Chapter 25 - Hard on the Outside

Sanzu River

Doukoku swilled a bottle of Essence. He wiped his mouth and threw his bottle at a nearby Nanashi. He drew his sword on shootari. "You are running out of chances. Not only have you failed to destroy the Rangers, you have failed to bring me Dayuu! Now, there is yet another one!" he snarled, the power of his anger shaking the ship.

shootari gulped. "Please, please Lord Doukoku. Let us forget about the Rangers for now and concentrate on raising the Waters. The River has raised so much in the past few months," he said, hoping to distract Doukoku with good news. He also needed the Waters to burst free so that he could get Doukoku out before he destroyed them all.

Doukoku snarled. "Find Dayuu and raise the Waters," he ordered. "I only have so much patience," he added with a snarl and grabbed another bottle of Essence.

~*~

Sleep. It had not come too easily to Saeko. They'd been back from Japan for several days. The lady scientist, Dr. Billie, had come along to stick a needle in her arm almost immediately to draw blood. She was given the results the day before. Not knowing how she felt about it kept her from sleeping comfortably.

What she spent the most time doing that morning was dyeing her hair back to a color close to her natural color. While she was letting her newly brown locks dry, she was having a breakfast of dry toast and some caramel macchiato with loads of extra foam. She did seem to enjoy fancy coffee. Much better than what Uncle brewed over their campfires.

She grimaced at that uncharitable thought. Uncle did what he could for what he was.

She paused with her coffee mug almost to her mouth when a strange blond woman wandered into the kitchen. Saeko was positive she had never seen this woman before. She knew all the students at the Studio and any regular visitors to the house. She would have remembered this one for sure. She was only medium height but she had a slim, fit body under a black-faded-to-gray tee-shirt and bright pink denim shorts, wild blond hair with brown streaks, a complexion models would kill for and light blue eyes.

She noticed Saeko looking at her and grinned. "Hi," she greeted and made for the fridge poking around, seeming right at home. She pulled out one of Rex's chocolate protein shakes and opened it. "You must be Saeko," she stated and chugged a healthy portion of the drink and made a face.

Saeko set her mug back down. "I am," she said warily.

The girl grinned again. "You're probably wondering who the heck I am wandering around Tai's house like I own it, huh?" she asked.

"It crossed my mind," Saeko agreed. "Then I concluded that the only person you can be is Rex's fiancée," she added and finally took a drink of her macchiato.

"What gave me away?" she asked and downed the rest of the shake.

Saeko shrugged. "That for one thing. He has them labeled and counted. His sister made the mistake of drinking one the other day. The aftermath was not pretty. You're also wearing one of his old comfort shirts. Then there is the fact that you are very beautiful," she explained and munched on her toast.

Melody Robinson laughed and couldn't help blushing. "I don't know what the last part has to do with anything, but you nailed it. As for the shakes, I have the option of withholding certain attentions if he makes a stink. I wouldn't usually drink his anyway. I prefer the strawberry kind. My name, by the way is Melody Robinson, but everyone calls me Mel," she introduced herself. "What on earth are you doing up so early anyway? It's barely dawn," she said.

Saeko shrugged. "Could not sleep," she said and finished her toast.

"Duh, Melody, stupid question," Mel said to herself with a self-depreciating smile.

Rex shuffled in and gave Melody a narrowed eyed look. "Why are you in here socializing when you should be in my bed keeping me company?" he asked her. He eyed the empty protein shake can suspiciously but didn't say anything. Instead his went to fetch one for himself.

"I was letting you get your beauty sleep," Mel told him and patted his cheek a little too hard. "Lord knows you need it," she added and danced away from him. "The sun is coming up and Tai isn't up yet? I'm shocked," she declared and began toasting a bagel for her and Rex to share.

Rex chuckled. "I think Lani's figured out a few tricks to getting him to sleep late," he said. He gave her butt a playful smack before taking his canned shake to sit at the table. He had to grin at the look on Saeko's face.

For her part, Saeko could have sworn two people could not get more disgusting than Tai and Lani. Boy, was she wrong.

