Chapter 27 - Knowledge is Power

It was obvious to Daiki Singuji that Saeko was better at tracking than he was. Granted his excursions into the wilderness were always in keeping with his bushido training, not hunting and tracking. Saeko, however, seems to have existed with Juzou by hunting and tracking. She was still determined to locate Dayuu. He volunteered to go with her to the last place she saw the Gedoushu.

He stood on a small boulder and looked at the torn up patches of dried mud. He could see there had been a scuffle of some sort but not much else beyond that. Saeko herself was crouched on the ground studying them as intently as he did a particularly tricky bit of ancient texts. He crossed his arms over his chest and watched her.

"I see the tracks we left, Rena, Kii and I," she said finally, pointing. He could see some disturbances in the ground, but how she knew to whom they belonged escaped him. Not many things escaped him so this was rather interesting. He nodded, waiting for her to continue. "This set of tracks belongs to Dayuu. You see by the weight and shape where she changed from her human form to her Gedou form. She's larger and heavier in that form," she explained.

He nodded again. "That makes sense," he said. She nodded; trying not to be too pleased he was paying attention and listening intently. He wasn't known for his patience after all. Especially not with her while training. Do you see these? How they have no coming or going?" she asked and gestured to some spots, deeper in places depending on the firmness of the ground, and large.

"Nanashi?" he asked her.

She gave a firm nod. "They found her. She didn't put up much of a fight either, surprisingly. But what is troubling to me is this area here," she said and moved a few paces away. "Something large appeared. Probably whoever has been hunting her. That's to be expected, but look here," she gestured. He looked and tried to look as though he saw what she pointing at so intently.

She snorted. He actually couldn't fool her when it came to that. "Here, smaller lighter footsteps. This one has a human form as well," she said and bit her lip.

Daiki sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose under his glasses. "That doesn't sound good. So whoever was hunting Dayuu finally found her. He was powerful enough to capture her without much of a fuss. He also has a human form. We'd better tell Tai," he said. "I'm sorry but it looks as though you've been robbed of your revenge," he said.

Saeko frowned at the ground. "I'll get my chance. For some reason Uncle believed that she was Doukoku's favored pet. I doubt he's killed her," she said.

Daiki shrugged as turned to start back toward home. He frowned slightly. When did he start thinking of this place as home?

~*~

Sanzu River

shootari and the grinning Akumaro glanced at the closed door of Doukoku's cabin. Absolutely no sound had emerged since Dayuu was brought in. Shaking off a strange sense of foreboding, Akumaro nosed around in shootari's research. "What is all this?" he asked pleasantly enough.

shootari stroked his tentacles. "A puzzle," he answered. "Lost tomes and lost musings. I'm missing something, however, the key to everything, but I have scoured the far corners of the Sanzu River and haven't found the information I need," he explained.

"What information is it you need?" Akumaro queried.

"The key to who Doukoku is, how he got here and how to send him back," shootari said flatly. "He's on the verge of erupting and if he does while the River is still too low to break through to the Human World, and then we will all be destroyed," he explained flatly.

Akumaro stroked his chin thoughtfully. "We need The Library. We must find the Librarian to let us in," he declared.

shootari bobbed his head. "Yes. The Library. If it exists," he said flatly.

"I will endeavor to find out," he said and went up to the deck of the Rokumon Junk.

shootari was nodding to himself. "And I shall continue to work on the raising of the Waters," he declared. He glanced at the door again, wondering what could be happening on the other side. He decided he really didn't want to know.

~*~

Tai and the other Rangers sat around his study. Billie was displayed on the monitor. They had listened to what Saeko had to tell them. "So she's a factor once again. And a very volatile one at that," he commented. "Something has to change," he said and rubbed his eyes. This business didn't end just because he had finally asked Lani to marry him.

"Actually, I was thinking," Daiki said, "that perhaps the key to this may lay hidden in the stricken records of the Shiba's past," he said quietly.

Rex cocked his head. "You mean the way Hiro Shiba was completely written out of history?" he asked.

"That makes sense," Billie said. "Who knows what else some arrogant Japanese Lord felt the need to have destroyed from history. No offense Tai," she added.

"Tai is not an arrogant Japanese Lord," Lani defended faithfully. "He's an arrogant Red Ranger who just happens to be a Japanese Lord," she added with an impish grin.

