Chapter 16: Ultimate Samurai

Prince of the Underground

Beneath Angel Grove

Days after the Second Countdown to Destruction

The Vorlock tunnels still trembled from the aftershocks of the battle between the Mogralord and Earth's champions. Prince Brai walked through those tunnels along with his father, Emperor Zarui. Zarui wore dark robes of green and gold that matched the color of his mask.

"I don't understand..." Brai said. "The fighting stopped...so why are the tunnels still shaking?"

"They shake because the Earth is broken," Zarui said. "Those on the surface have injured their own planet to the core of its existence..."

Brai shook his head with disbelief. "How could they let that happen?"

"We let that happen," Zarui said. "We were the First of Men, and we hid our presence. We've stayed hidden since the Great Frost, but instead of hiding, we should have been leading. It was our destiny."

Zarui looked upward, as if staring through the tunnel ceiling to the surface above. "Maybe now they'll finally understand..."

"Understand what?" Brai asked.

"The need for peace. Stability," Zarui said. "The battle above nearly wiped them out. Surely they understand by now that their actions are driving the world to an end..."

"But they're savages..." Brai said.

Zarui said. "They are...But perhaps they can change, with the proper guidance. Our guidance. We are a people of honor. A concept they've lost through their 'evolution' above."

"What are you saying?" Brai asked.

"You know as well as I do that our people grow restless. Your generation isn't as content as others to stay hidden in the shadows," Zarui said. "They're intrigued by the world above. Maybe now is the time to make ourselves known to that world."

"You wouldn't!" a voice shouted from the shadows. They turned to see Lal walking towards them. "They'd wipe us all out!"

"Lal..." Zarui said with disappointment. "You are so much like your mother."

"She was a great woman," Lal said.

"She was quite insane," Zarui said.

"You can't expose us to the surface," Lal said.

"My dear, you misunderstand," Zarui said. "First we must see if they are ready to accept us and truly change."

"But how?" Brai asked.

"You," Zarui said as he looked to his son. "You're not like the others of our people, Brai. You are innocent and pure. That innocence will lend itself well to truly understanding the spirit of the world above."

"You mean..." Brai started, then shook his head. "No one's been to the surface since...No one's been to the surface."

"It's time to change that," Zarui said. "I want you to go, learn what you can, and report back."

"Just like that?" Brai asked.

"No..."Zarui said. "We will prepare first. Come...there is much to discuss."

They turned and left Lal standing alone in the darkness. The girl tightened her fists and narrowed her brow with disdain. "The fools..."

Lal left her father and brother and walked into the deepest tunnels of the Vorlock. Her people evolved in the darkness, so her eyes allowed her to view the infrared spectrum. Heated stones lined her descent, to where she would meet the White Skins.

An offshoot of the Vorlock, the White Skins evolved somewhat differently. They still looked human, but their skin appeared chalk-white, and their eyes solid black. The various Vorlock tribes often skirmished with the White Skins over territory, food and water.

Lal entered a dome-shaped cavern and looked to the center of the room, where a White Skin waited. He stood tall and strong, with a black cloak wrapped around his powerful body. He held a black staff that he leaned on, not for support, but to extend his senses through the tunnels and caverns.

"You're late," the White Skin said.

"Do you want a false apology? To waste more of your time?" Lal asked.

"Speak carefully, girl..." the White Skin said. "I could crush you with a thought."

"I know," Lal said. "That's why I came to you. You have strength. You have power. A kind of strength and power my people seem to have outgrown, unfortunately."

"You have only your father to blame," the White Skin said.

"I know that," Lal spat. "Now that he's united the tribes of our people, he's looking above. To the surface. The fool wants peace and stability..."

"Some would call that an admirable pursuit," the White Skin said.

"It's foolish," Lal said. "Even now that he's united the Vorlock Tribes, our people still war against one another. Peace and stability are unnatural - they exist nowhere. To pursue such a fantasy leaves us weak and vulnerable."

A blood thirsty grin crossed the White Skin's face. "What would you have me do?"

"You know the answer to that," Lal said.

"I do," the White Skin said. "But say it.Say it."

"Kill my father," Lal said. "Take his throne. Restore the strength to my people."

"Have you formed a plan?" the White Skin asked.

"Yes," Lal said. "We disguise you as one of us. A true Vorlock-"

The White Skin slammed the end of his staff against the ground. "Iam a true Vorlock! My mother was royalty. A queen..."