As if summoned by being talked about, Tai and Lani joined them. Lani gave Mel a hug, then Tai gave her a brief hug and kissed her cheek in greeting.

Saeko didn't pay much attention. She got to her feet. She scooted around the trio in the kitchen and managed to evade Tai's attempt to get her attention. She passed Rena and Kiari as they came down as well. She gave them a nod. They expected no less. She wasn't exactly friendly, but they always seemed to have smiles for her, especially Rena. She was not surprised Kane wasn't stirring yet. He seemed to always be in a rush at the last minute in the mornings. Daiki, however, was another matter. Even though he wasn't usually the first down to breakfast, he was usually awake long before even Tai, doing his morning exercises.

All she heard was silence as she passed his room. Strange. Shrugging, she headed for the bathroom at the end of the hall. It was shared by her, Kiari and Rena. Daiki and Kane shared one at the other end of the hall.

Her hand was inches away from the door knob when the door swung open. Still in the process of scrubbing a towel over his head and dressed only in his black uniform pants riding low on his hips was Daiki.

She recoiled. "What are you doing?" she demanded.

Daiki blinked at her and squinted. "Saeko? The Stagehands are working on the other bathroom," he answered her question and stepped out of the way. "What did you do to your--" his question was cut off by the door slamming in his face. He sighed. He wondered if he'd ever understand that one.

~*~

Saeko had procrastinated in the bathroom, trying to style her hair. It had gotten away from her in the past weeks and was longer than she realized. It was still short and the lengths mis-matched, so she decided to leave it be. It would grow out eventually.

She finally decided to go back downstairs and realized everyone was gone. Except Melody. The blond was laying in wait for her in the living room. Saeko raised her eyebrows. "Oh, I didn't think you'd be around," she said and looked around for an avenue of escape.

Mel merely grinned. "I was waiting for you. We're going into the city," she declared and waited for the argument.

Saeko shook her head. "I have things I need to do here. I have a list of exercises I am required to--why are you shaking your head?" she asked.

"We both know you had no intention of doing any of that. You, my dear, had all the indications of a girl preparing to sit around and brood. Well, none of that now. We have a lot to do today," she declared.

"We?" Saeko asked suspiciously.

"Well, ok, me. I have some friends to see, then we're going to have lunch with Cassie Scott. If you haven't met her yet, you'll love her. Then I have to shop for mine and Rex's birthday gift for Tai. Rex is the worst gift shopper, so I do the picking out. He does the paying and everyone's happy," she added and rolled her eyes.

That startled Saeko. She went from being slightly overwhelmed by all the things this woman was getting her involved in to being shocked. "Tai's birthday is soon?" she asked.

Mel nodded. "July 14th. I don't know when the next time I'll be able to get to town. I've been doing some special training that I'm trying to get completely finished. I don't know when I'd been able to completely get to Angel Grove again for more than a few hours," she explained.

Saeko realized Melody was probably a more frequent visitor than she realized. "If you insist that I--"

"I do. Oh, before I forget, Tai asked me to give you this," Mel said and pulled a bag from the storage closet under the stairs. She handed it over with a smile.

Saeko took the bag suspiciously and looked inside. Her eyes widened as she pulled out a sleeveless white Studio jacket. There was no name on the back, just the red, stylized Fire Character and 'Watanabe Bushido Studio'. "Oh." she said. She folded it back up and stuffed it back in the bag. "If we're going, we should go," she said.

Mel smiled slightly and nodded. "I have the keys to the Silver Bullet. We'll be traveling in style," she declared. She led Saeko to the garage. It was made for several vehicles. Even with Tai's sporty red car, Lani's red clunker, a sedate gray town car, a sedate black town car, Rex's silver car, a sporty hot pink beetle and Kane's motorcycle, there was still plenty of room. The Studio van was parked by the Studio. It never came near the house.

"I don't remember the garage being so big," Melody mused as she pressed a button the keys that unlocked Rex's car.

"It was smaller. The Stagehands expanded it as soon as they arrived. There's another of the larger cars. They use them to run errands," Saeko answered.