"Hard won, I might say. If you'll recall there was a time he couldn't string three words together in front of you unless it was official Red Ranger business," Rex pointed out.

Kane snickered. He cleared his throat. "I don't mean to point out the obvious but hey, that's usually my lot; how do you intend to find ancient Japanese records that were, as you've all said, destroyed?" he asked.

Kiari bit her lip. "That's what I don't understand either," she admitted quietly.

"I'm with them," Rena agreed.

"He wouldn't have mentioned it if he didn't have some idea," Saeko pointed out. She pursed her lips and looked at Daiki expectantly.

"That's the easy part. He and Fox went on for hours about old languages and stuff. Fox told him all about the Library," Rex remarked.

"What does the library have to do with it? Last I checked you can't find lost Japanese texts at your local library," Rena remarked.

Lani shook her. "The Library. Capital L. It's this place that Lammy discovered. It's where all the information ever written down and recorded is stored. So even though some arrogant Japanese lord may have decided something that happened didn't and had everything destroyed doesn't mean the records no longer exist," she explained.

"Such a place really exists?" Kiari asked, awed.

Billie nodded. "Lammy was the destined Librarian, a guardian of its knowledge. Only she can take anyone into the Library and she has to be there at the same time. It's not just Earth either; it's anywhere written language exists. It's vast," she explained.

"Impressive," Saeko commented. She rather liked books and libraries personally.

"So when she says she's a librarian, she means it with a capital L, huh?" Kane remarked.

Daiki spoke up. "I wanted to visit it anyway, but as Fox told me more about it, I began to think if that were true, then any records pertaining to Hiro Shiba would be there. I started to wonder what else had been lost or destroyed over the past two thousand years," he said.

"That's a long time to not accrue a fair amount of secrets," Rex commented.

"Exactly," Tai agreed, nodding slightly to himself. "Daiki, do you need help?" he asked.

Daiki considered that. "I'll need someone to fetch and carry," he said honestly. It would take time to decipher unfamiliar dialects of ancient Japanese. "It's going to take more than a few hours. Could take days. Weeks," he said.

Tai nodded. "I am well aware of that. We'll all be available to you on an as needed basis. I want you to start immediately, however. Billie--"

"Contacting Lammy to let her know," she answered and turned away from the screen. "Will have her contact Daiki ASAP," she promised and the screen went blank.

Tai rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Until something else changes, that's our task then. Information. The more the better," he said. He checked the time. "Ok. Break time is over," he said.

Everyone began to drift out of the study to prepare for their afternoon classes.

Lani remained behind and closed the door behind them. "Still a couple of hours before my next class. I happen to know a stressed out arrogant Japanese Lord who needs to relax a little," she said with a smile.

Tai smiled tiredly. "Then I suggest we go somewhere more relaxing, my bride-to-be," he said as he stood up. Her pulled her close to him and kissed her cheek. She giggled and nodded and led him out of his study.

~*~

Saeko glared over her language arts workbook at Daiki. They were in a private booth at the Youth Center. They had returned for the umpteenth time from a trip to the Library. He was surrounded by ancient texts and studying them with a thoughtful frown.

The Library was frankly amazing. It was vast but more organized than he could have imagined. Lammy had managed to fairly quickly lead him to the section he needed. Japan, two thousand years ago. He couldn't say why but he had a feeling that some answers lay in the very beginning of the Shiba Clan. Tai agreed. Even Hikomi-san had no records from that time, just later recordings of word of mouth legends.

Daiki knew that there was truth in every legend. The trick was to separate the truth from the myth. After a week, he was getting closer. He was allowed to take things out of the library but Lammy had warned him that they would automatically be returned seven days later. She warned him not to let them do that because they didn't reappear where they were supposed to go. They ended up on a table labeled 'Returns' and she had to put them back herself.

Being the Librarian, it seemed, wasn't all glamorous.

"Why are you glaring at me?" he asked without looking up from his reading. This text he found might just lead him to the answers he needed. He was trying not to get too excited, however. Just because it spoke of twin samurai who traveled the countryside slaying creatures trying to break into the world from another didn't mean anything. Right? Bloody hell, he needed the names.

