Music…
It means so many different things to so many different people.
But there's an unknown side to music. A side that is powerful and dangerous.
There are those out there that want to use music to spread their evil and chaos, but thankfully there are also those who use music to spread goodness and light.
Evil, beware those who carry the song of justice in their hearts! They are the…
RHYTHM SENTAI! BEATRANGER!
Song: Let it Out by Miho Fukuhara
English lyrics by Adrisaurus
Tokyo National Museum
It was a typically quiet night at the museum. An old, disgruntled security guard was making his usual rounds with his flashlight. He was going over every exhibit with the wide yellow beam, the light glinting off various pieces of art and ancient samurai armor. Everything seemed fine… until it all went black.
BAM!
And with one swift blow to the back of the head, the guard was out like a light. The thief responsible for the act stepped over the old man's comatose body, and made his way over to his true prize. He collapsed the baton in his hands into its smaller form, slipping it into one of many pockets on the large backpack he was wearing, before taking the time to look over his quarry.
《How beautiful!》he mused in his head.
The item in question wouldn't have been anything all that remarkable to the average person, but it was nonetheless enthralling to this thief. It was a large rectangular piece of tan stone with small cracks and broken corners, which easily identified the artifact as extremely ancient. The crook's prize was so close… but unfortunately for the ne'er-do-well, it was trapped underneath a dense glass case that was obviously rigged to trigger an alarm. It was time to get… creative. The thief unzipped his backpack, and pulled out a circular glass cutter. He attached the device's suction cup to the glass, and began using the tool's razor sharp edge to cut a perfect circle into the glass. He then removed the suction cup, along with the cut out glass, and gasped with joy as he revelled in finally gaining access to the tablet. Steady gloved hands carefully extracted it, and beady little eyes looked over the artifact in through the darkness before sticking it into the backpack. Everything had gone smoothly, so now all that was left was to quickly and quietly exit the building. However, a wrench was soon thrown into the works. You see, what the thief had overlooked in the planning of this nefarious activity was that the stone tablet was on a weight sensitive sensor that triggered if the item was moved. Immediately, red lights were flashing like mad and the stentorian sound of multiple alarms echoed throughout the entire building. The thief, who had believed himself to be so damn clever, was obviously taken aback by this course of events. But he refused to be caught, and made a mad dash for the museum's rear exit. He made it to the door, swiftly kicked it down, and ran outside just as he heard the familiar sound of police cars closing in. The criminal jumped a nearby fence, and was greeted to the sight of his getaway driver already raring to go. He ripped open the car's rear door and tossed himself inside. The police had apparently wasted no time inside the museum, since a squad of them were already making their way outside from the back.
The thief screamed, panicked and angry, "Drive! Drive! Drive!"
The driver put the pedal to the metal and the engine roared as the car zoomed down the road. The police tried to give pursuit, but soon realized they were too late. Wherever the getaway car was, it was either gone or blended into the mainstream traffic of the city.
After driving for what seemed like an eternity, the thief and his accomplice finally got to their destination. It was a lavish mansion in the middle of seemingly nowhere. It was a grand manor, complete with a huge ornate fountain that was surrounded with grandiose lights. The thief tore off his black mask, and replaced it with a pair of bifocals. He removed the archaic tablet from his bag and analyzed it carefully. The driver of the car turned around to see just what his passenger was ogling over so much.
"All of this work to rob the museum and you just stole some old brick?" asked the driver.
The thief immediately ended his focus on the tablet. A look of disgust at his driver's ignorance appeared on his face as he placed the stone tablet back into his bag; he kept his hand in the bag after placing the tablet back inside.
"This tablet holds more value beyond simple monetary worth," the thief explained. "Something a simpleton like you could never understand. It holds a song that will change the world."
The driver rolled his eyes in disbelief. He was completely over the entire endeavor, and was just looking to get paid and leave. It's not like this was the first robbery he had ever helped out on, but this guy was just wasting his time with the entire heist. Who just steals some old rock?!
"Whatever, weirdo. Look, I drove you to the museum, you stole your brick, and I distinctly remember that you promised me a handsome reward for this job," the driver reminded his passenger. "I held up my end of our bargain. Now, fork over the cash."
The thief closed his eyes, his mouth twisted into a smirk, and he was clearly stifling back a chuckle. At this point the driver started to get very pissed off.
He furiously slammed his fist onto car's dashboard, "Hey, douchebag! What's so damn funny?"
The thief stopped his laughing. He simply adjusted his glasses and fixed his hair. All of a sudden, the driver had the business end of a silenced pistol pointed right between his eyes. A bead of sweat dripped down the side of his face as he could only stare at the weapon in silent terror.
"What's so funny? Oh, just the idea that I'd let you live after this."
"Wait, please! We can talk about this! We can-"
POP!
Two weeks later…
"Alright, it's time for the show to start!"
A young man gears himself up for another show. It's not an uncommon occurrence. He's a star! The world's greatest musician! He plays sold-out shows all the time! His fans adore him, and he is quite the ladies' man. He not just any two-bit rockstar! He is the one, the only:
"NOBO-CHAN!"
The very familiar sound of a little girl's voice rings in his. Noboru Akahoshi can only smile as sets up his guitar at his usual venue, the park bench right outside a local elementary school, and coincidentally he always happens to play there just as all the small kids are out for recess. Noboru fixed his slicked down black hair as he pulled out his acoustic guitar from its carrying case and began tuning its strings. Noboru was your typical handsome 21 year old Japanese young man with black hair, kind brown eyes, and a smile bright enough to damn near put the sun out of business. The kind of person that puts you at ease with just a smile, and somehow knows the lyrics to seemingly every song imaginable. While most the children were off simply playing on the various sets of playground equipment, a few of them, mostly little girls who dubbed themselves the "Noboru Fan Club", would always sit in front of him like an impromptu concert. The little girl who had called out to Noboru, a chubby girl with long pigtails named Rika, ran up to the young musician and hugged him.
