his monitors. "Jesus. I thought Nath made sure you were home in bed at night," he grumbled tiredly.

Billie smiled slightly. "Nath went to LA for a seminar. I'm allowed to stay up as long as I need to and drink as much coffee as humanly possible," she said. "Don't worry, I made sure you were alone in your office before I patched in. There are things I just don't want to see. I just want you to deliver the three new discs to my lab. I think I can code them to combine with each other to form a flying Zord. But I need access to them raw," she explained.

Tai listened while he nursed his coffee. "That could be helpful. I'll send Daiki and Kane," he said finally.

Billie nodded. "Daiki would be good. Maybe he could help me come up with an activation key for them to combine with the Megazord," she said absently.

Tai nodded. "I'll send them in a couple of hours. I advise you to take that time to take a nap," he told her in a stern way. Almost automatically he was once again leader of the team and telling her to get some sleep.

Billie was obviously too tired to even argue. She just nodded and the monitor went dead.

Tai sighed and drank down the rest of his coffee and wandered back into the kitchen to get some more. It would still be a couple of hours before anyone else besides Grandpa and Hikomi-san were up and about. He'd get some work done.

~*~

Tai walked along the streets of Angel Grove with Lani at his side. They were catching a matinee. With Daiki and Kane at Nodroz and Kiari sight-seeing with Rena, they actually had a chance to be alone. He was rather glad Rena had taken Kii under her wing. Nothing but good could come out of that relationship.

The movie was secondary to just enjoying being alone together without a houseful of people or Ranger business getting in the way.

If the movie had a plot, awful acting or even great effects, Tai couldn't say when they exited the theater. He held Lani's hand and frowned at the drizzly overcast weather. It wasn't bad, just a little wet. "Well, where to next?" he asked her.

Lani smiled up at him. "Wherever is fine with me. Somewhere with some food," she declared.

Tai chuckled. "How does a Youth Center hamburger sound?" he asked with a grin.

"Mm, that actually sounds quite tasty," she declared and rubbed her hands together in anticipation.

They made their along the streets. They were passing the park when shouts went up. They turned instinctively. There were Nanashi in the park, harassing people. That was unusual, Nanashi rarely acted alone without an Ayakashi directing them.

He and Lani shared a look. He flipped out his Morpher in Phone-mode. He contacted everyone. "Nanashi in the park. An Ayakashi won't be far away," he said quickly. He flipped his Morpher into Pen-mode. "Samurai Sword Clash!" he called.

He and Lani wrote their Characters in the air and pressed the red buttons. The symbols flipped around and enveloped them, forming morph suits, helmets and swords.

~*~

Kiari closed up her Morpher and glanced to where Rena was sorting through a rack of skirts. "Please. I need to go somewhere right now. Watch my bags?" she asked and set the couple of shopping bags she had down.

"Uh, su--" Rena didn't even get to form the word before Kiari was dashing out of the store. She ducked out of the mall and found a not so busy area. "Samurai Sword Clash!" She flipped her Morpher out in Pen-mode and drew her character in the air. She pressed the red button. The character flipped around and enveloped her forming her morph suit, helmet and sword.

~*~

Kane was bored out of skull; this was too much like being stuck at Ninja Ops with Cam than he cared to admit. Luckily he anticipated the boredom and brought along a hand held gaming device and was busily fighting virtual monsters rather than real ones. He was never so glad to get a duty call as he was at that moment.

Billie nodded to them. "Go. If it's necessary I'll return the Discs without completing their new coding," she stated.

Daiki nodded. They got to their feet and flipped their Morphers out in Pen-mode. "Samurai Sword Clash!" They wrote their Characters in the air and pressed the red buttons. The symbols flipped around and enveloped them, forming morph suits, helmets and swords.

~*~

Samurais Red and Pink were already diving into the fray, clashing swords with Nanashi when the others arrived.

An Ayakashi seeped out of the cracks. He laughed. "I knew I could lure you out, Red Ranger. So predictable. Nanashi! Don't let the others interfere!" he said. More Nanashi popped out of gaps and cracks to converge on the other Rangers. The ones fighting Samurai Red backed off.

