On Fire (Power Rangers Samurai)

83 - Criminal / Commotion

a/n

Lately, my story has been getting a lot of support, so I want to give a huge thank you to all of you! Thanks for 3,333 reads!

~~~

"We didn't have to dress in all black for this." Kevin felt embarrassed for him and his partners in crime. "We actually look like criminals."

Kevin, Mike, Mia, and Antonio were at the house Lauren was kept in. However, the 4 of them were crouching behind a bush in the backyard of the house.

"Of course the outfits are necessary!" Mike defended it. "When I was 8, I swore to myself that if I was going to do something criminal, I would do it so criminal that Michael Jac-"

"Please, shut up." Kevin begged as he wholeheartedly regretted his decisions.

"You know, the monks are going to know we are the ones who kidnapped Lauren anyway. There's no point in dressing like ninjas." Contrary to her statement, Mia was also dressed in all black.

"So should we just barge in?" Antonio suggested. He didn't get the memo and dressed in his casual wear, no black.

"Yeah, we should just morph and go samurai on their asses." Mike agreed, cracking his knuckles.

"You see! We don't even have a plan!" Kevin threw his hands up. His forehead wrinkled with the stress.

"We can just wing it, right? Do we know who's inside the house? Or where Lauren's room is?" Mike asked.

"Not at all." Antonio shrugged.

"Um, actually." Mia recalled a previous conversation with Lauren. "As far as I know, different mentors alternate living in the house back then. Also, there is a housekeeper that cares for Lauren."

"But it's hard to believe that such a small amount of people live in this huge building." Mia added.

The house was quite big. It looked about half the size of the Shiba House, which was a gigantic mansion before it caught on fire.

It would be odd if the only purpose of the building was to house the black ranger.

"Either way, this was going to be noisy." Kevin shook his head. "Let's just barge in and find her."

"That's the spirit Kev!" Mike patted his back.

"Hey wait..." Antonio looked up to a window on the 4th floor. "Over there, is that Lauren by that windowsill?"

It was. Lauren's short hair masked her face as she napped. Her head rested on the windowsill while one of her arms hung from the window.

"Is she asleep? That's dangerous..." Mike commented after he spotted her. "What an odd place to sleep."

"Yeah, you would think they'd keep a better watch on her. She's the black ranger.." Kevin shook his head.

"Mia, what are you doing?" Kevin noticed that she was beginning to climb up a pillar of the building.

"Remember that scene in Mulan where they have to get an arrow from the very top of a pillar." Mia spoke as she climbed with her sweater wrapped around the pillar.

"Yeah, they were singing I'll Make a Man Out of You." Mike caught on to Mia's plan.

"Um hello? That was fictional! You're going to fall." Kevin became anxious.

"No no. She just needs to climb up to the second floor. Then jump on that windowsill. Then climb up that other pillar to the third floor. Jump on that windowsill. Climb that pillar. Then window hop until she reaches Lauren." Antonio murmured as he observed the building.

"I can't watch, I can't." Kevin closed his eyes right after Mia made the first jump to that windowsill on the second floor.

"Keep your eyes open, we'll have to catch her if she falls." Mike bonked Kevin on the head, who accepted the punishment without fighting back.

"Do any of you guys know a cushion symbol?" Kevin asked, still feeling uneasy.

"I can create a shrub with symbol power." Mike responded.

"Wow that's great Mike. We'll have Mia fall 50 feet (15 meters) into a shrub." Antonio's sarcastic remark prompted Mike to dunk Antonio's head.

"Wait, where is she?" As Antonio and Mike fought, they lost track of Mia.

"I don't know." Kevin admitted.

"You kept your eyes closed?!" Mike kicked Kevin, who again accepted the punishment.

"Wait look," Antonio pointed upward. "Lauren is not hanging off that window anymore. Mia's probably in there with her."

~~~

Mia climbed through the large window, making sure to not bump into Lauren as she slept.

When she entered the room, she was fascinated by how similar it was to her room in the Shiba House. It had the same setup and was just as empty looking.

"Lauren." Mia gently placed her hand on Lauren's shoulder in an attempt to wake her up. "You're so cold."

She was only wearing a cropped tank top and sweatpants.

"Please wake up." Mia didn't feel like lifting Lauren after climbing the building, especially since her injury from the battle with Exspira still felt off. But she decided she had no choice.

Making sure to be careful with Lauren's injured shoulder, Mia wrapped one of Lauren's arms around her and dragged her towards her bed.

Right after laying Lauren down, Mia was about to tuck Lauren in but stopped when she heard a noise.

There was a slight commotion at the door and the jingling sounds of keys. Someone was about to open the door.

Mia wasn't sure what to do. Should she hide or plan to attack?

Mia chose to frantically run into Lauren's closet as the door cracked open and a stranger entered the room.

As Mia peeped through the gap between the closet doors, she saw a woman place a tray of food on Lauren's nightstand.

Mia assumed this was Lauren's caretaker, but her appearance said otherwise.

Her saturated orange hair was bright and contrasted with her navy blue pajamas. Tattoos ran fluidly down her fingertips and ankles, alluding that she had ink all over her body.

The thing that angered Mia was that this woman was smoking. She had to have known that Lauren had asthma, but there she was, blowing smoke into the room.

But what truly threw Mia off was the loving look on the woman's face as she straightened up Lauren's body and tucked her in comfortably.

Mia was so invested in observing their interaction that she accidentally made a tiny commotion in the closet.

"Who's there?" The woman spoke in a deadly tone as she pointed a pistol towards the closet, flicking the safety catch off.