Mel shook her head. She sincerely hoped Tai paid those guys well. She and Saeko hopped into the car and made their way toward Angel Grove proper.

~*~

Saeko had no idea when she and Melody finally made it to It's a Pink Thing Dance and Gymnastics that she meeting a living legend when she met Cassie Scott's husband. Cassie's identity was well known. However, Saeko had no idea who Jason Lee Scott was. Not until later when Cassie and Mel said something about it.

"So, he was like the original Tai?" she asked.

Cassie, a pretty Asian woman with a big personality, grinned. "You could say that. There's actually a lot of parallels there," she mused thoughtfully. "Red T-Rex Ranger. Best friends with the Black Mastodon Ranger. Eventually falls for a spunky Pink Ranger. Begins working on creating a martial arts empire," she said ticking things off her fingers and grinning.

The trendy little outdoor bistro the three of them were having lunch in was located in busy area of the city and with the lunch hour, there were people milling around enjoying the early summer day. It was the perfect place for an Ayakashi to make an appearance.

Marigomori was an introverted Ayakashi that looked like a metallic armadillo. When people saw him slip through the cracks, they screamed and began running away. "Oh, how rude," he pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. With his feeling hurts, he began shooting lasers from his eyes.

The three women stood as they heard the unmistakable sounds of a monster attack. "I think that's my cue," Saeko said and jumped up.

"Go, go. Duty calls," Cassie said and waved her off.

Saeko plunged into the crowd that was running in the opposite direction. She flipped out her Morpher. "Samurai Sword Clash!" She drew her Character and morphed on the fly. "Gedoushu! Stop right there!" she called out.

Mari spun around. "Hey! It's so rude to say something like that to someone you just met. Rude, rude, rude!" he said and turned away in a huff.

"It's rude to turn away like that!" Samurai White declared. She pulled her sword and jumped. Mari folded into a ball and her sword clanged off of it. The momentum of her Sword meeting an immovable object caused her to recoil backwards. Her arms nearly went numb.

When she righted herself, she saw that the Ayakashi was rolling toward her. Before she could react, she was tackled out of the way. She glanced up to see that Samurai Red had pushed her. "I wasn't going to get squashed," she said and pushed him away when they got to their feet.

"Better safe than sorry. I lost you before I even knew you. It's not going to happen again," he said.

She jerked her head her head in a negative fashion. "We don't have time for this now," she stated sharply.

Samurais Pink, Blue, Yellow and Green drew their Swords and converged on the Ayakashi. He curled into a ball again before their Swords hit. They recoiled backwards.

He popped out and wagged a finger at them. "You guys are so rude. Stop knocking on my shell!" he shouted and fired energy balls at them.

"Giant Flaming Blade!"

"Giant Blazing Rang!"

Red blocked the attacks with his giant blade. Samurai White did the same next to him with her own unique weapon, which was a boomerang of a similar size and design as the blade.

"Whoa, that is one big assed boomerang," Green declared and helped Yellow to her feet.

"We've seen bigger," Pink stated as she bounced to her feet.

Blue gave them both a grateful nod.

Samurai Silver drew his Swords and jumped, slashing at the monster. He hit hard shell and sparks flew but didn't even leave a scratch.

Mari turned and blasted him. He flew backwards, sparking wildly. "Holy--" he said and shook out his head.

"Sneaking up behind me? That's so mean," Mari cried and stamped his foot.

"No sneaking here!" Samurai Gold said and drew her Sword. She pulled out her Light Disc and put it on her Sword. "One hundred Rays of Light!" She moved forward, slashing at Mari with great rays of shining light and blue lightning, one hundred times at the speed of light.

She jumped away as the build up of electrons arced and exploded. She turned to see that Mari had curled into his shell and while he steamed slightly, he was still unscratched. "What?" she squawked.

"Unbelievable!" Yellow gasped.

Mari unfurled. "Now will you all just leave me alone?" he demanded and moved to blast them again, but he stiffened up. "Oh, I'm out of water. Finally, some alone time," he said and disappeared into the cracks.

"This is not good," Red declared.

Silver shook his head. "Indeed not," he agreed and got to his feet.