He spun toward the Ayakashi. He prepared a stance and looked at the Ayakashi warily. "Oh? You were luring me out?" he asked suspiciously.

Ushirobushi bowed to his adversary. "I have come to kill you, Lord Shiba," he announced and drew his drew his wicked looking blade.

Samurai Red nodded. "Thanks for the warning," he said and used his free hand to gesture him forward. Ushi charged forward and steel rang as blade met blade.

The Nanashi were every bit as determined as their master for blood. They outnumbered the Rangers and kept coming at them, each not giving any of them time to use Elemental attacks.

Pink was cornered and doing her best to get out from under all the Nanashi. Luckily she was quick and agile, able to keep from getting surrounded and unable to move.

Green was pinned down, unable to help any of the others or get help himself. Unable to get the opportunity to use his Disc, he thrust forward and as his foot came down, a large furrow opened up in the ground, causing many of the Nanashi to loose balance and fall, giving him a moment of breathing room.

It was not enough to form the attack. He rolled away as a Nanashi jumped at him from behind.

Yellow was small and every bit as agile as the monkey of her Origami but the Nanashi kept coming every time she turned around.

Blue seemed to have attracted the attention of many of them. His movements were fluid, but dodging and ducking and blocking were taking up to much of his energy. A shadow passed overhead and a flash of black and white landed in the group of Nanashi. A blur of white, black and flashing steel created a path to him. He threw up his sword just in time to meet the blade that pointed at his throat. He found himself looking at the girl, Saeko.

"You are my opponent and no Nanashi is going to get the pleasure of defeating you before I can," she declared. She took her blade back and turned as Nanashi converged on him again.

Taking that to mean for the moment she had his back, he reached to his belt and slipped his Hidden Disc onto his Sword and sent it spinning.

Red was pretty engrossed in his fight with Ushi, who was a lot quicker and stronger than he feared. He slashed forward and Ushi countered with his own sword. His sword has a mouth that clamped onto the Hidden Sword. Ushi jerked, pulling Red's sword from his hands and sent it flying.

Ushi laughed and the large eye-like bladed antlers growing out his head began to glow. "Hungry Sword Two Stage Clash!" Dark energy shot from the eyes and he slashed his sword several times, sending even more disruptive energies toward Samurai Red.

The attack hit him dead-on and sent him flying, landing several feet away.

"Tai!" Samurai Pink screamed.

"Dancing Whirlpools of Disaster!" Blue unleashed his attack, sending blue water spinning out in several directions, forming dancing tornados of water that scooped up various Nanashi, giving his teammates a bit of relief.

Ushi jumped forward and brandished his sword.

Red groaned and clutched his chest.

"So, you can still move? Strong, eh? Well, no matter. This ends now," he said and slid his hand along the edge of the Hungry Sword.

Pink and Green rushed forward just as Ushi unleashed his attack once more.

Just barely on his knees, Red was not able to help them as they took the attack. The force of the attack was enough to phase out their morph and put them down.

"Bastard," he wheezed painfully. "Lani?" he said and checked on her, her eyes were open but there was a pained on expression on her face. "Kane?" His younger cousin was moaning piteously but seemed in one piece.

Ushi strode forward. Red moved in front of them as if to shield them from another attack.

Blue and Yellow shared a quick look. Discs were slid onto Swords and spun. Simple, quick release energy attacks and Saeko's help took care of the rest of the Nanashi. They raced to stand between Red and Ushi.

Ushi barked a laugh. "Then you will all die!" he said and slashed forward. Someone else got in his way. Juzou's sword stopped Ushi and lashed out. He slashed Yellow and Blue and sent them falling back with morphs failing.

Saeko rushed forward. "Uncle!" she scolded and went to Daiki.

"Samurai Red is my opponent. I will not allow you or any other agent of Doukoku to kill him before I can," he said to Ushi. Not looking away from the Ayakashi he didn't look at Saeko. "I just knocked him out of the way. This doesn't concern him," he said to Saeko. He slashed backward toward Samurai Red. Red took up the nearest Sword just in time to block it.

Shaking himself mentally, he got to his feet wondering just who the hell this dude was.

Juzou assumed his other form just as Ushi had enough of his talk and slashed at him.

Saeko frowned.