Saeko narrowed her eyes. "Why did you give me so much work to do?" she demanded.

"Because I've spent every spare minute I have studying ancient texts and you've been slacking off. I can't seem to trust anyone else make you do your lessons. Tai lets you off easy because he's trying to make up for all the years he missed as a brother. Kane is next to useless and actually encourages your slacking off. Rena as well and you just roll over poor Kii-chan. Only Lani and Rex seem to be able to make you do something besides read. Reading is all well and good, but writing and spelling are just as important, not to mention basic math skills beyond adding and subtracting. And everyone needs to have some rudimentary science--"

"You've made you're point," she snapped and went back to her workbook, not to quietly grumbling and heaping insults on his head.

He just smirked slightly and pushed his glasses up his nose. That's when he noticed a passage. It was more about the twin brothers.

"You work too much," she declared finally.

He finally looked up this time. "Beg pardon?" he asked with a frown.

"I didn't stutter. You heard me. You. Work. Too. Much," she stated, saying each word slowly. "All this time, you never take any time off unless it's forced on you by Tai. Usually even in your down time, you're working. Deny it all you want, translating some obscure this or that is still working even if you think it's fun," she declared. "And you're a loner. You never go anywhere with anyone that isn't one of us," she declared.

"And you'd know that because you've been watching me that long I take it?" he asked.

Saeko nodded. "Uncle and I were already here. He was already keeping an eye on Tai," she answered.

"Of course you were," he mumbled. "I prefer my own company. I like translating ancient texts and people, as a general rule, are annoying as hell and I prefer to associate with a few new people as possible," he stated and tried to go back to his reading. "Now go back to work and quit trying to distract me from the fact that you're procrastinating," he said.

Saeko snorted and went back to her work with a pout. She was glad of the reprieve when Lammy came over with a couple of coffee drinks for them. Tall and dark for Daiki, creamy and foamy for Saeko. "You both looked like you needed some," she explained with a smile.

Daiki nodded his thanks and went back to his reading, engrossed more than ever now.

He was just about to turn the page with Lammy gasped and turned toward the doors. "Go. Hurry," she said moments before people ran passed the Youth Center windows.

Saeko readily dropped her workbook and was out the door, Daiki was right on her heels.

Lammy sighed and sat down in the seat Daiki vacated. "I'll just keep an eye on this stuff," she declared to herself.

"Perhaps I can be of assistance in that regard."

Lammy glanced up at the man who came toward her. Dealing with Daiki was actually a bit of a pleasant experience. He always seemed to have better things on his mind than stare at her boobs or flirt with her, which every man and teenaged boy she dealt with seemed to do; with a few exceptions, mainly her past team mates. She pasted a pleasant smile on her face as this strangely too pretty Asian man approached her, giving her what she was sure he thought was a charmingly subtle once over. "I doubt it, but thank you for the offer," she said benignly.

Akumaro cocked his head. The Librarian was going to be a tough one. Well, he did enjoy a challenge. It seemed to figure that she would be an ally of the Power Rangers. "Well, perhaps you could take me to the source," he suggested as he took the seat the little white one vacated.

Lammy raised a brow. "The Angel Grove Metropolitan Library is open for everyone's use," she said coyly.

Akumaro shook his head. "I want to visit The Library," he said simply.

"I told you--"

"Don't play coy with me, Miss Goldsmith. I know who you are," he said with his smile still in place.

"No, sugar. I don't think you do," she said, falling into her mimic of her older brother's country drawl. "And I damn sure don't know who you are so I'll thank you to go on your way now," she said and pasted a sugary smile on her face.

"I could make you. Nothing says the Librarian can't be forced to bring someone in," he said, keeping his voice level.

Lammy laughed and gathered up all Daiki's things. "I invite you to try," she said. "I don't believe I quite caught your name," she said.

Akumaro put his sunglasses back on. "This isn't over," he said and stood up, walking out the door.

Lammy frowned. There were always shifty types trying to get to the information in The Library. She bit her lip. She didn't know if this one had anything to do with the Samurai Rangers or not but she'd keep an eye on that guy anyway.

~*~

Futagawara was a gluttonous Ayakashi that looked like somewhat like a hammerhead shark with mouths for hands. He was chasing down people, his arms stretching forward as his other mouths gobbled up anything they could wrap their lips around.