"And your father a White Skin rapist," Lal said.

"The Vorlock aremy people," the White Skin said. "Do not forget my true face, my niece. Or my true name."

"I have forgotten neither," Lal said. "Kraigen..."

Lal waited months for her brother Brai to finally finish preparing and leave for the surface.

The princess walked into the chambers of her father, who stared silently at a stone mural.

Emperor Zarui didn't bother turning to face his daughter. "Leave me,Lal." He spoke her name with venom in his voice. "I don't wish to hear any more of your prattling."

"Prattling?" Lal asked.

"I said leave," Zarui said again.

Lal lingered near the doorway. "You've always hated me, father. Haven't you?"

"You remind me of her," Zarui said. "Your mother.A witch of a woman."

Lal clenched her jaw. "Very well," she said. "I've come here to give you one last chance. Send for my brother. Allow him to return. And end your foolish quest to make ourselves known to the surface."

Zarui sighed with agitation. "I said leave...you pathetic little wench."

Lal's heart hardened. "Very well...Goodbye, father."

She stepped back and left the room while saying a single name. "Kraigen."

Emperor Zarui snapped around at the sound of his half-brother's name.

Kraigen had already rushed through the doorway with his staff in hand. The villain plunged the staff through his brother's chest with a burst of spark.

Zarui grabbed the staff and tried pulling it free. But Kraigen snarled and pushed the weapon further through his half-brother's chest. The villain stepped close enough so that his face was mere inches away from Zarui's.

"Long live the emperor," Kraigen said mockingly.

He pulled his staff free and sliced off the emperor's head.

Lal felt nothing for the loss of her father. He hated her. And she despised him. He was an embarrassment to his people.

Kraigen would spend the next few months forcing the Vorlock tribes under his control, with promises of power and greatness. She didn't care much for her uncle either.

Lal stood on the highest rooftops of Angel Grove and looked down at the city beneath her. Vaelel suddenly leapt onto the rooftop and landed at Lal's side. 

"Juzou cured the Red Ranger," Vaelel reported.

"Of course he did..." Lal said. "My brother's a fool...even as a demon."

"What now?" Vaelel said.

"Now...we wait," Lal said. "My former brother seems determined to fight the Red Ranger. So let's let them fight. I'll have my revenge, no matter who wins."

Master Xandred hurled a bolt of fire that knocked Dayu onto the deck. "I told you to kill Juzou and the Vorlock! And you come back without even drawing your sword? What is the meaning of this?"

The squid-like Shitari waddled to Dayu's side. "Master...Even Dayu can't defeat Juzou in a one-on-one battle." He looked to Dayu. "Apologize, Dayu..."

Dayu lifted her gaze to meet Xandred. "If you're angry, then cut me down."

Master Xandred looked taken aback as Dayu continued. "Ever since I fell to the Gedoushuu, my whole body has been devoted to a single emotion. All this time, stuck...just like the mud...." She rubbed her hand along her precious shamisen as she spoke. "Cut me down. Break my emotions into pieces! This is the only thing I wish for..."

"Hmm," Xandred grunted as he crouched next to Dayu. "You seem intent on that."

He grabbed the shamisen from her hands, ignited the instrument with flames and tossed it to the deck. Dayu dove frantically for the instrument and smothered its flames with her robe.

"Dayu..." Xandred said as he stood. "Do you really think you can be free of your service so easily? No....you can never leave him."

The damaged shamisen sizzled with smoke. Dayu rubbed her hand along the instrument's scorch marks and cracks. "No..." she said. "No...I'll save you...I will."

She cradled the shamisen in her arms as she ran from the deck.

"Dayu!" Shitari called after her.

"Shitari..." Xandred said as he sat casually on his mat. "Summon him: Yumebakura."

"What is your plan, master?" Shitari said.

Xandred looked aside and said nothing.

Juzou crouched on the rooftops. The demon warrior leapt through a streak of motion and landed on the street below. A car honked its horn and swerved to avoid the demon. But Juzou unsheathed his sword and slashed through a streak of energy that cut the car in half with a massive explosion.

"Come...Samurai Red..." he whispered.

The alarms blared in Ops. Tommy sent the Samurai team into the city to face Juzou. But by the time they arrived, Juzou was gone.

"Well..." Samurai Green said as he looked around the vacated street. "This was pointless."