"Uncle?" Daiki asked as he got his knees.

Saeko scowled at him. She pushed him, toppling him over forward and walked off. "Get better soon!" she snapped over her shoulder and stormed off in a pique.

Red picked up another sword as the two couldn't figure out whether to attack each other or him. He figured it best just then to be wary of anything. Luckily he was ambidextrous enough to know how to handle a sword with either hand. Both of them were quick and strong. And they all circled each other warily. Finally, Ushi stepped back. "You're lucky I'm out of water," he said. "Doukoku will hear of this, Juzou," he spat and slipped into a crack in the sidewalk.

Far from being relieved, Red went instantly on guard against this other Gedoushu. Juzou stepped back. "Remember well, you are my opponent and my blade will taste your flesh," he warned and turned, assuming his human form again. "Heal up, Samurai Red," he said and jumped away, heading in the direction his niece went.

Unable to help it anymore, Red slumped forward with a muffled groan and lost his morph. The attack was killer. He noticed now that Lani and Kane were mobile again. He only managed to withstand it that long because he'd summoned his strength to protect him. Neither of them had such an asset.

"You guys all right?" he asked them.

Kane snorted. "If you'd ever been taken down with a wind ninja's wall of air, you wouldn't ask that," he declared and rubbed his chest. Though technically human, his mother was still a Space Ninja, and not exactly ordinary and half his genes were hers.

Lani nodded. "I'll survive," she assured him.

Tai rounded on Daiki and Kiari. "You two?"

Kiari nodded. "The suit mostly protected us," she assured him.

Daiki nodded, confirming that. Tai, however, was not done with him. "Be in my study immediately," he ordered with a rare, dark expression on his face.

Daiki's eyes widened and he bowed several time. "Yes, Lord-sama," he agreed.

Still staring daggers at Daiki, Tai teleported, the others did the same.

~*~

Tai stared across his desk at Daiki. He was sure he had some cracked ribs since he got the full force of the Ayakashi's attack and it wasn't split between two people. "Trust works two ways, you know. I thought I was beginning to earn yours," he said quietly.

"Oh, no! I do--"

Tai held up a hand. "On some level you don't. You protect me because I am your Lord. I need you to trust me because I am your leader and your teammate," he said quietly. "That girl. You know her."

Daiki understood that Tai was not asking. He nodded. "I have noticed her several times. I was not aware she knew who I was until she...helped me catch Swordfish," he explained.

Tai sat back and grimaced in pain at the movement. "Helped you?" he asked.

Daiki nodded. "Fishing technique," he said sheepishly. At the quiet stare he got in response, he completed the story. "I met her after we defeated that Ayakashi when she informed me she was my enemy," he told him. "I hadn't seen her since. Then today she helped turn the tide against the Nanashi company," he added.

Like this Juzou guy. He was definitely Gedoushu. "Do you think she is Gedoushu?" he asked finally.

Daiki shook his head. "I don't. To fight at his best, the other one assumes a different form. Saeko fought at her best without doing so," he answered honestly.

Tai cocked a brow. "Saeko?"

Daiki cleared his throat. "Her name," he admitted. He was quiet a moment. "I did not intend to keep these things from you but I did not know how to speak of them. I am...not so good at sharing," he finally said.

Tai nodded again. "Go heal up. That Ayakashi will be back when his water is replenished," he said.

Daiki nodded. He got to his feet and walked out.

Tai sighed and grimaced again. The scariest thing of all was that he absolutely understood what this was all about. There was brief time five years ago when he was the Red Tyrannosaurus Ranger that he'd been turned evil.

Widow and Zita had used Rita Repulsa's Sword of Darkness to turn Billie. That was both a brilliant idea and a very bad mistake. Billie was twice as smart as the evil ones in the Moon Palace. She went along with their plan to turn him, Winter Baker, Autumn Baker, Sora van Zandt, Charlie Sanchez, and Nathan Doyle evil. In the meantime, Mina, as she went by in her evil phase, was making her own plans for world domination.

Tai had been her trusted general, but his main concern at the time had been taking down Rex, the one person in the world he knew would give him the kind of fight he'd been craving. As it turned out, taking down Rex would have been the key to Mina-rules-the-world. Luckily Nathan managed to avoid being totally ensnared and freed everyone, including Billie from the influence of the sword.

