Chapter 21 - Stuck

Lani walked with Tai to the cherry trees that were the unofficial gateway to the Stapleton/Watanabe land. Unofficial because they were on the back end of their land away from the city. Story had it, when Grandpa and Grandma first came here, the each planted one seed. Now the branches entwined. They were also a somewhat powerful little energy vortex. That was why Grandpa had originally tied the wards around them.

A few years ago, however, three sisters, Zita, Rei and Moriko Repulsa, had magically amplified the energies for them and created new wards. Now, no evil or any who intended harm was allowed to enter except blood. Only blood could enter or allow entrance if there was evil in their hearts. Not Tai's blood either. Grandpa's blood. Watanabe blood. That's how Kane was able to bring Dayuu within the boundaries. Tai was rather grateful that they had not used his. He wasn't sure if his Shiba ancestry would allow Juzou access.

Yet the other day the girl Saeko came onto his land without ever realizing. That perplexed him. He agreed with Daiki that it meant she intended them no harm, or was no threat. However, there was something troubling him about the whole thing.

Lani rubbed his back gently. She knew almost all his worries but he was keeping quiet on this one. It was almost as if he were afraid to give voice to whatever it was he was thinking. She'd even consulted Rex. Apparently the subject was taboo even for him. If he tried to ask question, the subject was immediately deflected.

She wished she knew how to get him to open up but there were facets of the man even she couldn't penetrate. That made her a little a sad. It was something she didn't usually think about since she was so rarely confronted with something he wouldn't share. He was so open about everything else, that the closed issues were vexing.

That didn't mean she loved or trusted any less. That merely meant he vexed her.

There was one perk to those moods. When he was tired of chasing his thoughts around in his head, he liked to lose himself in her. She couldn't find it in her to complain about that one little bit.

Tai suddenly stopped. Standing under the cherry trees was Grandpa talking with a pretty young Asian woman with dark hair pulled into long curly pigtails. She laughed at something Grandpa said and kissed the top of his head. The old man actually turned red. "Grandpa, you do know there's a big creepy alien prowling around out there watching over Zita, don't you?" Tai remarked.

Zita Repulsa made a scoffing noise. "Titus wouldn't get jealous over me giving Grandpa a little smooch," she stated, her dark eyes dancing merrily.

Grandpa harrumphed. "<I'm not scared of that one, creepy alien or not,>" he stated and crossed his arms over his chest.

"Why is Titus prowling around out there?" Lani questioned.

"He likes to think he's just dark enough that he wouldn't be allowed in. He refuses to put his theory to the test so he's guarding me out there. So, try not to step on any scorpions," Zita explained. "Not that I'm not always happy to see you and visit Grandpa," she shot the old man another smile, "but why were we summoned?" she asked, speaking for her sisters now as well.

"<My Grandson wishes to know if the protections are still strong,>" Grandpa explained.

"There have been a few breaches lately. Kane let in an evil being a few months back. Recently, someone came onto the property that we wouldn't have expected," Tai added. He was scanning the ground beyond the trees while speaking. Lani wondered what he was up to.

Zita tapped her lip thoughtfully. "Kane shares the same blood as Grandpa, so that explains that. Who was this other person that has you worried?" she asked curiously.

"It would be pointless to ask if you knew what was going on, wouldn't it." Lani asked with a slight smile.

Zita effected an innocent expression she couldn't quite pull off. "You mean the whole Shiba Lord preventing the world from being swallowed by the Waters of the Sanzu River thing?" she grinned. "One hears things in our profession," she added and waved a dismissive hand.

"There is a girl. She was raised by one of these Gedoushu. She has declared Daiki as her adversary. Yet, she has interfered several times to save his bacon. She seemed to have been as surprised as anyone that she was able to come onto the property. Her intention was to tell him that Dayuu was on the run for some reason," Lani explained. She thought it was quite simple herself. Plain and simply the girl were not evil. She was merely misguided from being raised by that nutcase Juzou.

Zita nodded and clapped her hands together and rubbed them. Her thinking seemed to be the same as Lani's. However, she came all this way, so she may as well check the wards she and her sisters placed. She stood between the cherry trees and closed her eyes, letting her senses expand, feeling out the natural energies and their magic.

