Normal POV
The next morning after breakfast, the team is having a meeting in the living room. Traci sees a lobster sitting in a small bowl of water on the table.
"That zord isn't going to crawl out of there, is it?" Traci asks.
"No, the Clawzord was severely damaged in battle many years ago," Ji answers.
"I'm going to fix it. All I need to do is text some new symbols to reprogram it, and it will be helping us take down giant nighloks in no time," Antonio says.
"Do you think you could upgrade my morpher? Texting the symbols would be so much easier for me," Traci says.
"That's not a good idea," Kevin says.
"What's so wrong about trying a different approach to fighting the nighlok," Traci says.
"Nothing but Antonio is just a techie, not a samurai," Kevin says.
"Yes, he is. Antonio is willing to do whatever it takes to defend the innocent and everything that is still good in this crazy world we live in now. Isn't that what it means to be a samurai?" Traci asks.
"Well, yes, but he wasn't born into the samurai life like we were," Kevin says.
"So, by your logic, I'm not a real samurai because I had to teach myself many of my symbols and how to use my sword," Traci says.
"Why didn't your mom help train you?" Kevin asks.
"After the divorce, my mom and I moved into a one-room apartment. My mom had to work two jobs to make enough money to pay the rent and car insurance and buy groceries for the month. I'm sorry if my mom thought that having a roof over my head was more important than training me," Traci answers, slightly changing a few details about her current living situation.
"Kevin, we accepted Antonio as a member of the team, remember?" Emily says.
Kevin doesn't say a word. He picks up the book he was reading off the table and leaves the room.
"I'm sorry I ruin the meeting," Traci says.
"Traci, you don't have to apologize," Ji says.
"Yeah, I appreciate that you stood up for me," Antonio says.
"You're welcome, Antonio," Traci says.
A few hours later, Traci and Antonio were at the pier. Traci is one playing her Vihuela and looking out at the ocean. She finished playing "Happy." and is about to play "Fight Song." When someone places their hand on the neck and yanks it out of her hands. Traci looks up and sees Tammy and Sally standing in front of her.
"You should be playing an American-made instrument, not a Mexican-made one," Tammy says.
"We can fix that, right, Tammy?" Sally says.
Tammy nods. She snaps the head off of Vihuela off the neck. Then drops it, and Traci hears a splash as it falls into the water.
"Stop, my Uncle Jorge gave that to me," Traci shouts.
"Sorry, we're not finished yet," Tammy says.
Tammy sets it down flat on one of the beams. After Sally and her take stomping on it, Traci feels her heart break into tiny pieces with every new hole that appears in the body. The girls chuckle as they start walking away.
"I'm sorry, Uncle Jorge," Traci says.
Traci carefully picks up her Vihuela, puts it back inside the case then slowly closes the lid. She was unaware that Dayu was watching through a gap. The nighlok sensed how special her instrument was to her, feeling pain in her heart every time Traci's heartbreak when the bullies stepped on it. Dayu ran her fingers across the body of her Harmonium before she closed the gap. Traci stands up and heads back to the house. She gets back to the house, walks inside, and sees everyone sitting in the living room. Mia notices Traci's eyes are glossy like she wants to cry.
"Traci, what happened?" Mia asks.
"I ran into those bullies again." Traci answers.
"They didn't hurt you, did they?" Antonio asks.
"Not physical, but they did break my heart." Traci answers.
"How did they do that," Mike asks.
Traci walks over to them. She sets the Vihuela case on the coffee table. The group's faces dropped open in disgust, seeing the damage Tammy and Sally inflicted on Traci's Vihuela.
"Sweetheart, I'm so sorry. I know how much your Vihuela means to you," John says.
"Cuz, why didn't you try to stop them?" Zackary asks.
"I told them to stop, but they just kept going," Traci answers tearfully.
Traci didn't want everyone to see her cry. She runs outs of the house. Antonio looks over at Jayden. He nods to his best friend. Antonio runs out to follow her. Traci reaches the forest and hears Octoroo snickering. She dries the tears. A few seconds later, Antonio catches up to her.
"Traci, why did you run away," Antonio says.
"I didn't want everyone to see me cry," Traci says.
Then Antonio hears Octoroo snickering. They go to the laughter site and try to contact Jayden and the others, but Octoroo's secret barriers jam their signals.
Octoroo discovers them and fires a blast at a rock, causing them to morph. Antberry then fights them and uses his Sanzu Slime attack to make their weapons slippery. Antonio and Traci try to fight their best, but Octoroo then blasts them from a far distance. Octoroo then gets displeased at Antberry because his slime had dulled the weapon, and Octoroo then tells him to start sharpening it and sends the Moogers on a hunt for Traci and Antonio.
Antonio and Traci are sitting behind a rock. Traci watches Antonio trying to call the others again.
"Were you able to contact the others," Traci asks.
"No, the signal still can't get through. That barrier must extend out pretty far," Antonio answers.
They head back to where they first battled Antberry but reach a cliff. Traci is struggling, but Antonio then helps her up, and they both fight another group of Moogers. Then Traci sees Antonio rip his scarf in half.
"Why did you do that?" Traci asks.
"If we tie our swords to our wrists, that slime won't affect our grip," Antonio answers.
As Antberry has finished sharpening his weapon, he begins to cut the bike. However, Traci's Leopard Zord attacks him, and the Mooger is holding the bike, causing the axe to fall into the well. They quickly defeat the Moogers and lead Antberry and Octoroo out to a clearing.
Back at the house, Jayden and the others are worried that Traci and Antonio aren't back yet. They leave to find them. When they arrive, Octoroo knows that he and Antberry will be defeated, so he sneaks out through a gap leaving Antberry to take all of them on and get destroyed.
The Rangers make the Octo Spear Megazord, using the Octozord for the spear. Traci freezes Antberry with the blizzard made by her leopard zord, so he can't use his slime on the others. They use their Megablade, which shocks Antberry and destroys him at the same time.
The team returns to the Shiba house. They walk into the living room. Traci closes the lid to the Vihuela case and is about to take it back to her room.
"Traci, do you think I could see that," Antonio asks.
"I guess so, but why?" Traci answers.
"You trust me, don't you," Antonio says.
Traci nods. She gives the case to him. They walk to his room. Antonio sets the case on his desk.
"How about we head to my fishing spot for a little R and R?" Antonio asks.
"Sure, that sounds nice," Traci answers.
YOU ARE READING
A Dyslexic Ranger
Fanfiction~Prequel to Samurai Undercover ~ The day Traci De La Rosa has nervously been waiting for has arrived. She received the message arrow and now has to become a ranger. The only problem is she believes that she won't fit in with the others because of...