Still, Tai understood that need that Juzou had. "Great. Now I have to factor that into things," he muttered. Standing, he decided to let Grandpa wrap his ribs.

~*~

It was not often Hikomi-san sought Tai out for a private word, but Tai lowered himself painfully to the floor in the Hikomi took over as his own sitting room/office. "You wished a word Hikomi-san?" he asked politely and gave a bow.

Hikomi-san nodded. "<I have been researching the Shiba ancestry and history. There is a very little known tale that I have uncovered. Its source, surprisingly, was Kii-chan's mother," he explained. "It just proves, you see, that the Lord Shiba doesn't always confide in his most trusted retainer as much as his own family," he said with a slight scowl. "She sent me an old scroll, which I had no idea even existed. In this scroll it tells of a Seal. A Seal that holds back the waters of the Sanzu River>."

He paused to gather his thoughts. "<The Scroll was written by a retainer of a past Lord. It says that the Seal killed the Lord but the Waters had been sealed away. The retainer worried that the Seal hadn't been completed because of incoherent things the Lord mumbled as his strength waned.>" he explained. "I am sorry, Tono-sama. I will try and research this Seal, but this is the first in all my years of service to Lord Shiba that I have heard such a thing>," he said apologetically.

Tai nodded. "You do that. If you need any help, let me know," he said. He got to his feet. "If there is a Seal that can take care of the Sanzu River and the Gedoushu, I definitely want to know about it," he added.

Hikomi-san bowed slightly. "I will keep working on it," he assured,

"Talk about it with Grandpa. He may even know something of what my grandmother knew," Tai pointed out as he left the room, things on his mind.

~*~

Sanzu River

Doukoku roared at shootari and Ushi. "You did what! He did WHAT?" he demanded and his anger nearly shook the ship.

"Doukoku," Dayuu said soothingly, "Have some Essence. Allow Ushi to carry on. It may solve all our problems," she declared evenly.

Doukoku poured himself some more Essence. He awakened from his nap for this headache. Slugging back the drink he sneered at Ushi. "If you don't kill him, pray he kills you," he said darkly.

Ushi bowed. "He will die. Then I'll kill that dog Juzou," he added in a snarl. He backed toward the open hatch and jumped out.

~*~

Tai stood in Angel Grove St. Anne's Cemetery looking down at the joint grave of Gavin James Stapleton, Aiko Watanabe Stapleton and Lena Mary Stapleton. He had the sudden urge to come visit. He brought flowers. Calla Lilies for Mama and Lena. Dad got daisies. From what he remembered and what Grandpa told him, he hadn't been a fancy sort of man. He had tag-alongs. Daiki and Kiari wanted to honor the parents of their Lord, Lani was there for him, and whatever reason Kane had, he didn't share.

They were just walking out of the fenced area when Nanashi appeared. "Oh, hell. Time to clash again." he muttered and summoned his sword. His ribs were still sore as hell, but the others weren't in any better shape than he was.

They, too, summoned their Swords. Nanashi didn't give them a chance to morph. They worked their way through them. Tai knew that the Ayakashi wouldn't be far behind.

He was right. Ushi appeared and laughed. "Miss me, Red Ranger?" he taunted.

"Samurai Sword Clash!" He called, and jumped, bouncing off the head of a Nanashi. He drew his Character mid-air and activated it as his fell forward, slashing down at Ushi.

Lani and Kiari swung around and cleared a path for each other. They flipped out their Morphers in Pen-Mode and drew their Characters and activated their Morphs.

Kane and Daiki stood back to and circled around watching for Nanashi. Forceful spins broke them free and they took the opportunity to flip their Morphers out in Pen-mode and draw their Characters. They activated them and spun back to finish off the rest of the Nanashi.

Red's blade met Ushi's in a flash of sparks. Ushi stumbled back while Red landed in an easy crouch.

Ushi snorted as the other four Rangers flanked Red. "Ha! Time to end you all!" he said as his extra eyes began to glow.

"His energy attack has two parts, the shockwave then the slashes. Parry those and we should get through it," Red instructed quickly even as he took a Disc from his belt to slide onto his Sword.