Power fairly crackled in the air even though it appeared she was just standing there. She opened her eyes. "Everything seems to be working fine. I could feel the touch of the creature you mentioned, but otherwise no other evil has tried to penetrate," she explained.

Tai gave a slight smile. Lani realized that that was not exactly the answer he was hoping for. Grandpa seemed to realize that as well and gave his Grandson a sly, penetrating glance. "Thanks for coming. Come on to the house. You can meet the rest of the team and have lunch with us," he said and whipped out his Morpher in Pen-mode as he spoke. He drew a Character in the air and a jar dropped into his hand. He gave her a slight wink then pounced, bringing the jar down over a golden scorpion on the other side of the trees.

"Hey!" Zita gasped but she was trying not to laugh.

Tai scooped the scorpion inside and tipped the jar upright. The scorpion changed shape to a tiny man with dark hair and blue eyes. He was glowering at Tai. "You can come, too, Titus. We'll save your manly pride by forcing you within the boundaries," he stated and brought the jar inside. He tipped it upside down and Titus fell out in full size.

Titus, who refused to take the name Goldsmith like his siblings, was lean yet muscular who appeared to be in his mid twenties. He was anything but human, however. He was Zita's protector and lover. Biologically the son of Goldarr of Scorpina, he had the ability to shape shift to scorpion form and a monster form. Even in human form he had superhuman strength, hearing, sight and agility. He also had what they jokingly termed as 'spidy-senses'. Even though his form was a scorpion, he was half Rachnaemance and some had the ability whether they had spider forms or not. His eldest brother, Taran, also had spidy-senses. He reacted to danger before it happened.

Titus pinned him with a glower as he got to his feet. "You mentioned food?" he asked finally.

Zita snickered. "There are three things he thinks about. Food, fighting and--"

"We get the picture," Lani interrupted. Titus just gave a grin and scooped Zita up in his arms.

"I can walk!" she squawked, half laughing.

"Hush or I'll carry you like a sack of taters," Titus said. He ignored her outraged sputtering. Clearing his throat, Grandpa stepped forward to lead them to the house.

Lani smiled and looked at Tai. He was gazing at the cherry trees thoughtfully. "We have guests. We're going to lunch, no detours," she said firmly.

Tai grinned at the fact she knew him so well. "Ok, but after lunch, you're my dessert," he said and gave her a heavy-lidded look.

She fought back a shiver and tried to stand firm. "Come on," she declared and lead him toward the house, eventually catching up with Grandpa and Titus still carrying Zita. She seemed to have decided to stop protesting.

Tai came up behind her and draped an arm around her waist and was on his best behavior.

~*~

"Who was that?" Juzou wondered to himself.

Saeko rocked back on her heels and looked at the sky. "Who was who?" she asked, even though she highly suspected that was one of the women Daiki mentioned the other day.

Juzou gave her a sharp look. "That woman and that creature that entered the Shiba's lands," he answered patiently.

Saeko fiddled with the hilt of her sword. "That may have been a powerful sorceress that is partly responsible for the strength of the barrier around the lands," she answered. "I don't know who the man was," she added and tried to give him a winning smile that worked much better when she a little girl.

Juzou crossed his arms over his "How do you know this?" he demanded.

"The Blue Ranger caught me near the border the other day and felt it necessary to educate me," she said grumpily and tried not to wince at the lie. She wasn't sure why she lied, but she didn't want him to know she told Daiki about the Dayuu creature being on the run.

Juzou turned away from her and looked pensively toward the Shiba lands again. "The time is soon. Are you prepared?" he asked.

Saeko nodded. "I am," she said.

"We shall see. Come," he said and started off toward their camp. Saeko followed him.

~*~

Lani was watching in bemusement as Kane and Titus engaged in a computer generated battle of epic proportions on the big screen in the living room.

Zita gave a snort of laughter. "Ok, so there's another thing he thinks about. I'd kill whoever showed him his first video game if I knew which one of you it was," she declared.

"You'd have to go through Rei first. My money is on Sora," Rex said with a grin.

Zita rubbed her temple. "It would be," she declared and got off the couch she was sitting on. "I'm going for a walk. I'm taking Lani for protection," she added and grabbed Lani by the wrist and hauled her up.

"Don't go far," was Titus' only answer.

