On Fire (Power Rangers Samurai)

33 - Introduction / Conditioned

It was after Antonio and Mia woke up from their nap. Mia had finally ate a real meal and took a hot shower.

All of the rangers had gathered together in the living room at night. Everyone looked at Lauren expectantly, awaiting her introduction.

    "So," Mike asked as he crossed his arms and leaned back on the couch. "Who the heck are you?"

"Jayden seems to know." Antonio pointed out.

Lauren looked at Jayden before standing up. Her short black hair tipped as she leaned forward to bow.

    "My name is Lauren Shiba. I am the black samurai ranger and Jayden's twin sister." She spoke straightforwardly.

    Her voice was plain and downplayed the shock her identity delivered.

Everyone gasped as they looked from Lauren to Jayden to Lauren to Jayden and then to each other.

"I'm sorry. Did you say twin sister?" Antonio was surprised. He of all people would've known about Lauren, but he had no clue.

"Black ranger?" Emily questioned. "I thought that was just a legend in the archives."

"Wasn't that lineage wiped out?" Kevin mentioned. "The tiger zord didn't have an owner for centuries."

"Yeah," Emily replied. "How is Lauren the black ranger?"

"A couple of decades ago, the black ranger's samuraizer had been uncovered and activated." Jayden explained. "The monks wanted to choose a new successor as the black ranger. I was told that when we were born, the monks knew straight away that Lauren was destined to take the role."

"Why is she only here now?" Mike asked. "Shouldn't she have been fighting with us from the start?"

"I am here now because I was told that it was my time to join you all by my mentor. I went straight to Jayden's location using my samuraizer. That was when I joined the fight against Dayu." Lauren told the rangers.

"In fact, she was the one who saved Mia and us all in the end." Jayden told the rangers. "Lauren is different from us. As a ranger, she has her own special duty. She was trained separately and intensively to carry it out... It is not my job to lead her."

"This is a lot to take in." Kevin still couldn't believe there was another ranger among them that they never knew about.

"Yeah, no kidding." Mike rubbed the temples of his head in circular motions.

"How come we didn't know about Lauren earlier?" Emily asked.

Jayden was silent. He knew very well why it was a secret but he wasn't at liberty to say it.

"I wanted it that way." Lauren plainly told the rangers before getting up and leaving. She left simply because she didn't want to answer any more questions and she wanted to get some work done.

    "Damn." Mike said what everyone except Jayden was thinking.

Lauren had no intention of being rude or dramatic and didn't know that she could've came across that way.

Jayden didn't expect her to reveal that it was her decision to keep it a secret. He knew that the topic was a very sensitive one and Lauren would avoid it to death.

The reason why Lauren decided to keep it a secret was a whole other discussion.

"I have a favor to ask all of you." Jayden stood before all of the rangers. "Please, can you all become good friends with Lauren?"

The rangers all silently listened to Jayden. They were all curious about his request, especially since Lauren seemed independent and rude.

Jayden began, "As soon as Lauren could put a crayon against paper, she was taught to draw symbols. After she could properly stand on her feet, she was trained to fight. And when we turned 7, we were separated. Her entire life revolved around strengthening her symbol power."

"Basically," Jayden sighed. "She is perfectly conditioned to fight against nighlok. She never got a chance to understand friendship or love."

    To deal with the nighlok, there was no other choice but to exploit Lauren and her talents.

    For the sake of the world, someone had to suffer.

The monks deliberately isolated her so that she could be a laser-focused warrior.

"I want her to experience happiness." Jayden smiled sadly, already knowing what was to come in the future. "She's a little awkward, but always means well. Please be patient with her."