"Oh, Silver Ranger!" Melody ran up. "Are you hurt?" she asked and checked him over.

He cleared his throat. "I'm fine, ma'am. All part of the job," he said. "Better you should get back to what you were doing and not worry about us masked superheroes," he added.

"Please give Cassie my apologies," White said and walked away from them.

"Hey, wait," Red said and started toward her but Pink put a hand on his arm.

"Let her go for now," she said. He looked at her for a long moment then nodded.

Blue watched White retreating with his arms crossed over his chest. Without another word he teleported. The others followed suit, even Silver.

Melody went back to Cassie and the two of them soon left to go their separate ways.

~*~

Saeko scowled when her privacy was invaded but she chose ignore him.

"I knew I would find you here," Daiki declared. He found Saeko at the campsite she and Juzou had shared for all those months. She didn't answer. "I also know what the result of the test was. I do enjoy being right," he declared, not caring if she was ignoring him. "When father died and you came to tell me not to get killed before our duel you said something to me. Do you remember what it was?" he asked her.

She clenched her fist. "I'm sure you're going to tell me," she grumbled.

"As a matter if fact I intend to," he agreed. He pushed his glasses up his nose. "You asked me if I would want to be who I was if he wasn't there. You said you thought about that all the time. It's not so much the words themselves. It's the question you asked, but what you told me about yourself by asking the question."

"You're giving me a headache. Make your point!" she snapped.

"It told me you wondered about having a real family. Now you know you have an actual flesh and blood brother. Trust me, it's better to just get along with him. Too many years were wasted. Don't waste anymore," he said.

He threw her Studio jacket on her head. "Now put that on, and get your butt to the Studio. Group training. You're going to learn a little about teamwork. Your master commands you," he said and turned, walking away.

Saeko scrambled to her feet and pulled the jacket away from her face. She stared murder at his back. Seething, she put on the jacket and followed him.

~*~

"Spill it. Now. And don't you dare give me one of your moody emo looks."

Tai glanced over his shoulder as Rex approached him, wearing his uniform. He was looking out the door of the break room in the Studio. Everyone was wisely leaving him be. It was not surprising that Rex was discontent to merely let him stew on things.

"I don't bug you when you're having your Nathan moments, so why are you bugging me?" he asked.

Rex snorted. "You bug the hell out of me when I'm thinking,"  he said. "Besides, you're the one who called group training. Everyone's getting ready and Daiki went to fetch the wayward one," he added.  He cocked his head.

Tai nodded. "What do you expect me to say about it?" he asked.

Rex held up his hands. "You're the one always preaching all leader-boy style about dealing with stuff and getting over it so it doesn't screw with your head when you're in a battle. So, do that," he stated and dawdled away.

"Where's Mel?" Tai asked.

"She's celebrating Holly's pending nuptials with her while she's in town," he answered without glancing back.

Tai let his best friend's back know what he thought of him. He shook his head. Rex was right, however, he was usually the one preaching about facing things head-on and dealing with them. All he had to do was corner Saeko.

He walked out of the break room and paused as Daiki and Saeko came through the door. They stopped when they saw him. "Go on to my classroom," he told Daiki. The other man gave a bow and walked off. Tai gestured for her to come into the break room.

Saeko drug her feet but eventually made her way inside. "This jacket doesn't have a name on it," she declared when he closed the door.

Tai nodded. "Neither does your new uniform, but I thoughts because I thought you'd like to decide what name to put on them," he stated and pulled a box out from some lower cabinets. He handed it to her. "You haven't asked what your other choice is," he said.

Saeko took the box and found a black studio uniform in it. "Lena Marie Stapleton. I know the other name. There was no need to ask," she answered. The only sign of his surprise was a slight tick in his eyebrows. "When this became a possibility I talked with...Grandpa. He is a wise man," she said slowly.

Tai nodded.

"When these are prepared. I will keep the name Saeko. It is my name now. It is the name I know. It is the name I prefer, but Lena Stapleton will be my legal name. I...am sorry for the troubles my Uncle has caused your family," she said and bowed.