"You were almost late, Nobo-chan!" she whined.
Noboru placed a hand on the child's head and ruffled her hair, "Sorry about that, Rika. How about you let me make up for lost time?"
"Okay," the small girl said, giggling.
Noboru sat down on the park bench, surrounded by an audience of kids, and began to sing and play his guitar.
Let it all out, let it all out
You don't have to think your heart is made of steel
Come away now. From your own doubt
Like a flower of hope that's growing in a field, you will heal!
Even if the road has changed you and the world has often failed you
You gotta carry on and show them you're strong! You gotta bury what is past and gone!
Some days will be worse than others, but you gotta find another way~
Through pain and fear, or rain or tears, we will hold onto the light
We'll chase the dawn that waits for us beyond the darkest sky
Keep following that distant star. Never walk away from who you are
Never forget, that the promise of tomorrow lies in your heart!
And with one last strum of the guitar's strings, Noboru concluded his serenade, and was greeted by an uproar of applause from his audience. He smiled and took a small bow, but then felt the vibration of his phone inside the pocket of his red sleeveless vest. He pulled out his phone, and saw the alarm notification, which read:
AUDITION TIME!
Noboru's eyes widened as he began to quickly pack up his guitar back into its case. The children were confused by the young man's actions; he always stayed much longer to play for them. Rika ran up to him, a pouty look clearly painted on her face, and demanded some answers.
"Nobo-chan! You can't leave now! You only played one song for us!"
Noboru knelt down and placed a hand on Rika's small shoulder, "Rika, I have something important to handle. It could be my chance to make it big! I could be a star!"
Rika gave a nod and a big smile, "Then good luck, Nobo-chan! We'll be rooting for you!"
Noboru nodded, and he ran off from the park towards the nearest subway station. That day would be the day that he became something greater, something better, something more! That would be the day that Noboru Akahoshi became a star! Just not in the way he thought.
"He's just so cool!"
A rather large crowd of teenage girls was rapidly gathering outside of a local electronics store. More specifically, they were crowded around the display TVs in the front window that were playing footage of Japan's newest musical star, a heavy metal musician by the name of Gunmetal Black. He was a mysterious new figure on the music scene, but it wasn't taking him much time to rise up through the ranks. Even though he'd only been out for less than a year, his songs were selling fast and were topping charts on nearly every online music streaming service there was. One critical piece to the mysterious allure of his character was the fact that Gunmetal Black never showed his face on stage; his usual outfit was a torn black camo shirt with bands of ammunition wrapped around it, black jeans, a white mohawk, and a black bandana with a skull motif that hid the voice modulator he was rumored to wear during his concerts. Sure, there had been more than the fair share of rumors as to who he really was, and a tremendous amount of supposed "leaks" of his face, but nothing was ever proven to be substantial. With his interesting persona, powerful music, and the aura of mystery surrounding his entire person, Gunmetal Black had been able to raise up an entirely new generation of metalheads all across Japan. And Kioko Tamura hated it!
《I just don't get it! What does everyone see in this guy! All he does is scream into a microphone and blare ungodly amounts of bass guitar!》 Kioko screamed her head.
The only reason she was there in the first place was because her friends, who she had been walking home with, had decided to stop to watch some free Gunmetal Black footage. Kioko just rolled her eyes as she watched her friends ogling over the musician on the TV screens. Even though she was annoyed by what was around her, Kioko was willing to put up with her friends' poor taste in music, and men, for a while. That was until she heard a voice that ignited hellfire deep inside her soul; there was only one voice that could elicit that kind of reaction from her.
"What's wrong, Tamura? Not enjoying the show? You're just jealous that this music is getting attention than your precious pop music?"
Yoko Izanami. That preppy bitch. Of course she was here. She just had to be. God, Kioko couldn't stand her! Everything single aspect of her as a person was annoying! Her obnoxious faux-valley girl accent, her blatant narcissism, and her annoying habit of following popular trends, yet acting as if she herself was the trendsetter.
"No, I'm not jealous. It's just sad to see an entire generation of people make themselves so stupid," Kioko responded. "I mean, if you like it, then that proves this music clearly kills brain cells."
Yoko stepped forward and brought herself a few inches from Kioko's face. Kioko wasn't intimidated by the queen bee's scare tactics, and stared directly into her eyes.
"I don't recommend being this close to me, unless you're actually willing to do something about it," Kioko warned her. "And considering your posh ass isn't even willing to open a door half the time because you constantly fear breaking a nail, then I know you're not willing to hit me."
Yoko scoffed, "Whatever. I'll you at school. Watch your back, blue-eyed bitch."
Yoko snapped her fingers. She and her entire entourage of friends walked off in the opposite direction. Kioko's friends, Kazumi and Hana, then ran up to her.
Kazumi was hysterical, "Kioko! Don't tell me that you actually just picked a fight with the most popular girl in the entire school!"
Kioko simply adjusted the panda pin in her pink pigtails and straightened her navy and white school uniform.
"Unlike most of the other girls at school, I'm not scared of that preppy little witch. If she wants a fight with me, then she's got one."
"But what if she comes after us?" Hana blurted out, having to take a puff of her asthma inhaler to keep herself stable. Kioko placed her hands on her friends' shoulders.