"Hungry Sword Two Stage Clash!" Dark energy shot from the eyes and he slashed his sword several times, sending even more disruptive energies toward the Rangers.

Pink and Yellow jumped forward to parry the dark energy waves with their swords, grunting with the force and effort. They spun away and Blue and Green jumped forth to parry the thudding, crushing slashes before being spun away.

"Giant Flaming Blade! Bazooka Mode!" The Giant Blade turned into a cannon. He placed the red Disc on it. The others placed theirs as well. "Five Disc Shot!" He fired at Ushi. The five Discs exploded out and crashed into Ushi. He fell backwards in an explosion.

From the flames of his own demise, Ushi grew into his second life. "How dare you force me into this form!" he shouted.

The Rangers flipped out their Origami Zords and Morphers in Pen-mode and drew the Large character above them. They grew to full-size and their pilots appeared inside them. Red immediately drew the Unite Character and formed the Origami Megazord.

Ushi laughed. "How pathetic! Flying Nanashi!" he summoned. Out from the spaced between trees came flying Nanashi.

"Holy shoot! When did those things learn to fly?" Green exclaimed.

Armed with strangely shaped staffs, the Flying Nanashi fired laser beams at the Megazord. Taking advantage of the Megazord taking hits from the sky, Ushi strode forward to slash at it.

"We're caught between them!" Yellow exclaimed.

"Now would be a good time, Billie," Pink muttered.

"I know," came the disembodied voice of the one summoned. The three Discs appeared before each male. "Activation code, Thunderbird. Combination Character, Super," she announced. "Sorry for the delay.

Pink shook her head. "That girl has skills." she declared.

Ushi laughed. "What's wrong, little Rangers?"

Red, Blue and Green slid the Tiger, Swordfish and Beetle Discs onto their Swords and spun them. "Thunderbird!" They said at once.

Beetle, Swordfish and Tiger Origami Zords appeared out of the Megazord. They immediately began to combine together to form a rather large bird looking thing. It blasted Ushi and the Flying Nanashi with a large white laser.

"Billie's topped herself this time. All right people, Super," Red said and flipped his Morpher out in Pen-mode. The others followed suit and each drew the Super Characters and activated them.

The Thunderbird Zord broke apart and began combining with the Origami Megazord. "Super Origami Megazord! United Under Providence!"

The Megazord took to the air and sped forward.

"Dude, flying Megazord. The end," Green declared, very impressed.

"Very cool!" Yellow agreed readily.

Ushi stumbled back in surprise. "Flying Nanashi!" His minions darted forward shooting laser beams. The Megazord dodged and deflected. Using the Megasword, they tore through the Flying Nanashi and landed before Ushi.

"You're all alone now," Red declared, a smirk in his voice.

"I will not give up so easily!" Ushi cried and slashed forward. They traded parries and thrusts. Finally, they took to the air again.

"Let us end it," Blue suggested seriously.

Red nodded. They drew their swords and spun their Discs. "Thunderstrike Splitting," the Megasword and the three Origami Zords powered up and the Megazord dove forward, "Slash!" The Megasword slashed Ushi with full power.

Ushi fell backwards, crackling. "At least I don't have to face Doukoku!" was his parting words as he exploded.

The Megazord turned away. "And that brings this chapter to a close," Red declared, slinging his Sword over his shoulder.

"And what a tough one it was, Oh Tono-sama!" Green declared and got clunked on back of the head for it.

~*~

Tai groaned as he lowered himself into his bed that night. His ribs still hurt like hell. Lani grinned and snuggled beside him. Carefully. "Why aren't your ribs all busted up?" he grumbled.

"Kane got in front of me. He reminds me of someone," she said musingly.

Tai snorted. He reached over and stroked her hair lightly. "This episode wasn't all that encouraging, despite Billie pulling off some sort of miracle," he said quietly.

Lani looked at him. "You mean that thing with that Juzou guy or the thing about this mysterious Seal?" she asked.

"Both," Tai admitted. He put his other hand behind his head and stared at the ceiling. "Both," he said again. Lani sighed kissed his cheek but knew it was best just then not say anything at all.

~*End Act 11*~           

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