Tai shook his head. "I'm going to prefer to think of it as he saved your life. It was hours before the crash site was found. If he had not been there, who knows what would have happened," he said. He didn't believe a word of it, but if it eased her worries, so be it. Instead of taking care of the baby and calling the authorities, Juzou stole the baby and left his parents to rot. He'd kill him all over again if given the chance.

Saeko nodded. "I will go change now," she said, "and join you all in the group training. Please don't send him after me again," she added and headed toward the staff restroom.

Tai smiled slightly. He left the break room and headed to the classroom. They really needed to think of a way to defeat that Ayakashi.

~*~

When Melody found no one at home at the house, she knew to head toward the Studio. She exited the house again. She paused when she saw someone riding up on a motorcycle. A pretty blond guy took off his helmet and hopped off. He gave her a smile. "Well, you're a face I haven't seen before," he declared.

Mel smiled. "I could say the same for you. If you're looking for anyone in particular, they aren't here," she explained.

Tay nodded. "Figures," he said. "I'm Taylor Hicks, by the way. I work at the Studio," he introduced.

"Melody Robinson. My boyfriend works there, too," she explained.

"Ah, so you're Rex's lady. I swear, the guys in black have a thing for pretty blond girls," he commented.

"Excuse me?"

"Nothing. Just talking out of my rear. I do that. Just ask Kane. He'll tell you," he said with a grin.

Mel nodded. "Well, if you feel like walking, I was going to pop over to the Studio and see what was keeping Rex," she said.

Tay nodded. "It's getting harder and harder to drag Kane away from Kii," he stated and grinned. "So...where do you fit in around here?" he asked.

Melody shrugged. "If you're asking me if I'm a Samurai Ranger, the answer is no. I've been a Beta Ranger, a Quasar Ranger and most recently a Panther Ranger, but I lack the training and affinity for Japanese characters to be a Samurai Ranger. Besides, pink has been taken," she answered with a grin.

Tay sagged in relief and laughed. "You never know who knows what around here," he grumbled as the two of them walked toward the Studio. "Wait, how did you know you could tell me that?" he asked.

Mel grinned. "I know all about you. Wow, that sounds weird. It's not so much you as you're whole team. The reason Tai hired you. Etc. What Rex knows, Melody knows," she said.

"I'll remember that," Tay said and turned a bit green. She smirked as they continued walking. When they entered the studio, they heard the sounds of wooden swords whacking together. They followed the sound to Tai's classroom. They peered in to see a free for all sword fight that was both confusing and amazing to watch.

No, actually it wasn't a free for all. It was Rex and Tai versus everyone else. "Those two, always showing off," Mel commented to Tay loudly.

"That's only because I'm not in there," Tay declared.

Kane ducked and rolled to safety. "That might actually be a fight worth seeing. Tai versus Tay. Red v. Red," he said as he got to his feet. "I'm late right? Totally not my fault!" he declared.

"Ok. We can stop now!" Tai said, calling a halt to the training. Everyone stepped back. "Didn't mean to run on so long. We haven't even had a chance to discuss what to do about that Ayakashi," he said and wiped his brow.

Daiki cleared his throat. He went to push up his glasses but realized they weren't there. He wore his contacts for training. "I've actually been thinking about that. I think I have a solution," he stated.

All eyes swung to him. "We're all ears," Tai prompted.

~*~

Daiki celebrated his idea by training with Saeko for several more hours and even though her arms felt like jelly in the morning, he insisted on her repeatedly drawing Characters. The man was a slave driver. It was no wonder Tai put him in charge of the youngest class to teach him some patience. Though, now, that had the drawback of him taking it all out on her. Even while she seethed and grumbled, she never really complained. She was grateful for the training. She had a goal. One day she would surpass him. Eventually, Tai as well.

By the time his first class started for the day, she wanted to crawl into a hole and sleep for several hours.

It was not meant to be. Tai divided one of Lani's older beginning classes and gave her charge of it. She had no idea how Lani managed to wrangle a group of tweens twice the size as the ten she had. It soon became apparent that she had to channel Daiki to get them settled down. By the end of the class, she had them calling her Sensei Saeko like good boys and girls.