"If she tries anything with either of you, then she's going to answer to me," Kioko swore. "Look, you guys can go ahead and head home without me. I forgot that I promised my mom that I would pick up some fruit for her. And the market's a few more blocks away."
"Okay, Kioko," Hana replied. "We'll catch you later then!"
Kioko smiled, and waved a quick farewell to her friends before she started walking down the street to the store. As she walked, her mind raced with thoughts of anger and self-doubt, and she stopped focusing on where she was walking.
《Ugh! I can't believe I'm letting that spoiled bratty bitch get under my skin! But, what if she's right? If metal music takes over the industry, my dreams of being a pop idol will be crushed. Oh, Dad, I wish you were here…》
HONK!
Kioko looked up to see the glaring headlights of a Toyota Corolla rapidly approaching her. Frozen in fear, she could only put up her arms instinctively to protect herself. Just as she readied herself for what was, seemingly, the end, Kioko felt something snatch the back of her collar and violently yank her back. The unexpected force caused her to fall backwards onto the person behind her. Kioko opened up her eyes to find that she was safe and sound on the sidewalk.
"What just happened?" Kioko asked as she got to her feet.
A woman's annoyed voice was her answer, "That's an interesting way of saying, 'thank you for saving me'."
Kioko saw that the voice's owner was a young woman, probably older than her by four years or more, with beautiful brown hair in a swirled bouffant hairstyle in a beige business suit with matching beige heels and pair of white glasses with yellow stripes going down the side. She was dusting off sidewalk debris from her outfit, and didn't seem very pleased.
Kioko blushed bright pink with embarrassment, "Oh my goodness! I'm so sorry. Thank you so much. You saved my life!"
The businesswoman stopped her dusting, and instead turned her attention to Kioko. Her look of annoyance went away with a huff as she knelt back down to pick up a stack of bright yellow fliers that she had dropped down. Kioko instantly joined her and quickly began amassing the loose pieces of paper.
"It's okay," spoke the businesswoman. "But you need to be more careful. You can't just walk absentmindedly into a busy street!"
"I know. I was just... caught up in my own head," Kioko told her. "My name is Kioko. Tamura Kioko."
The two females stood back up, and Kioko handed over all of the fliers she had managed to collect back to their proper owner.
"Thank you, Kioko," the businesswoman said. "I'm Sugiyama Yuuki. You can just call me Yuuki though. I have to go, but make sure you pay more attention at the crosswalk next time."
Kioko responded with an overly upbeat voice, a salute, and ridiculous grin, "Can do!"
Yuuki chuckled a bit before ultimately walking off with her fliers. Unbeknownst to her however, one of said fliers had still been on the ground. Kioko noticed it and knelt down to pick up. She had been so busy in trying to help Yuuki collect fliers, that she'd actually forgotten to read what was on them. The letters on the paper were huge and black with an image of the sun printed behind them. It read: DJ SOLAR FLARE SUPERNOVA TECHNO X-PLOSION!
"DJ Solar Flare? That name sounds kind of familiar…" Kioko whispered to herself. "No way that business lady is…"
Kioko pondered the thought for a moment, but it seemed too ridiculous to have any actual bearing on reality. She just needed to hurry up, get her groceries, and go home.
Noboru was getting extremely bored as he waited in line for his chance to perform. This audition was a really rare chance for him. Most people weren't looking to scout too many new artists these days, and those that were were just looking sign the newest idol group. But luckily for Noboru, his sister had managed to manipulate the proper channels to land him a spot in front of an honest-to-God talent scout. Of course, what she had neglected to tell him (likely intentionally) was that he was only one of 100 different people in line waiting to be approved or denied by the scout, and that was only helped fuel the anxiety that was already brewing inside the young musician since he was originally promised the spot. But he tried his best to focus his thoughts and keep his mind on the music. Noboru decided to scope out his competition by looking up and down the line, and thankfully no one seemed all that intimidating. There was an overweight guy with some cymbals, a super tall guy with a cheap-looking flute, and some strung-out chick holding a tambourine and visibly shaking. Two other people of note were probably the least weird looking people there; One guy was in front of Noboru and one in the back. It was almost the guy in the front's turn actually, and he was dressed extremely well with an elegant tuxedo, shiny, black dress shoes, slicked down hair, and beautiful white gloves. He wore a pair of round bifocals and held a beautiful violin in his right hand and its bow in his left. The other guy was… definitely opposite of the first. He was young, at least in his 30s, had a goatee with lengthy black hair that extended part of itself over his left eye, and wore a black fedora with a white ribbon. He was a little taller than Noboru, by like an inch or so, and was pretty buff as far as his arms were concerned. His gut, which bulged out a little from underneath his cerulean, plaid button-up shirt, was another story. He also didn't appear to be holding any actual instruments with him either. Maybe he was a singer? By the time Noboru looked back up, it was time for the elegantly dressed man to go through with his audition. Noboru did find it rather odd that someone would bring a violin to this kind of audition, but, hey, to each his own.
"Mister… Motomiya, is it?"
The classy man nodded as he sat down in the small chair provided for him. The audition room was rather tiny, but it provided just enough space for a table where the scouts could sit, and a small chair for the performer if they needed it. The man sat down and reached into the inside of his coat. He produced a folded piece of white paper. He unfolded the paper to reveal it was sheet music.
"Mr. Motomiya, do you need something to prop up your music sheet?" asked one of many assistants present in the room.
Motomiya shook his head, "No, no. I just needed to quickly refresh my memory. This song is very dear to me. It's a very old piece, and it took a very long time to find."