Daiki and Saeko ran out and headed him off. "Gedoushu! This is where your rampage ends!" Daiki said.

"Out of my way. I'm starvin' mon!" Futagawara said and extended his arms.

Saeko flipped out her Morpher but when Daiki went to do the same, he realized he still the ancient texts in his hand. He fumbled and one of the monster's arms hit him. He dropped both his Morpher and the text. Futagawara gobbled them up.

"The texts!"

"Your Morpher!"

Futagawara had difficulty swallowing the Morpher. "Erg! You fed me something weird, mon!" he snarled. He lashed out to attack Daiki.

Samurai White slashed at the Ayakashi. "Oh, no you don't," she said and knocked him back. Daiki got to his feet. He realized he couldn't even summon his Hidden Sword without his Morpher. Damn.

"Get out of my way! I'm starvin'!" he said and stretched his arms out again.

"Sounds like it's time for you to go on a diet," Samurai Red appeared and slashed at one of his arms.

"You're lookin' a bit pudgy," Samurai Silver agreed and slashed at the other arm.

Sparking and in pain, Futagawara stumbled back. He looked around to see he was surrounded by Samurai Rangers. "You're all ruinin' me meal, mon. I'm so out," he declared and disappeared into a storage drain.

"He ran away!" Green declared and cocked his head. "Really quickly," he added with a frown in his voice.

"I don't know whether or not to be glad," Gold remarked.

"Trust me, it wasn't a good thing. That thing ate his Morpher," Samurai white said and pointed her Sword at Daiki.

"We'll just have to get it back," Yellow declared.

"If it hasn't been digested," Green pointed out.

"My main concern is less the Morpher and more the texts he ate. I have to tell Lammy," Daiki said and began running back toward to the Youth Center.

"Go," Red said to White. She nodded and followed him, dropping her morph as she went.

"This isn't good," Pink said.

"No. It's not," Red agreed. "Let's go," he declared and they teleported.

~*~

Akumaro leaned against a building nearby. Maybe he'd gone about things the wrong way. The little blue boy seemed to be very interested in that particular manuscript. Maybe he was on to something. Then it was simple. All he had to do was get the texts away from Futagawara first. shootari would get over it if a crucial piece of information was revealed.

He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. Though, truth be told, Futagawara didn't really get interesting until his second life. He grinned, reminiscent of his true form. Futagawara would be back. He could wait. Stuffing his hands in the pockets of his suit pants he began walking away.

~*~

Daiki sat back and rubbed the back of his neck. He decided not to take anything from the Library again, so he sat at a desk piled high with texts and manuscripts, but nothing else was remotely even telling him about the twins from the ones that Ayakashi ate.

He couldn't believe this. He took off his glasses and rubbed his face.

Rex glanced up from where he instant messaging Melody on his smart phone. "It is ok to take a break you know," he remarked. "You've been at this for three shifts already," he declared.

"I don't see anyone else with the skills necessary to translate this stuff," Daiki stated snappishly.

Rex just raised a brow. "True, but no one says you have to work yourself to death. We'll figure out a way to get your Morpher back and those texts you're so anxious about. Even Lammy says they'll be returned after seven days if we can't," he said and looked down to answer a message from Melody.

Daiki put his glasses back on. "You're the second person in as many days to imply that I am somehow lacking in outside amusements," he stated tightly. He picked up a random text with a snap of paper.

Rex snorted. "You are. But that's ok. Studying old languages is fun for you. But you do need to learn to carve out time for other things. I get that you probably aren't used to the fact that Tai does not require you to devote your entire life to him, but I suggest you get used it. Don't put things off either. If there's something you want to do, do it. Being a Power Ranger is serious business. There's never a guarantee that we'll win," he said.

"It's up to every person to find that balance between themselves and being a Power Ranger. Listen to me on this one. I know. I am Destiny Boy and I go where that dog needs me to be. Every situation was different. Figuring school, training, girls and Ranger business. On Mirinoi, it was Mel, school, TVSec training and Ranger business. I could go on but you probably get the point. There are high points and there are low points.