When the end of her class rolled around, she was starving. She went to the break room for some quick ramen and a protein bar.

She entered the break room to find Melody visiting with Rena. Melody smiled at her. "You look wiped," she remarked cheerfully.

"I feel wiped," Saeko commented as she set about making some ramen.She poured a cup of coffee and sat down.

"I'm glad you're here. Maybe you can distract her," Rena said grumpily and took a bite of a microwaved something. Saeko couldn't quite distinguish what it was.

"Distract her from what?"

Mel grinned. "Rena's love life," she answered.

"Ok," Saeko said slowly.

"Since you're here she can focus on you," Rena declared cheerfully.

Mel shook her head. "No need. Her love life is sorted. It just needs to progress on its own," she declared.

Saeko raised her eyebrows. "What?" she asked.

Rena snickered.

Mel didn't answer. Instead she looked at Rena. "So that means you aren't off the hook after all. You haven't explained to me yet why you and--" she was cut off by their Morphers going off.

"Hallelujah," Rena muttered. She and Saeko opened their Morphers.

"The Ayakashi has reappeared. Sending coordinates," Billie informed them.

Saeko sighed. On the one hand, she could escape this highly uncomfortable conversation. On the other hand, she was still starving.

"Sorry, Mel, we gotta run!" Rena said chipperly. She grabbed Saeko's arm and dragged her out of the break room to rendezvous with the others. Mel waved them off with a rueful smile. She doubted she'd get her answers before she had to go back to Ocean Bluff to finish her training. Drat.

~*~

Mari peeked out from behind a light post. It wasn't exactly conducive to hiding him, so when people spotted him, they reacted by screaming at him. He reacted by blasting them with his energy attack. "Humans are so mean!" he said and stamped his foot and hid his face.

He let out a startled yelp when eight Origami Zords crashed into him, driving him backwards. He stared as they returned to the Samurai Rangers. "You again!" he snarled. He curled into a ball and began rolling around in an attempt to roll over the Rangers.

"Whoa!" Silver yelped. He flipped out his Morpher and quickly drew a Character in the air and activated it. A curved wall of metal appeared. Mari couldn't stop his roll. He was launched into the air.

"Uh-oh!"

Samurai Pink jumped and wrote a Character in the air and activated it. A localized cyclone of air wrapped around him and shot him to where Yellow and Green awaited.

"Now!" Green said. Yellow nodded. They each drew a Character in the air and activated the. Plant roots and dirt combined to create a stone wall reinforced by the roots. The Ayakashi crashed into it.

"Oi, oi, oi," Mari muttered as he stumbled around. He shook out his head. "That gave me a bit of a headache, but you'll have to do better than that, you meanies," he taunted and placed a thumb on his nose and waved his fingers at them.

Samurai Red stepped forward. "Believe me, we've got better," he said and gave an almost imperceptible nod to Samurai White.

She reached into her belt and pulled out her Hidden Disc. She slipped it onto her Sword's hilt and spun it. Flames began dancing around her blade. "Dancing Phoenix!" She swung her blade. A vaguely bird-shaped blast of fire. It enveloped Mari. His shell heated up so much it glowed red.

Samurai Blue took out his Hidden Disc and slipped it onto his Sword. Blue water energy began swirling around the blade. "Dancing ice shower!" He swung his Sword. Mari was enveloped in icy water.

"Whoo-oo-oo! That was cold!" Mari said and shook himself. "So mean, but so pointless!" he boasted. "My shell can--" There was the sudden sound of metal warping and being bent. "Ah! Aaahh! What?" he said and turned in circles trying to see behind him.

"Rapidly heating the cooling your metal shell has created structural weaknesses," Blue explained.

"Why you--!"

"One Hundred Rays of Light!" Samurai Gold moved forward, slashing at Mari with great rays of shining light and blue lightning, one hundred times at the speed of light. She jumped away as the build up of electrons arced.

"Nooo! Impossible!" Mari cried and exploded.

"Remember. Heat him up, cool him down," Red said as Mari grew into his second life.