As Motomiya moved his bow across the strings of his violin, the various agents started to whisper amongst themselves. The main talent agent, an overweight man in a navy business suit, looked over the file for the musician playing in front him.
"Hmm… this is odd. It says here his address is in an extremely rich part of the city. Why would someone so old and with so much money try out to become a celebrity? With a violin no less!" the overweight agent angrily whispered.
The song Motomiya was playing started out with a quick tempo and loud, exciting chords. The talent scouts were in absolute awe by the fanciful speed and precision by which the masterful musician moved the bow across the strings. The song then changed its tempo in an instant, going from fast and wild to slow and somber. It appeared the music was having some kind of an effect on the listeners as everyone in the room, with the exception of Motomiya himself, started to grab their heads in pain. The lights all throughout the building began to violently flicker. Noboru and rest of the other contestants anxiously looked around in confusion as the ground started to shake.
"Earthquake!" Noboru screamed as the earth shook below his feet.
The building started to rumble and crack. Lighting fixtures were falling from the ceiling onto the panicking people below. Noboru and the others began running for the door as tile and glass started raining down. He managed to squeeze to his way through the mob of frightened, screaming people, and escape out of the door. Outside, he saw people starting to scatter like roaches, and he also saw the guy with the fedora from earlier. Noboru glanced up to see a piece of rubble from a nearby building about to crush the unsuspecting man, and with no time to warn him, Noboru ran up and tackled the man out of the way. The two men quickly got themselves back up and dusted themselves off. The earthquake suddenly stopped and everything was chaotic as all hell.
"It's over," Noboru remarked. "Are you okay?"
The older guy knocked some rubble and debris from his hat and nodded, "I'm fine. Thanks for the save. If it hadn't been for you, I would've been a street pancake."
Noboru nodded in response, "Yeah, that would've been… unfortunate, to say the least. At least it's over now. I'm Akahoshi Noboru by the way."
Noboru extended a slightly shaky hand as a sign of friendship. The other man giggled a bit before reciprocating the gesture. Noboru could definitely tell the guy was strong; his hand felt like it was in the grip of the jaws of life.
"Name's Yamashita. Yamashita Toshiro."
After the handshake was over, and Noboru had secretly winced in pain, The pair turned their attention to the sound of footsteps coming from the audition building. Motomiya stepped outside with a wicked, yet satisfied, smile plastered onto his face. Toshiro and Noboru looked at each other in pure shock that someone could walk out of an incredibly damaged building after a huge earthquake, and not have so much as a scratch on him!
"Hey, you!" Toshiro yelled out.
Motomiya turned his body around with an unnatural speed, and flashed his disgusting smile at the pair. Noboru was getting the creeps, but Toshiro held firm.
"How'd you just walk out of that? Where are the other people in the building?"
Motomiya laughed, "Oh, I assure you that they're quite dead. I watched them die! I reveled in it! Prepare yourselves, humans! Today is the first day of the end of the world! HAHAHAHAHA!"
The cackling musician then pointed his violin bow towards the two. Bolts of purple lightning fired out, and Toshiro and Noboru hit the ground. Luckily, the bolts flew over them and struck a car instead. The car exploded into a fiery cloud accompanied by the thunderous roar of an ear-shattering "BOOM!". Motomiya was about to try again until he heard a different kind of thunder. His attention turned to the sky as dark storm clouds were rapidly gathering over the center of the city and red lightning crackled through the air.
Motomiya bowed, "It appears I'll have to cut this short. It's time I got the band back together!"
The man's body turned into a bright green sphere that took off into the sky. Noboru and Toshiro cautiously got themselves up from the ground and looked towards the sky. These clouds were darker than your average thunderstorm, plus most lightning wasn't blood red. Toshiro noticed part of his fedora had caught on fire and extinguished the flames with his hand before putting it back onto his head.
"Just what the hell is going on!?" Toshiro demanded. "I came here to try and get money, and now I'm being told the world is ending?"
"I don't know what's happening or what kind of monster that guy was," Noboru responded. "But I have a strong feeling this about to get a whole lot worse."
"Then I have to go."
Toshiro started running off. Noboru was confused as to why, and instantly gave chase. Toshiro turned his head around to see Noboru was following him; before long the two were running side by side (though truth be told, Noboru was going a lot slower than he could actually run).
"Where do you think you're going?" Noboru asked.
Not missing a beat, Toshiro replied, "I have a daughter that lives in the city. I'm not leaving her unprotected, apocalypse or not!"
"Then I'm not going to let you go alone! It's way too dangerous!" Noboru asserted.
"You'd run with a man you just met to go help him save his daughter? You're one stand-up guy, Noboru. Either that, or you're crazy."
Beyond the veil of the mortal plane, there exist worlds defy typical human comprehension. Some of these worlds are beautiful, others are dangerous, and some are so rarely encountered that even the denizens of other realities find their existence implausible. Such is the case of Harmonia, the realm of music. It's a divine place, with mystical, lush forests stretching as far as the eye can see. The main inhabitants of this realm are small fairy-like creatures called Muses. It is their responsibility to oversee the creativity of human beings and ensure that beauty of the arts, especially music, never fades away. In the center of Harmonia lies a massive tree, the Tree of Melodies, that is home to a very different kind of inhabitant.
"They're back!"
He's as old as time immemorial and wiser than the greatest minds ever known! A powerful mage who has existed to fight against the darkness from the very beginning! He is mighty, he is a hero, he is… he is… running around like a caffeine-fueled chicken with his head cut off!
"Crescendo!" cried a tiny female voice. "You've got to calm down! Panicking is not helping anyone!"