"He killed someone," Samurai Red said as he looked towards the demolished car in the middle of the street. "Just like he said he would..."

The Red Ranger tightened his grip on his sword. Bryce - no, Juzou - had killed. And it was all his fault.

Dayu watched the Rangers from the shadows. She clutched her shamisen and waited. She knew she needed the despair of humans to repair the instrument. But she wasn't sure how to make that happen. She felt helpless. Useless. What could she do to fix her beloved?

The demon's mind flashed back.

1495 AD, Japan

Dayu possessed a woman named Usuyuki and lived within her body for years. The woman served as a shamisen player and watched a man named Shinza from afar. Dayu grew to admire Shinza for his strength and handsomeness.

But Shinza loved another woman. Dayu had tried to leave Usuyuki and overtake the other woman. But the other woman was too pure for possession.

So Dayu turned to other methods.

The demon waited until Shinza's nighttime wedding ceremony. Dayu ignited a torch and stalked towards the wedding hut. She slid the rice-paper door open, to where Shinza and his bride kneeled as part of their wedding ceremony.

Shinza opened his eyes wide with horror. "Usuyuki..."

Dayu slid the door shut and dropped the torch. The hut erupted into flames as the wedding guests scrambled to escape. They tried to slide open the doors. But Dayu used her demonic energy to seal the exits shut.

Smoke quickly filled the hut as flames lashed up the walls and across the floor. The wedding guests choked on the smoke and collapsed, as did Shinza and his bride.

Dayu walked slowly towards Shinza and kneeled at his side. "Shinza...I waited all this time for you to come to me. Now…once again...I am alone..."

Shinza squirmed weakly and reached towards his fallen bride.

Dayu shook with rage. "Even in the end, you do not choose me?" She grabbed his hand and cradled him in her arms. "No...we were not together in life. But we will be together in death..."

Shinza rasped his last breaths. "Usuyuki..." he whispered. "Forgive me...I..."

"Shut up...Shut up!" Dayu shouted.

Her power surged through her body and into Shinza, who pulsed with crimson light. The light completely enveloped him as he transformed into Dayu's shamisen. Shinza's moans of despair wailed from the demon's instrument.  

Teddy met with Tommy alone in Ops. The teen paced back and forth with his hands rolled into fists. He had just learned the demolished car was driven by a single mother and her three children. They didn't survive.

"I'm starting to think you're right..." Teddy said. "That attack was my fault. He killed that family to get to me."

"You can't blame yourself," Tommy said.

"Wouldn't you?" Teddy asked.

"I'm not really the best example when it comes to guilt," Tommy said.

"This isn't funny."

"I wasn't joking," Tommy said.

Teddy stopped pacing and turned to face his brother. "He'll do it again tomorrow if I don't stop him," he said. "How can I do that? How can I fight him?"

The alarms suddenly blared. The computer monitor tuned into a flare of demonic energy near the shore. Teddy recognized the energy signature immediately.

"Juzou..." Teddy said. "He's challenging me."

Teddy stared at the monitor. He wasn't ready to let go of hope he could save Bryce from the demon he had become. But he knew he couldn't go another day without fighting the demon, or someone else would die. Juzou had vowed to kill an innocent every day until Teddy agreed to a duel. 

"He's gone..." Teddy whispered. "Isn't he?"

Tommy nodded. "I'm sorry..."

Teddy shook his head. "Don't be. I'm getting this over with..."

Teddy stepped out of the dojo to find the other rangers standing near the steps. At first he thought they meant to stop him or dissuade him from going off alone. Then he realized from their posture and expressions that they meant to send him off. To support him.

He looked to Anthony, who nodded with support, as did Bradin.

Ryan stepped forward reluctantly. "I wanted to stop you..."

"But you're not going to try," Teddy said.

"No..." Ryan said. "You need to do this. Even if I don't like it..."

They heard the alarms blare from within the dojo.

"Now?" Anna asked.

Tommy rushed outside. "Guys, trouble..."

Ryan looked to Teddy. "Leave the Ayakashi to us," he said. "We don't know how long Juzou will wait for you..."

Teddy nodded. He reached in his back pocket, pulled out the Samurai Seal, and handed the black box to Ryan. "Here...Take this. And be careful."

"You too," Ryan said.

Teddy ran off to face Juzou, as the other rangers ran to stop the Ayakashi.

The Ayakashi named Yumebakura stomped through the streets.