The Halloween rangers

Chapter 16 Lauren reunites with her siblings

I told my team that victory is ours as well. Then I went to go check on Jayden. "Jayden, are you okay?" I asked as I ran over to him. "I'm okay. I'm okay." Jayden said. Antonio helped me to get Jayden up. Then Lauren jumped down from the sword and demorphed in front of us. "Lauren? Is it really you?" I asked as I started to walk towards her. "Yes Ariel, it's really me." Lauren said. I ran up to her and hugged her. She hugged me back. "I missed you so much little sis." Lauren said. "I missed you too." I said. Then we let go of each other. Then she walked up to Jayden. "Lauren, welcome to the samurai rangers." Mia said. "Thanks. I can't wait to get to know each and every one of you. And especially, my little brother and sister." Lauren said. We went back to the shiba house and they went to go talk to Mentor Ji about why Lauren wasn't with us.

The only problem is that our dad didn't think that I would have what it would take to be a samurai ranger or any ranger for that matter. Later that night I was outside training. I was training for a duel against Lilly. I was walking around town earlier when I bumped into her and she challenged me to a duel and I accepted the challenge. Lauren walked up to me. "Ariel, how can I talk you out of this?" Lauren said. "You can't, but you can help me get ready. I've got some special moves I want to practice." I said. "Anything you need." Lauren said. She grabbed a wooden stick that we use for training and she helped me with practicing the special moves that I wanted to practice. The next day I got up at the crack of dawn. I told Lauren that I was going to go fight Lilly and possibly defeat her. "Good luck sis." Lauren said. "Thanks Lauren, keep the rest of my friends out of trouble, okay?" I asked. "Don't worry about that. I'll make sure that they stay out of trouble while you're gone." Lauren said. "Thanks." I said before leaving. I walked into a forest that was near the shiba house and walked up to Lilly. "So, you're finally alone. Free from the burden of being expected to save the world. I knew we had something in common the moment I met you. Hiding that secret made you twisted like me." Lilly said. "We have nothing in common." I said. "Maybe you don't think so, but I can see in your eyes, the same need to fight, the need to prove yourself worthy. I was right to choose you as the new leader of the Halloween rangers. We're both tormented by fates we didn't choose." Lilly said before pulling out her sword. That's when I got a flashback. (Flashback: Ariel walked into the Halloween rangers headquarters and walked up to the leader of the team.
Lilly: Welcome Ariel. I am Lilly. I'm the leader of the Halloween rangers. My team and I saw you fight the nighlok off. You were very fearless. We wanted to recruit you.
Ariel: When do we start?
Lilly: Whenever you want.
End of flashback) "I know one thing, the world will be a better place without you Lilly. Perhaps this is my destiny. It's time to finish this, once and for all." I said as I pulled out my sword. Before either one of us made a move I said one thing. "Eventhough you trained me to be a fighter when it came time to recruit my team you just stopped." I said. That made her mad enough to come right at me. I charged toward her and our swords clashed together. "A duel to the end?" Lilly asked. "Your end." I said. We fought to a clearing and we circled around each other for a minute and before I knew it she had me pinned up against a tree. She tried to hit me with her sword but I dodged it. I got free but then she kicked me in my right leg sending me to the ground. "I may be down, but I'm not out." I said. Lilly tried to hit me again but I dodged her hit. She morphed into her previous ranger form and I morphed into my ranger form. Lilly and I continued to fight. Meanwhile at the shiba house the others were wondering where I went. "Hey Lauren, where's Ariel?" John asked. "She's fighting against Lilly." Lauren said. "Where?" John asked. "I don't know, she didn't tell me where she was going." Lauren said. Then Jayden walked up to them. "I'll go look for her." Jayden said. "No Jayden, I'll go. She's my girlfriend and the leader of this team. I'll go find her." John said. Before Lauren or Jayden could try to stop him he walked out. A few minutes later John was running through the forest looking for me. Then he heard the sound of swords clashing together and saw me and Lilly fighting on a bridge that just happened to be in the forest. "Ariel, no." John said. Meanwhile on the bridge Lilly and I are still fighting. "I've been thirsty for this minute ever since you broke my sword in two. My blade won't break this time and I'll finally get to be the leader once again." Lilly said. Back at the shiba house my friends were talking with Lauren and Jayden. "Wow Lauren, you must have trained day and night." Carly said. "That's not too far from the truth." Lauren said. "Ariel was the same way after dad died." Jayden said. "No way." Hannah said. "So, what did you do for fun?" Bri asked. "I trained." Lauren said. "So, you never really got out much?" Ryan asked. "Just to take a walk around town, but other than that I didn't really get out much." Lauren said. Meanwhile in the forest I am still fighting Lilly. We were both getting a little worn out. "Ariel, you're too hurt for this fight." John said before coming over to me. "Ariel, you must stop now. Don't let her make you fight just for the sake of fighting." John said. "Don't waste your breath. Get out of the way John. You'll stop nothing. I will not let you stand in the way of our destiny." Lilly said before she changed at us. "No, John, don't!" I said. Lilly hit me again and Lilly fell down the hill and John and I fell over a cliff. "Hold on John." I said as we fell over the cliff. We landed by a river. "John, John, are you okay? John, are you alright? John, are you okay? Are you alright?" I asked. John opened his eyes and looked at me. "Yeah, I just need to get my breath back. That was a pretty big fall. Thanks for the save." John said. "No problem." I said. "Well, we still need a plan to take down Master Xandred." John said. "Yes, and you tried to save me. You were just as fearless as ever. I'm glad I chose you to be on my team." I said. Back at the shiba house the gap sensor went off. "Let's go guys." Carly said. They looked at the map to see where it was. "The corner of fifth and rosslyn. Let's go." Lauren said. "I hope Ariel is okay." Jayden said. The nighlok hurt Joe and Antonio. Then Lauren, the samurai rangers, and my team showed up. "Nighlok, back off!" Bri said. They started to fight him but he was stronger than any ordinary nighlok.