"What I'm trying to say is don't let one thing consume you to exclusive of all else. Get me?" he asked. He grimaced. "Sorry, Tai is much better at the Leader Boy, chin up speeches. That's why he wears the Red and I never will," he said and got to his feet. "Going for coffee. Need any?" he asked.

Daiki was mulling over his words. He thought about what Rex had said. "Oh, yes please," he answered absently.

"Oh, and if it was Saeko who pointed this out to you; she's was probably trying to provoke you. Next time don't be afraid to point out to her that the only R&R she ever seems to choose to do is sit around and read trashy romance novels," Rex called back as he disappeared around a towering bookshelf.

Daiki ran a hand through his hair. He had to admit, that was probably true. He grimaced. He'd let her get to him. He grumbled and went back to his reading. Still, that didn't mean she was entirely wrong. But, while he could see the point, he knew now was definitely not the time to be distracted.

He blinked and reread the passage he'd just read. He almost missed it because he'd been distracted. He jumped up and ran to the section of the library he'd gotten the text from.

~*~

Futagawara slipped out of the cracks of a parking facility. "I'm still so hungry, mon. Hmm, that be lookin' tasty," he stretched out an arm and bit off a hunk of a cement pillar. There was an ominous rumble that that Ayakashi didn't notice as he devoured the concrete. "I want more," he said and stretched his arm out to take another hunk of concrete from the pillar. He munched on it while he wandered out of the parking garage.

~*~

Rex had finally gotten to counter of his favorite coffee place when his communicator beeped. He eyes dropped into a glare at the clerk, daring him to say something. He pulled it out of his pocket. "Rex here," he said in clipped tones, still nonverbally daring the impatient to say something snappy.

"The Ayakashi reappeared. Sending you the coordinates now," Billie stated.

"Ok. I'll get Daiki and be right there," he said. He closed the phone and slipped it back into his pocket. He made the universal sign of "I have my eye on you," to the clerk and ducked out of line to retrieve Daiki from the Library. He had little doubt that they managed to figure out a way to get his Morpher back.

~*~

Futagawara was chasing a poor businessman down a street of a professional area. "Hey, get back here and feed me, mon," he said. Dick Worthing tripped and his briefcase went flying out of his hand. Futagawara stretched out his arm and gobbled the briefcase up.

Taking his opportunity, Dick got to his feet and went tearing away. "Why does this keep happening to me?" he sobbed as he ran.

Futagawara was about to find something else to stuff into his insatiable mouths when he realized he was surrounded. "What's this? Out of my way, mon. I'm still so hungry," he said impatiently at the six young people were eyeing him in a way he didn't like.

"This is your last supper, Gedoushu," Tai told him.

"Even I could tell that one was bad," Kii remarked quietly to Kane, to whom she was nearest.

Saeko and Kane snickered but tried to look serious at the same time.

Lani tried to surreptitiously shush them.

"Enough with the horrid puns. Samurai Sword Clash!" Rena and the others flipped out their Morphers.

"Light Morpher!" she said and pulled a reddish disc out as well. "Light Disc!"  The disc folded in on itself and she pressed a button on the Phone. "Active!" She flipped the phone closed and put the disc on the phone. "Golden Light!" The Light Morpher shone a light and a symbol appeared in the air. The Light Character formed her gold and navy power suit, short sword and helmet.

The others drew their Characters in the air and pressed the red buttons on their Morphers to activate them. Their Characters wrapped around them forming their power suits, helmets and Swords.

"Power Rangers again," Futagawara snorted in annoyance. He ran at them. They all pulled their Swords and rushes forward. They slashed at him. Futagawara has very thick gauntlets on his forearms that he mostly used to block and deflect their slashes.

"Let's get this done with and get Daiki's Morpher back. Kane," Samurai Red called as they all regrouped.

Green nodded his head. He pulled out his Morpher in Phone-mode and began punching in Daiki's communications code.

Beeping could soon be heard clearly. Futagawara looked around. "What's that sound?" he demanded.

"It's for you. Hurry and answer it!" Gold called out tauntingly.

Futagawara turned around in a several circles looking for the source of the sound. "But where is it, mon?" he demanded. He spent a minute or two looking for it. He tripped and fell over. "Oh, there it is!" he said and tapped at his right forearm. "Hello, hello?" he said.

"It's in his right arm!" Pink stated.