Old man stopped his frantic activities. He stroked his long white beard as he reached into the lengthy sleeve of his golden robes and pulled out a wooden pipe. There was nothing in it, of course, Crescendo hated smoke. But the thing did help him focus his thoughts when his mind was in such a big jumble. His piercing eyes, gray in color and weary from age, stared longingly into the vast forest as the ancient mage stood atop the mighty Tree of Melodies. He retreated back into his home, he had lived inside the beautiful tree for millennia, and began to make preparations. After digging through various assortments of mystical junk he'd accumulated over the years, including an enchanted aegis, kitsune whiskers, venom of the world serpent, an actual eye of Horus, and an angel feather, Crescendo finally found what he had been searching for. It was a rectangular wooden box with gold etchings engraved into its mahogany top; a silver latch was all that kept the box's contents from the prying eyes of the outside world.
The female voice chimed in again, "Is that the box? The one we swore we'd only use in the most dire of circumstances? Don't think you're overreacting just a teensy bit?"
"Overreacting? Look at the circumstances!" Crescendo yelled back. "I told you there would be a day when those monsters would escape their confines, but no! You always called me paranoid! Looks like I'm right after all and you still won't give me any respect! Besides, now is the perfect time to use these,"
The wizard flipped the box's latch and opened it up. Five small bright orbs of variously colored light, red, blue, yellow, dark purple, and pink, escaped the box and rapidly flew off through the air. It didn't take them long to vanish from sight as Crescendo returned his pipe to his lips.
"Let us just pray that they find who we need."
Noboru and Toshiro had managed to make their way to the middle of Shibuya just in time to see a massive ocean of people panicking all around the city. It was obvious that the ominous clouds they had seen earlier were gathering directly over the city, as the eerie flashes of crimson lightning bolts evilly illuminated the entire city. Noboru stopped running as he looked into the mass clouds that brewed a hellish storm. Toshiro quickly followed suit as he berated the young man for stopping in the first place.
"Come on, we've got to keep going!" Toshiro demanded.
"Toshiro, I hate to say, but it might be too late," Noboru explained, pointing a finger skyward. "Look!"
Toshiro's gaze shifted to the heavens where he could easily witness the rapidly increasing amount of lightning appearing inside the storm's epicenter. Then, without warning, a dazzling beam of concentrated red lightning blasted its way through the earth! Everyone was effectively blinded by the phenomenon for a little while. When he looked back up again, Toshiro and Noboru saw that the entire street was gone, turned into nothing but a deep crater by the lightning's raw elemental power. They didn't have much time for the crater's appearance to sink in because the ground began to shake again. Less violently than the first quake, but still enough to cause substantial damage. Something was rising out the pit! And whatever it was, it was coming fast. What appeared out of the ground was something truly nightmarish. It was a skull, or rather it had the appearance of a skull, but it was massive and floating 25 feet in the air! The structure was black with horns sticking out of either side of the "skull". Its "teeth" were bloody red and the area around where the eye sockets would normally be was cracked and hellish flames burned in place of real eyes. The clouds began to scatter and sky returned to its normal blue state, but most people would rather have dealt with some strange stratus than what seemed to be the Halloween decorations of Satan himself. The green energy ball, the one Motomiya had become earlier, floated down to earth. However, instead of Motomiya revealing himself, some kind of monster was in his stead. It was short, no more than three feet at most, and had a large head relative to his body size. His hair was seemingly made from strips of old parchment paper that were rolled together into the shape of a powdered wig. The creature's body was rotund and fat, clad in a forest green coat that looked something from the 18th century, and he had buckled shoes on his feet. His skin was pale and his face hideous with massive nose, mouth, and teeth, and his eyes covered by a pair of blackened bifocals.
"It's here! They're here! Finally, we'll make our comeback!" the monster cried.
The skull structure opened up its mouth and three more large energy spheres flew out of it: one silver, another was multicolored, and yet another was hot pink. They float to the ground next the first creature before assuming their own monstrous forms. The silver orb morphed into a hulking beast with a broad chest and shoulders, as well as beefy legs. Its body was almost entire metallic silver, all except for a couple of black lines on its inner thighs and arms. Its hand ended in razor sharp points and feet were clad in black combat boots that had spikes leading all the way up the front of the legs. A striking black cape flowed from the pointed armor on top of its shoulders and billowed in the wind. Its face was easily the most terrifying part of its body; it was like a combination between a skull and a silver Roman centurion helmet. The crest atop the helmet was burning with navy flames and sunglasses covered up the eyes of the skull. The pink orb transformed into a much more humanoid form, but it was covered in hot pink fur and had on a short light blue dress with a small purse wrapped around its waist with a yellow belt and white go-go boots. Its arms were pink too, but unlike the legs, they had lighter pink stripes and white nails that resembled the claws of a wildcat. The face was almost human, but the whiskers and mouth full of sharp fangs made that an impossibility. This monster also had very long blue hair, cat ears on its head, and yellow eyes like that of a feral cat. The last of the monsters, born from the multicolored energy sphere was certainly… unique. Its skinny body was covered in all kinds of various zany patterns and colors, and was extremely difficult to stare at for long periods of time without hurting the eyes. From its head hung a mop of long curly hair that appeared to be made of a golden material. The golden hair was so long, in fact, that it covered the monster's eyes, but not its menacing maw of a mouth. The mouth was huge, taking up most of the monster's face, and filled to the max with sharp teeth that were twisted into devilishly vicious grin. The Motomiya monster couldn't have seemed more elated.