Lani allowed herself to be lead out. They walked a ways. "You wished to speak with me?" she asked. Zita tossed a grin over her shoulder and shrugged. Lani suppressed an eye roll. Dealing with Zita, to her, was like dealing with a wild animal, you never knew what they were going to do next.

They walked for a time without speaking. Just when Lani thought she wasn't going to get an answer, Zita spoke. "What's going on? After unsuccessfully trying to defeat the two of you numerous times, I'd like to think I know you and Tai pretty well and something is not right," she said. "I'm not in any hurry to have our world swallowed up by some evil upstart so if whatever it is affects your competency, that is call for some meddling," she stated matter-of-factly.

Lani gaped at her. "What? My relationship with Tai is no one's business, and certainly not yours." She pursed her lips and continued walking.

"Aha! So, there is something wrong. I knew it," Zita said mischievously. "I know that whatever it is isn't affecting your competency. You're both too heroic for that. Saving the world comes first, blah, blah, blah."

Lani flushed. "It's nothing," she said firmly. "Just this whole business with that Saeko girl on top of Danny and Holly getting engaged when every time that I know of Tai has tried to propose to me, freakin' Gedoushu muck things up," she ranted and stomped onward.

"Hmm. Why don't you put the man out of his misery and say yes," Zita asked.

Lani flushed. "He doesn't know I found the ring," she answered and sighed. "And it's not that big of a deal. I understand wanting to wait until after all this crap," she added grudgingly, actually feeling a bit better now even if her confidante was such an unlikely one as Zita.

Zita nodded. "So, about this girl?" she questioned, raising a brow.

Lani never got the chance to answer.

A young woman rushed out of the trees as if the hounds of hell were after her. She skidded to halt when she saw them, her eyes wide with fear. Lani realized they were beyond the boundaries of the property. This fact was proven by the fact that several of the Nanashi Renchuu bounded after her.

Lani immediately made her Sword appear. Zita's eyes lit up. "Play time!" she declared and using a magical puff of smoke, made a black and purple battle suit appear.

When faced with two new adversaries, the Nanashi attacked. Lani slashed through several of them, kicking and dodging attacks by bending at nearly impossible angles.

Zita used wicked looking blades attached to her battle suit arms and legs to slash her way through the Nanashi.

There weren't too many and they were quickly dispersed. "Are you all right?" Lani asked, turning toward the young woman only to discover Dayuu in her place.

"No one asked your interference, Ranger," she snarled pulling a short sword hidden in her shamisen.

~*~

Sanzu River

shootari paced a moment, Doukoku was napping, but he'd heard reports that his Ayakashi was closing in on Dayuu. Doukoku's strength was increasing again already. He didn't understand the ramifications of that. It must have something to do with the Seal, bit Doukoku refused to address the issue while Dayuu roamed free after defying his order to kill Juzou.

He decided to send an Ayakashi to distract the Rangers. He shuffled over to the hatch. "Mochibetori!" he summoned.

Before long, and Ayakashi crawled through the hatch. "You summoned?" he asked with an excited sort of giggle.

"Go to the human world and distract the Rangers while we attempt to attain Dayuu," shootari ordered.

Mochi chortled. "Happily! I'll stick to them like glue!" he declared and jumped out of the ship.

shootari went back to his research, muttering to himself.

~*~

Lani took a fighting stance. "Ha! That's gratitude," she said with a sniff.

"No one wants your help or your pity, Pink Ranger. You have no idea my pain. You have your Shiba," Dayuu spat. "You have no inkling of what it's like watching the man you love marry another or being rebuffed cruelly by another and his parents," she snarled.

Zita raised her eyebrows. "I sense an evil pity party coming on," she declared.

"Stay out of this!" Dayuu spat at the unknown woman.

"Why don't you enlighten me," Lani suggested as she looked for an opening and took up a better defensive position.

"You don't deserve either, you mongrel," Dayuu spat. Since being away from Doukoku and the Sanzu River, many of her memories were beginning to make their way back into her mind.

"Excuse me?" Lani demanded. "Did you just call me a mongrel?"

"Yes! You are not even Japanese or a Samurai! I was full blooded Shiraishi! My bloodlines dated back to the original Vassal of Heaven, Mako Shiraishi!" Dayuu boasted wildly.

Lani suddenly had an inkling of how Tai may have felt to learn that Juzou was once a Shiba. "What are you saying?" she asked in a hiss.