They rushed forward to attempt to get it out, but a mysterious Gedoushu jumped between them. He had long white hair and was grinning manically. They paused in their advance. "Have a little more to eat, Futagawara," he urged.

"Oh, oh yes, Master Akumaro!" The Ayakashi skipped off to gobble up anything loose enough to fit in his mouths.

"Hey, who are you? Get out of our way," White told him sharply.

"Now isn't the time," Akumaro stated and drew his weapon. He rushed forward to attack them while he allowed the Ayakashi a few more moments of gluttonous freedom.

He met Samurai Red sword for sword and knocked him back. Red scowled. He tossed the TyrannoDisc to Samurai Pink and took out the Battlizer.

"We'll handle him. Get the Morpher! Samurai Sword Clash-Power Up!"

"Samurai Sword Cash! Tyranno Power!"

Akumaro found himself confronted with two powered up Power Rangers, but he wasn't overly concerned. He slashed at them and jumped high in the air, flipped back and stood in the others' way of Futagawara as again.

Futagawara was oblivious. He groaned and held his belly. "Oh, mon, my belly hurts. I don't think I can eat anymore," he declared and burped. "'Scuse me, mon," he mumbled to no one in particularly.

Akumaro glanced at Pink and Red. "I'm counting on you," he said and turned, He jumped slashing at Futagawara twice and flipped out of the way.

Futagawara sparked and arced electricity. "Aw, mon. Master Akumaro, whatcha you go and do that for?" he whined plaintively.

"He attacked his own subordinate?" Gold demanded, aghast.

"Daiki's Morpher!" White and ran forward. Samurai Pink was already on it. The TyrannoSword's blade stretched forward and caught the right forearm of the Ayakashi just as he exploded.

Samurai Silver and Daiki arrived in a flash of silvery light. Daiki sprung forward and caught his Morpher as it fell out of the sky. "Samurai Sword Clash!"

"Aha! There they are!"

Samurai Blue spun around, ignoring the Ayakashi as he grew into its second life. He could see a fragile sheaf of papers lying on the ground some yards from where he stood.

"Power Disc! Samurai Megazord! Giant Power Cannon!" She spun the Disc. The light grew brightly. The Origami grew to their full-size and formed the Samurai Megazord. The Rangers appeared inside the cockpit. The auxiliary Zords formed the Giant Power Cannon.

Blue saw the mystery Gedoushu running toward the texts. He cursed under his breath in every language he knew ash he rushed forward in an attempt to get to them first. He still didn't know what information they contained. If it was important he definitely didn't want the Gedoushu to have it.

A target formed on the screen inside the cockpit of the Megazord and zeroed in on the Ayakashi. The Destroy Character flashed. "Now!" Red cried. "Giant Power Cannon! Fire!"

The cannon fired. The energy of every one of the Origami Zord used to power the cannon shot forward.

The gauntlets on Futagawara's arms now formed a nearly impenetrable wall with a face on it as he brought them together. The Cannon fire barely made a dent. Eyes on the wall shot at them with laser beams.

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.

White drew the Large Character over her Eagle Origami Zord. The Zord grew to full size and she appeared inside of its cockpit. 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!" they said as one.

Akumaro saw the Blue Samurai running forward at the papers. He put on a burst of speed and snatched them, falling but rolling to his feet with them clutched in hands. Blue glared at him through a cloud of dust. "Looks like I win," he said and disappeared into a crack.

Blue cursed again and teleported to the cockpit of the Megazord. "Lani, take the Tyrannozord behind him. We and the Wolfwing Megazord will fire at the same time," he suggested.

Red nodded. "Do it," he agreed.

"Tyranno-Zord!" Pink spun the Disc on her Tyranno-Sword. The Tyranno appeared outside of the Megazord as a full-sized Zord. It had wheels and wheeled its way around Futagawara and stretched itself and curve around behind the Ayakashi to bite him in the rear.

Futagawara squawked and flapped his arms, disrupting his shield. "That hurt, mon! I'm the eater!"

"Now!" Samurai White declared!

"Now!" Samurai red agreed.

A target formed on the screen inside the cockpit of the Megazord and zeroed in on the Ayakashi. The Destroy Character flashed. "Now!" Red cried. "Giant Power Cannon! Fire!"