"Megatalico! Katty Purry! Yankov! I've been waiting so long to see you again! It's been so long!" he cried.
The pink monster, Katty, knelt down and gave her squat comrade a quick kiss on his cheek. He instantly lit up bright red, and tried to cover up his face to hide his embarrassment.
"Aw, Ludvig, I always know in my heart that you'd save us!" Katty cheered. "Even when these two bozos gave up hope on you!"
Megatalico decided to add his own opinions into the mix, "Not like I was without fault. We got tossed into the bowels of hell and were stuck there for almost all of eternity! And I was supposed to put my faith in that shrimp to get us out!? Get real!"
"You're never grateful!" Katty fired back. "The least you could do is say 'thank you'!"
Yankov got in between his two bickering compatriots and placed his arms around both their shoulders, much to their chagrin.
"Guys, guys! Come on! We just got out. We'll have plenty of time to argue with each other after we finish destroying humanity!" he said with an excited grin. "Don't tell me you guys don't the overwhelming urge to blow something up?"
"Now that you mention it…" Megatalico said as he shoved Yankov's arm off himself. "I could use some destruction!"
Megatalico snapped his fingers, summoning a sword with a hilt in the shape of the letter "M". He used the weapon as a conductor of sorts, discharging energy from it, and blasting the multiple buildings around him. As if people weren't panicking enough already, the chaos got cranked up to eleven. Katty reached into her bag and pulled out an object resembling a metronome. She placed it onto the ground and set its tempo. The needle started to move slowly at first, but the tempo quickened rapidly! Faster and faster! Then the metronome phased right into the ground! This caused another horde of monsters to spawn right out of the earth. Their bodies were humanoid, but they were all black and covered in white striations; the metronome needle became like a large horn between the creatures' purple eyes, and it was constantly moving left and right as the monsters swarmed around.
"Metro-Gnomes! Get to work!" Katty ordered.
Toshiro and Noboru could only stare in disbelief as the events that had just transpired were part of a nightmare, and they were way overdue for a wake-up call! Ludvig looked around and noticed the two familiar humans amidst the crowd of screaming people fearful for their lives.
"You two again?! I should have finished you off before! Metro-Gnomes, destroy them!" the small monster yelled, jumping from his fury.
The Metro-Gnomes, odd as they were, were also very loyal to their superiors. A whole group of them turned their attention to the new targets. Noboru was ready to run for the hills, but Toshiro stood his ground. He was never one to back down from a fight, and this was no different. Noboru tried vehemently to plead with the man.
"Toshiro-san! Please, we can't just fight these things! They're not human!"
Toshiro's only response was to crack his knuckles as the Metro-Gnomes started to swarm around them like insects. They were completely surround within the span of ten seconds, and there was absolutely no chance of them escaping without knocking a couple heads. Toshiro through the first punch, a mean right hook to one Metro-Gnome's jaw. Another tried to attack from behind, but it was interrupted by Noboru grabbing its wrist, and then kicking it repeatedly in the stomach. Toshiro was dealing out punches left and right, knocking down his opponents with relative ease. He even grabbed one of the Metro-Gnomes and started swinging it around as a weapon. Noboru was definitely the more inexperienced fighter! He was a musician! He shouldn't have to be fighting! Thankfully, he was quick on his feet and had some experience with gymnastics that were coming in handy. He managed to clear enough room to ensure he could maneuver himself better. After a string of fast-paced backflips, he leapt into the air. It was the set up to an elaborate jump kick that luckily hit its mark: two Metro-Gnomes that were standing side by side. Thinking back to an old martial arts movie he had watched a week before, Noboru did a spin kick to another Metro-Gnome, then delivered an uppercut to one more. The two men were doing well in defending themselves, but they were starting to get tired; they couldn't keep this up forever. Both soon found themselves grabbed by their arms, and no matter how much they struggled, they couldn't break free. They were tossed through the air and landed violently onto the ground.
"Toshiro…" Noboru said, wincing in pain. "Can you get back up?"
"I hate to admit it, but I don't think we can fight all these things by ourselves," Toshiro replied.
Just as the Metro-Gnomes were about to set upon the two defeated humans, a saving grace appeared in the form of a pink blur. It came in fast, and the Metro-Gnomes were no match as they flipped, kicked, and punched down to the floor. Toshiro looked up to see that his rose-colored savior was actually a young girl with bright pink hair and wearing a high school uniform. How humiliating! Two fit adult men needing to saved at the hands of a teenage girl! Toshiro would never live that down! But not being ones to look a gift horse in the mouth, the battered duo took advantage of the opportunity to scamper away into a nearby alleyway. Soon, the same pink-haired girl followed suit and raced after them. All three of them decided to duck into an abandoned building to escape their attackers, and have a moment to catch their breath.
"Thank you…" Noboru muttered in between huffs. "Very much."
"Yeah," added Toshiro. "And, uh, not to sound ungrateful or anything, but… do you think you could keep this whole thing under wraps. I kinda have a reputation to uphold."
The young girl locked the door they entered through, and walked upto Toshiro. She then smacked him upside the head.
"Yeah, sure thing," was her bubbly reply. "Just don't expect me to bail your old ass out next time."
Getting a better a look at her, Noboru saw the girl had naturally blue eyes, and she wasn't exactly lacking in the chest department. She leaned up against an aged wall and properly introduced herself.
"My name's Kioko. Nice to meet you."
"I'm Noboru."
"Toshiro."
"So," Kioko said. "Noboru, Toshiro, just exactly what are you guys doing taking on monsters in the middle of Shibuya?"