Zita leaned forward curiously. "Where you a vassal of a Lord Shiba?" she asked.

"I was trained from birth! My mother groomed me. I was not only a skilled fighter; I was the most beautiful woman in the region. No other woman could match me in skill or beauty. I was, she always said, a jewel and even a Shiba would be proud to claim me as a wife. Unfortunately, by the time I came to age, the Lord already had a family, but I did not mind. His brother had claimed my heart with his kindness and handsomeness."

Still gripping her sword, Dayuu seemed lost in her own world. "Though I was younger than him, it did not matter. Girls my age were always married to mush older women and the difference was not so much. A piddling few years. Yet he treated me like a child. A little sister he would pat on the head while he married this...this paltry little mouse of a woman and had mewling, mealy mouthed little daughter that was unworthy of the Shiba name.

"There was no hope for it. I knew that, but I could not love another. I may have mentioned to the Ishii Clan Lord once that the Shiba's and we vassals were away from home a lot. How was I to know they would take the opportunity to attack our lands and kill that woman and her brat? Still it was a stroke of luck for me," she gripped her sword as anger surged through her again. "Instead of turning to the comfort I offered, he chose instead to betray us all and drink the Waters of Sanzu River and turn Gedou and exact his revenge! Then our Lord exiled his own brother from his lands. My heart died a little at that time. I thought I would never love again.

"And yet, when my heart began to beat again, for the next Lord Shiba was growing into a fine man, kind and handsome. Though I was older than him and yet unmarried, he did not belittle me. We became close, but the Lord disapproved and betrothed him to some other woman. He didn't even object!

"No woman should have to deal with such betrayals. Shibas were not saints. They were demons! I drank from the Waters and tried to exact my revenge upon that faithless little bastard and his bride to be on their wedding day. They stripped me of my status! They took my pen and origami before banishing me!" She turned aside. "Then Doukoku gave me refuge," she trailed off and turned back to Lani. "You will die now! Simply for having the life that should have been mine!" she snarled and jumped forward to attack.

Lani brought up her Sword to deflect. "You were vain and only attracted to these men for their looks and their family power. You never loved anyone, not even yourself," she denied Dayuu her pity or sympathy.

Her phone jangled.

"Go. I'll take care of this dramazon," Zita declared.

"You will not. You've had enough adventure for one day," Titus declared as he stepped forward, putting himself between Zita and Dayuu. "Go," he told Lani and a glint of humor lurked in his blue eyes.

Lani nodded. She flipped out her Morpher and teleported.

Dayuu hissed. "Who are you people?" she demanded.

"We are your worst nightmare," Zita answered and a helmet appeared around her head. Titus clicked silver gauntlets around his wrists together and gold and silver armor appeared, as well as a long handled battle axe, each blade a yard tall.

Dayuu stepped back. "None of this concerns either of you!" she hissed and retreated into the cracks, taking her chances that no one was yet below the surface waiting for her.

~*~

Mochi danced around the streets of Angel Grove. He would randomly target a building and laser would shoot from his eyes, effectively blowing up the building.

"Gedoushu!"

Mochi spun around to be confronted with the seven Samurai Rangers. He giggled. "Rangers! You've come to play!" he declared and clapped his hands together. He fired his eye lasers at them. Some of them jumped out of the way, some of them blocked with their Swords.

He made a weapon appear.

Green did a double take. "Does he have a giant spork?" he asked.

"It's either that or a giant fpoon," Gold answered.

Silver smacked both of them on the backs of the helmet as he went to draw his Swords. He attacked the Ayakashi. Mochi deflected and knocked him back in a shower of sparks.

Green and Yellow sprang forward with their Swords. Mochi deflected their Swords with the scooped part of his weapon and knocked the Rangers back with the other end.

Blue came forward immediately, get in a couple of slashes before Mochi managed to knock him back.

Pink, already irritated and agitated, jumped forward next and slashed several, bending in incredibly awkward positions avoiding his strikes with his weapon.

"Foo. No fun. How about we try my special technique?" Mochi said as he knocked away her Sword again and jumped back. A nozzle/mouth on one shoulder expanded and fired a glob of white at her.

"Lani!" Red jumped forward to knock of out of the way, but the substance hit them both, forming sticky bands around their wrists, essentially gluing them together. "What?" he tried to pull free but the bond was too strong and he could not pull free.