The cannon fired. The energy of every one of the Origami Zord used to power the cannon shot forward.

"Eagle Blaster! Fire!" The Wolfwing Megazord's laser gun fired a combination of flames and light.

Both attacks crashed into the Ayakashi. "No, mon! Now I'll never be full again!" Futagawara exploded. Things flew everywhere. In the park where Dick Worthing was bemoaning his fate, his sticky, rather smelly briefcase landed at his feet.

"That brings this chapter to a close," Samurai Blue declared.

~*~

Sanzu River

shootari was nearly shaking with rage as he looked upon Akumaro. "You destroyed Futagawara," he hissed.

"With reason," Akumaro said calmly. "While you're here plotting and Doukoku is doing who knows what to Dayuu in there, I've been working," he said. He looked at his fingernails in unconcern. "But if you rather not know what I found out..." he trailed off with a shrug.

"No! I forgive you. Tell me. What did you find out?" shootari asked.

Akumaro pulled out his hard won texts. "A tale of two brothers," he said.

"Who are they?" shootari asked, leaning forward eagerly.

~*~

"Ryouichi and Isamu were twin brothers. They were ronins. Warriors who followed Bushido but had no clan allegiances themselves. One day they saved the emperor's life from demons. He gave them their own house, land and wealth in return for their loyalty and bravery. Ryouichi was the eldest brother so he was given the role of Lord. Isamu was his closest confidante and had nearly as much sway as Ryouichi.

"Isamu, however, was becoming less and less satisfied with his lot in life has their wealth and holdings grew. As their legends began being spread around, it was always the Lord and his brother. Ryouichi had the greater wealth and esteem. Isamu became more and more resentful of his brother but he never could beat him in a fair fight.

"Rather than stoop to cowardly murder, Isamu began a quest to find a way to defeat his brother once and for all and claim the house and clan for himself. In so doing he stumbled upon a sacred yet forbidden pool. He was warned that to drink from this pool would make one a vassal for evil and unleash it upon the Earth.

"Isamu was blinded by his jealousy of his brother and drank from the pool. The waters of the pool allowed him to access unknown power, but he also began to change, not only in personality but appearance. Isamu unleashed evil creatures upon the world and found that he could command them and as the waters of this sacred pool began to expand, he attacked his brother with his new army.

"This battle raged, but looked as though Ryouichi was losing. Then something happened. He ended up with magic calligraphy pens that he and his most trusted vassals were entrusted with. With them they could summon anything merely by writing the word.

"Ryouichi began to win against his brother. As the waters of the sacred pool began to engulf Japan, Ryouichi began to develop a way to banish his brother. In one last final battle that nearly destroyed the land, Ryouichi banished his brother with an unknown Sealing Character. He and the waters of the sacred pool disappeared. Ryouichi was dying and he admitted to his son that he didn't do the Character correctly but before he could reveal it to his heir, he died."

Tai listened to Daiki's summation of all the texts he dug through. "How did you know you were on the right track?" he asked curiously.

Daiki pulled out the first scroll he found. He pointed to a small detail. "Every single text has this on it somewhere," he answered.

Tai and the others strained to see what it was.

"Well, what is it? I can't exactly see from here," Billie grumbled from her screen.

They were gathered in Tai's study so that Daiki could reveal his findings.

"It's the Shiba Crest," Rena called over her shoulder.

"Of course it is," Billie muttered grumpily.

"So, wait, where did the pens come from? And what's the Sealing Character?" Kiari asked and bit her lip.

Daiki shook his head. "Nothing about the origins of the pens was ever written down. Neither was the Sealing Character. Ryouichi died before he could pass it along. using it killed him," he said and glanced at Tai.

Tai nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. "Then, we'll just have to figure out something else," he declared.

"Or come up with one ourselves," Rex said and flashed a grin. "We have the resources," he added.

Lani nodded. "That's true. No one knows Japanese like Daiki here, and there's always the Library for any research he needs. There's also Fox if two heads are better than one," she added.

Kane was quiet. "All that seems kind of familiar," he said thoughtfully. "So, are we pretty much thinking the same thing about Isamu here?" he asked.

"Just like Uncle, he's what Doukoku used to be," Saeko said quietly. Silence followed her remark.

~*End Act 27*~           

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