"Now I can never hide! You'll regret this, Rangers!" Mari said and began to throw energy blasts indiscriminately.

The Rangers flipped out their Origami Zords and Morphers in pen-mode and drew the Large Characters above them. The Zords grew to full-size and their pilots appeared in their cockpits.

Samurai 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.

Samurai Red drew the Combine Character and activated it. The five core Zords came together to Form the Origami Megazord. The Batzord attached itself as wings. "United Under Providence!  Origami Megazord!"

Samurai White She then drew two Characters. Unite and Wolf. "Samurai Armament!" The Eaglezord broke apart and joined with the Wolf Megazord, forming wings, a helmet and a laser gun.

"United under Providence. Wolfwing Megazord!".

"Eagle Blaster, Flame Mode! Fire!" Samurai's White and Gold pushed forward on their Swords in the dual cockpit of the Megazord. The Eagle Blaster fired a stream of white-hot flames at the rampaging Ayakashi.

Inside the Origami Megazord cockpit Samurai Pink drew her Sword. She pulled out the Squid Disc Rena loaned to her. Squidzord appeared. "Samurai Armament!" The Squid Zord broke apart and attached to the Megazord, forming armor, shield and a lance. "United under Providence. Squid Origami Megazord!"


Pink but her Sword back into his console. "Squid Cannon! Fire!" She thrust her Sword forward and an icy vapor billowed out of the shield, rapidly cooling the Ayakashi!

"Not again!" Mari cried and blasted them with his energy blasted. They struck.

Red gritted his teeth. The Squidzord and Batzord detached from the Megazord. He drew True Character. The Bat, Squid, Tiger, Beetle and Swordfish combined into a massive cannon/shield in front of the Megazord. "Behold the Power of teamwork," he said and pushed forward his Sword slightly.

A target formed on the screen in front of them that allowed them to see and zeroed in on the Ayakashi. The Destroy Character flashed. "Giant Power Cannon! Fire!"

The cannon fired. With the integrity of his shell compromised, Mari stood no chance against the massive power of the Cannon. "How mean!" He said as he fell back, exploding.

There was a pause in the cockpit. Gold eventually cleared her throat.

"What?" White asked her curiously.

"You're supposed to say it!" Gold stated.

White rubbed her helmet for a brief moment. Then it hit her. "No way. I am not saying that," she denied.

"Say it!" Seven other voices commanded her at once.

She crossed her arms over her chest and let out a gusty sigh. "Fine," she muttered. "That brings this chapter to a close," she declared. Cheers went up and she found herself smiling, thankfully hidden by her helmet.

~*~

Sanzu River

shootari went to the hatch and looked out. To make sure he was seeing correctly, he went up on the deck of the Rokomon Junk. He gasped. "The Waters have never been so high!" he declared. He rubbed his hands together. It was time to bring Dayuu home and get Doukoku out of the Sanzu River. He just had to time things correctly.

He went back down to tell Doukoku the good new. His Lord would be pleased.

~*~

Tai and Saeko stood over the graves of their parents. "I wish I could have known them," she said quietly.

"I wish I could have known them better. All I have, really, is what Grandpa tells me," Tai explained. He turned and stepped aside as the old man shuffled up. For once he was not wearing his gaudy Hawaiian shirts and Bermuda shorts. Instead he wore a sedate tan suit and a bowtie. He put his hand on the tombstone of his only daughter.

"<Saeko looks so much like my daughter that I always knew who you were. I did not know how this could be, but I did not question. My Granddaughter had come back to me. An old man could not be happier,>" he told her and patted her arm.

Saeko smiled. She looked at both men and smiled. "I think I am happy as well," she said. It was really hard to tell with all the emotion bubbling around inside of her. "Wait, does this mean I'm related to Kane as well?" she asked.

Tai laughed and slung an arm over her shoulders as he pulled her off so Grandpa could have some alone time with his wife and daughter. "Just wait until you meet Marah and Kapri," he said. That sounded ominous. Well, whatever came her way, she'd just have to take it. She was prepared to do that for her...family.

~*End Act 25*~           

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