Toshiro fixed his hair only to notice his hat was missing. He was… not happy about it, to put it lightly. While he was worrying about that, Noboru actually answered Kioko's question.
"To be fair, Kioko, we could ask the same question."
Kioko scoffed a bit, "Well, I was on my way home. Until the earth decided to dance the Macarena, a portal to hell opened up in the sky, and I happened to see two helpless idiots getting their sorry butts handed to them."
"Point taken."
"Well," Toshiro said. "All I know is that there are people still out there who could get hurt. My daughter included. I'm not going to sit here and cower when she's still out there! Plus they made me lose my fedora! I have more of them, but some shit just ain't right, guys."
Before Toshiro could so much as head for the door, the sound of shattering glass triggered an alert response. The trio of people looked around the empty room they were in, but all they could see were a bunch of old cardboard boxes and wooden pallets. They cautiously looked around to find the source of the disturbance, but to no avail. The best evidence they had happened to find was the fragments of glass that look they had fallen from… the skylight?
"But that's impossible!" Noboru argued. "Something can't just come in through a window that high unless it was on the roof or flew in from the sky."
Kioko saw something from the corner of her eye. It was quick, and only there for less than a second. There was a flash and a buzzing noise, and then it was just… gone. It didn't take Kioko long to voice her findings to the others.
"Did you guys hear that?" she asked. "That buzzing noise?"
"Buzzing noise? Kioko, what are you-"
Noboru was about to ask, but then he heard the sound too. But it wasn't too difficult to pinpoint the source. Above the three humans were three floating orbs: red, blue, and pink, and while they were much smaller than the ones that had spawned Megatalico, Katty Purry, and Yankov, none of them were willing to take the risk considering what was going on. Not that they had much time to react, however, as the orbs instantly started to chase after them. All three people bolted for the door, but no matter how fast they were, the orbs proved faster. Kioko was the first to be hit, the pink orb landed right over her heart and was absorbed into her body; she vanished with a bright pink flash. Toshiro was the next victim The blue orb chased him down and was absorbed into his heart, and he too vanished in a flash of color. Noboru was the last to go, but oddly enough, he wasn't as scared as the others were. If you asked why, he likely couldn't tell you, but deep down in his heart, Noboru somehow knew that things were about to get interesting. The red orb found its way into Noboru's body, an interesting feeling to put it simply, and he saw nothing but a bright red as he also vanished.
Noboru opened his eyes slowly, and found himself in a completely different location. It was almost like the inside of a weird emporium. Jars of various unknown organs, powders, and liquids lined shelves all along the teal-coated walls. A wooden spiral staircase wrapped around a massive gold pillar led up to even more unknown levels of wherever it was Noboru had found himself. Once he got his bearings, he could hear voices coming from above him. He stealthily crept his way up the staircase to the next floor. It was much the same layout as the first level, but it was lined with a seemingly infinite amount of bookshelves filled with assortments of books and tomes, many of which had words on their spines in languages Noboru had never seen before. The voices weren't on that floor either. So, another trip up the stairs it was. This time, the room was much different and larger than the previous two. The floor was coated in gold tile and a huge mirror was located at the very back of it. Three magical white crystals floated from the ceiling and allowed the room to have more than ample lighting. On the wall to his left, Noboru saw a symbol that looked like a slanted star with the staff and flag of an eighth note coming from the back of it. Noboru finally spotted the source of the voices he had heard… it was Toshiro and Kioko! They were standing next to some other people: a lady in a business suit and another really tall guy with shaggy hair that was blonde on top and black underneath;he was wearing jeans and a black sleeveless hoodie. All four of them were standing front of some old man with a super long beard and clad in golden robes. He looked as if he was giving them all a tour of the room.
"And this where I can keep an eye on- Oh! Noboru! Come, come!" the old man beckoned. All the others turned around as Noboru finished walking up the staircase.
"H-how do you know my name?"
The old man chuckled, "Oh, my dear boy. There are many things I know. Especially about our current situation. My name is Crescendo, please join us. This is important."
Noboru walked up and joined the others as the old man continued to exposit on the grand, rune-covered mirror in front of them.
"As I was saying, this is the Eye of the Storm. It can peer into many other realms, but I only use it to keep an eye on Earth from time to time. It'll be vital in our operations."
Kioko pulled Noboru close and whispered to him some much needed information,"Noboru, this is Kuromichi Taeko and Sugiyama Yuuki. Taeko is, well, as you plainly see, a giant. And Yuuki is an accountant… and a DJ. She also saved me from getting run over."
Taeko flashed a small smile, "Hi, I guess."
When they all looked back up, Crescendo was looking rather displeased that they weren't giving him their undivided attention. He sighed as he waved his hand and the image of a galaxy appeared in glass of the Eye of the Storm.
"Since the beginning of time, music has existed. It is an underlying force in our universe that is as powerful as gravity or magnetism. The most powerful songs that forge the very fabric of reality are the Song of Light and the Song of Darkness."
The mirror's image changed to that of a kingdom with a big castle and small villages, then the entire thing went up in flames. The next image was of clashing armies fighting bloody wars across a battlefield.
"It was said that anyone who gained knowledge of these songs would gain the powers of a god. Complete and total control over the whole of creation. Wars were fought. Countries were slaughtered. It was chaos, and no ever managed to tap into either songs' power. Until one such group, a faction of selfish magic users, tried to tap into the Song of Light, but only found darkness in its place."
Yet another image transition displayed silhouettes of people, then their bodies were struck by bolts of energy. They began to twist and change until they became much more monstrous.