Pink attempted to pull free but only succeeding in stretching her arms to their limit, around six extra inches.

Mochi chortled happily. "The only way to get free is to defeat me!" he crowed gleefully. He lifted his weapon to strike, but a sharp howl sounded and balls of light began hitting him in rapid succession. He pouted at the Gold Ranger and Wolf Origami. "That hurts," he sobbed and disappeared through the cracks.

Silver gave his sister a little salute as they gathered around Pink and Red. "We'd better get you guys back to the house and see what we can do about this," he suggested. "Though there are worse people either of you could be stuck to like glue," he said cheekily.

"Cute. Let's just go already," Pink said with a sigh. Red frowned inside his helmet. In his opinion, things could be a lot worse. Silver and Yellow helped them teleport.

~*~

Tai and Lani sat facing each other in the back yard, their hands pulled as far away from each other as Daiki raised his Sword, preparing to strike. They braced themselves as he slashed down. His Sword hit the glue and bounced back, throwing him off balance. Kane helped him to his feet while trying not to laugh.

Titus grinned and made his axe appear. "I could always give it a try," he declared.

Lani looked at Zita. "Can't you do something?" she demanded.

Zita shook her head. "Not really. Maybe the three of us, but we're very rarely at the same place at the same time these days. Mother always has so much for us to do," she complained good-naturedly.

"Dunno what you're all bent out of shape about. I wouldn't complain about being stuck to Kii for awhile," Kane declared.

Tai agreed but there was something bothering Lani. "Training. All of you. Now. Lani and I will deal with this," he said.

"Good luck," Kii said. "Come along, Kane, Dai-kun, Rena-chan, Rex-san," she ushered, having the presence of mind to realize not everything was about the bonds. They allowed themselves to be ushered. Though Rex once again assured her she could simply call him Rex without the honorific.

"You can't boss us around," Zita reminded them. Titus was pouting because he still hadn't been able to use his axe.

"Then please go visit with Grandpa some more," Tai said politely.

"With pleasure," Zita said with a grin. "Come on Titus. I'll let you play another videogame while I have some tea and a chat with Grandpa," she said and led him into the house.

Tai got to his feet and helped up. "Let's take a walk," he suggested. She shrugged her compliance. They turned awkwardly so they could go in the same direction. "What's up? I know Zita gets under your skin a bit, but I have a feeling something else is bothering you," he said unsurely.

Lani shrugged. "Slow down a bit. Your legs are longer than mine," she ordered grumpily.

Tai looked sheepish and matched his pace to hers. "You know you can talk to me," he prodded.

"Oh, you mean the same way you can talk to me?" she asked snippily.

"What's that supposed to mean?" he asked.

"I'll talk to you when you decide you can talk to me, until then, these are the last words I will be speaking to you," she stated and forcefully twisted their bonds until she was behind him and they stood back to back.

"What?" he exclaimed. She didn't answer. "So you're just going to go silent. We have to figure out how to adapt to being like this. That Ayakashi was powerful," he pointed out. She still didn't answer. He closed his eyes and tried to find his center so he could figure out what this all about. "If I started walking then I'll drag you backwards," he pointed out. He felt her shrug.

Lani actually wasn't as mad as she seemed. She was a tad annoyed, true. She just saw a good opportunity and latched on to it. Still, she didn't fancy him dragging her around backwards. Hopefully he'd be guilted into talking about that girl.

Tai sighed. "Ok, so something has been bothering me and I'm just trying to process it and not jump to crazy conclusions," he started and went silent. She scrunched her nose. She tugged on his wrist to urge him to continue. He tugged back, a request for patience. "I know I told everyone what I learned about Juzou. What I haven't said, is that when I first woke up after recovering from shootari's poison, there was a moment when I thought she was my mother," he admitted finally.

Lani sagged against him in incredible relief. "That's awful but I am so happy. I think I was beginning to believe you found her attractive," she admitted.

Tai frowned and twisted their bonds until they were face to face again. "What?" he asked surprised.

"Well, you can't say it hasn't happened before," she pointed out.

Tai sighed. "Once, before we together and I has no idea she was monster in disguise," he stated.

Lani tried to hug him but their bonds made that awkward so she settled for merely leaning against his chest. He rested his chin on top of her head. "So what does it mean that she looked like your mother? Yet another Shiba running around? I thought Kii, her mother and sisters were the last ones roaming around besides you," she said thoughtfully. "Er...that is, not Gedoushu," she qualified.

"I'm not sure what it means, it just bothers me on a level that is intangible really," he said. "I couldn't talk about it because I couldn't and still cannot explain it," he admitted lamely.

"Well, tell me anyway next time. Even the things that don't make sense," she said softly and bit her lip. "Like the strange fact that Dayuu was my predecessor. She was a narcissist who thought she deserved the best men. She set her sights first on the brother of a Shiba Lord...whose family was killed and he turned Gedou to avenge them. Sound familiar?" she asked before continuing. "Later she fell in love with the same Lord's son and was once again denied so she turned Gedou to make them all pay. It's really no wonder there hasn't been a Pink vassal for quite some time. The last one was deranged," she remarked.

Tai frowned. "How did you find all this out?" he asked.

Lani sighed and explained to him about running into Dayuu. Tai listened quietly. "What a legacy to come from," he said with a sigh and wan grin.

She smiled at him. "This while was good for something though," she declared with a mischievous grin.

"What would that be?" he asked her, brushing his lips against her hair.

"That we can always find the time no matter how tired we are," she said and grinned up at him, kissing his cheek, then his jaw. She lifted one arm. "And we've never tried this before," she added with an impish grin.

Tai's smile mirrored her own. "It does pose an intriguing challenge, doesn't it?" he mused and leaned down to kiss her. He fumbled in his pocket for his Morpher and teleported them.

~*~

Sanzu River

Doukoku awakened to the news that Dayuu had once again slipped out of their grasp and that the Ayakashi chosen engage the Rangers had run away. "Give me a good reason, I should not kill you where you stand," he demanded of the Ayakashi.

"They were hurting me. All because I glue two of them together with my special technique," Mochi whined plaintively.

Doukoku clenched his fist. "If you had that technique, why haven't you been using it on the humans?" he snarled.

"Oh! Lord Doukoku," Mochi chortled, "you are so smart! I would have never thought of that," he giggled.

"Just go! Get out of my sight before I kill you myself!" he commanded.

"Oh, yes, yes Lord Doukoku! You are so smart, and I am so dumb," he said, chortling and skipping toward the hatch.

Doukoku rounded on shootari and grabbed his tentacles. "I want Dayuu."

~*~

Mochi skipped along the streets of Angel Grove, using the cannon on his shoulder to shoot globs of glue at terrified Angel Grovians. People where stuck to each other, stuck to them walls, posts and anything else they're flung against.

Mochi giggled happily and spun around a few times while shooting globs of glue at more people. He was preparing to shoot again when a small silver and black bat began to wing past him, knocking him back.

The Bat flew back to the Silver Samurai Ranger as five of them faced the Ayakashi. "This time you're going down," he warned.

Mochi chortled. "Oh, I'm so scared," he called and began skipping away.

"Hey! Get back here!" Green shouted and ran after him. The other Rangers were with him. Suddenly, his feet wouldn't move anymore and he fell forward. The others were caught in the trap as well.

Mochi laughed and clapped his hands together. "I knew you guys would show up so I set this trap. I'm smarter than I thought I was. Yay me," he declared. He made his weapon appear and prepared to attack.

Samurais Red and Pink appeared between Mochi and the other Ranger, spinning in a coordinated move that had them striking him with each of their Swords.

Mochi whimpered. "How--?!" he growled and struck at them with his weapon. With sudden inspiration, Red jerked their arms up. The weapon struck the bond and it broke off. Mochi gasped and stumbled back. "No!" he said and swung again in anger. Red and Pink swirled around and had him hit the other one. "No fair!" he cried and stamped one of his feet.

"Plenty fair," Pink stated firmly. Red handed her the Battlizer and Power Disc.

She opened the Battlizer and put the Disc inside. She closed it and held it up. "Samurai Sword Clash Power-up!" A bright light began to blink as she brought her arm down to hold it in front of her. She pressed a button on the back of it and the Shiba symbol and Truth Character lit up, growing larger. In a bright flash of light, the symbol and character wrapped around her. Her helmet changed, began slightly more angular and ornamental with a silver mouth plate. Pink chest armor wrapped around her feminine figure and metal platelets forms along her arms and legs.

Samurai Gold took the Power Disc from the Battlizer and slid it onto her sword before clipping the box itself to it. She spun the Disk. "Heavenly Dance!" She jumped and began flipping through the air toward Mochi. Her blade glowed pink and she slashed down. Energy arced off of him and he fell back, exploding.

All the glue began to disappear and the other Rangers were freed. They got to their feet and hurried over to them. "Bit late to the party, weren't we?" Silver commented and looked them over. "I take it that means no one's naked under there?" he asked.

Pink hit him in the arm with her Sword. "Hush," she scolded him even as her cheeks flamed under her helmet.

"We'll take that as a yes," Green added and danced out of range of being smacked by either of them.

No one had time to retaliate as Mochi grew into his second life. "This is no fun," he complained.

"It's never easy," Pink declared. They flipped out their Pens and Origami Zords, drawing the Large Character above them. They grew to full size and their Pilots appeared in them. Red drew the Combine character. The original five Zords combined to form the Origami Megazord.

Gold typed the Large Character into her Morpher. When it shimmered in the air, Wolf Origami Zord jumped through it. Not only did it grow to full size, but it transformed into a vaguely feminine shaped Megazord. She appeared in its cockpit.

Silver brought the hilts of his Swords together and slid the blades in the console of his cockpit. "Samurai Armament!" The Bat Origami Zord broke apart and joined with the Megazord, forming a bat head shaped helmet, a chest piece and bladed batwing fans.

"United under Providence. Bat Origami Megazord!"

She programmed in another code and closed it back. She opened her belt and pulled out the purple-gray-blue Squid Disc. It folded in on itself and she put it on her Morpher. "Squid Origami Zord!"

The Squid Origami came out of her phone. It landed in front of the Wolfzord.  "Samurai Armament!" The Squid Zord broke apart and attached to the Wolfzord, forming armor, shield and a lance. "United under Providence. Wolf Origami Megazord!"

Mochi fired his glue cannon, but the Bat Origami Megazord sacrificed a wing.

"Wolf Howl," the eyes glowed ominously. "Beam!" An intense golden laser shot from the eyes at Mochi. It hit his cannon and it exploded in a gloopy mess, causing screaming pain.

"Squid Lance," the lance began to crackle with energy as the Rangers drew their swords and lashed forward, "Slash!" The Lance sliced through Mochi. He crackled with energy and fell backwards exploding.

"Good job, Rena. That brings this chapter to a close," Pink declared.

~*~

Rena wrinkled her nose as four of her team mates paired off. Kane whispered something in Kii's ear that made her laugh and blush. He grabbed her hand and they jogged off together. As usual, Lani and Tai had their heads together, talking quietly and sharing smiles. It was disgusting.

"You are currently a nice minty shade of green," Rex remarked. His reward was a punch to the shoulder. He just snickered even as he rubbed his arm. His little sister could pack a wallop.

Daiki smiled slightly. He didn't recall a time when he had that sort of relationship with Kyou-nii. He jumped suddenly, spinning around and deflected an arrow that was aiming straight for Tai and Lani. Everyone whirled around at the arrow stuck in the ground prematurely, instead of in front of Tai, as was the intention.

"What the hell?" Tai strode toward the arrow. There was a rolled up paper tied to it. He took the arrow out of the ground and untied the paper.

"What is it?" Lani asked him.

He unrolled the paper. "It's a challenge. From Juzou and Saeko," he said and carefully tore the paper in half, handing Daiki his half. "Shiba, prepare yourself. Next we meet only one of will walk away. Shiba Juzou," he read aloud.

Daiki looked at his significantly longer note written with bad grammar and no sense of punctuation in English. He didn't read it out loud. He folded it up and put it in his pocket and walked into the house.

Tai watched him go. He glanced at his note again. So it was finally time. Good. He looked at Lani.

She smiled at him. "It won't be easy, I know, but this is one thing I have complete faith about. You will not lose to Juzou," she assured him and took his hand in hers. "But, just to make sure, you and Mr. Perfect over there will spend every spare moment training and not goofing off," she told them.

"Yes, ma'am," they intoned at once with slight grins. She nodded firmly and squeezed his hand. Soon, one way or another, she was sure they would have answers to the questions plaguing them.

~*End Act 21*~           

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