"Their souls and bodies were corrupted. They were no longer human. They call themselves the Hellfire Musicians Akudoma. After being corrupted, they sought out to destroy all music by destroying all of humanity. They led an unholy crusade against humans, and almost succeeded in wiping them out."
The mirror then reflected five colored eighth notes, red, blue, yellow, pink, and black, and they were dropped into the hands of five more human silhouettes, transforming them into their respective colors.
"Until I was able to assemble a team of brave humans who possessed a small fraction of the Song of Light in their hearts. They manage to condense that power to seal away the Akudoma, and I personally foresaw the destruction of the each physical copy of the Song of Darkness. Or at least I thought I did."
The mirror's image changed to real time scenes of the Akudoma laying waste to Tokyo. The fear, the panic, the sheer evil of it all… it was horrible to witness. Then it went completely blank.
"This is all an interestingly crazy story, but I fail to see how it involves us," Yuuki complained.
"Isn't it obvious?" Crescendo asked. "You five possess that same spark of light in your hearts as the warriors I had chosen so long ago. It falls on you save to your world from the Akudoma, and you are the only ones who can do it."
Crescendo waved his hands once more. This time, small objects resembling flutes appeared in each humans' hands. They were made from a chalky, clay-like substance, and very old from the looks of them.
Crescendo explained, "These are your magical transformation devices. To access the powers of music-"
"No, no, no! Crescendo, you are not giving them those old things!" interjected a feminine voice. "Update your equipment once in a while!"
The unknown speaker appeared to be a small ball of white light, but the light dimmed enough to reveal… a fairy? Well, it looked like a fairy. She was only 5 inches tall, had silver wings, long blonde hair (relative to her size, anyway), and an immaculate, tiny white dress. She landed on Crescendos shoulder with a disapproving look on her face.
"You must be insane to give modern humans those prehistoric... sticks!" she berated. "I'm so sorry. He's old as dirt, and forgets that the world actually updates its technology. Thankfully, I'm the more creative of the two of us."
Crescendo scoffed at her remarks, "Then what would you suggest, Euterpe? Since you want to be so opinionated."
"Leave it to me, C!"
With a snap of her dainty little fingers, Euterpe used her magical skills to transform those dingy flutes into small MP3 players. They were bulky and had a slot in the top. Each one had an electronic screen and was differently colored depending on its user. Noboru had red; Toshiro's blue; Kioko got pink; Yuuki had yellow; Taeko was left with black. The main control button was shaped like a star. These devices also came with another piece: miniature vinyl records with the "star note" symbol on one side and respectively colored labels on the other.
"These are your Rhythm Changers and Beat Records. You'll need to insert the record, press the play button, raise it to the sky, then yell, "Beatranger, Rock On!". It's as easy as that! Now, hurry! The Akudoma are still out there! Good luck!"
Before they could ask anymore questions, the entire group was teleported back to Tokyo. They noticed they were right outside Shinjuku Gyoen and could see the crowds of terrified people making mad dashes as the monsters invaded the park.
"So, did we just get chosen by a wizard and a fairy to fight music demons?" Noboru said. "I-I just want make sure we're clear about that."
Euterpe's voice coming from his Rhythm Changer swiftly answered his question.
"First off, I'm a muse. And second, it'd really nice of you to actually get to the fighting part of your job!"
Yuuki shook her head, "I can't do this. This is insane! None of us are fighters! I'm an accountant, for crying out loud! I don't fight monsters!"
The usually silent Taeko decided to finally contribute something to the group.
"But you're a DJ too, right?"
"I- that's not important though! It's just a hobby!"
"You're lying."
"Excuse me?!"
"I can see it in your eyes. You love being a DJ. Music is just as important to you as it is to any of us. Music is what got me off the streets!"
"I've always wanted to be a pop idol," Kioko added. "My dad always used to believe I could make it. If I keep that dream alive, then… he's never really gone."
"My harmonica got me through a rough time in prison," Toshiro admitted.
"I may not completely understand this entire situation myself, but… I do know one thing," Noboru began. "To me, music is the heart and soul of humanity. I need to play and sing just like I need to eat and breathe! And if I know that there's some monsters that want to destroy something that precious, and I have the power to fight back? Then I'm gonna fight them with everything I got, dammit!"
Yuuki pondered the situation for a second, but she ultimately realized that that the others were right. All of their Beat Records started to light up and flash. They took it as a good omen.
"Now who's with me!?"
"All of this human terror has been absolutely inspirational!" Ludvig exclaimed. He pulled out a piece of his hair and unrolled it into a full page of sheet music. "It's been so long since I've been able to make music like this!"
"Yeah, well, your taste in music sucks!" Kioko taunted from a distance.
Megatalico, Katty, Yankov, Ludvig, and all of the Metro-Gnomes turned around and noticed Noboru, Taeko, Toshiro, Kioko, and Yuuki standing together triumphantly. Megatalico outstretched his sword and pointed it directly at the quintet of humans.
"Few humans have challenged the likes of me" Megatalico declared. "Those that have were either very brave or very foolish. Which are you?"
"I'm just pissed off you guys made me lose my hat!" Toshiro yelled in response. "But enough talk. Let's get to the action!"
All of five humans thrust their Rhythm Changer forwards. Using their right hands, they inserted the Beat Records inside. They then brought back the changer to use the play button.
"Record Set!" cried the devices.
They pressed the top point of the star button, causing each of the Rhythm Changers to cry out differently.
"Queue up! Rock 'n Roll!" exclaimed Noboru's.
"Queue up! The Blues!" was Toshiro's call.
"Queue up! Techno!" called out Yuuki's.
"Queue up! Heavy Metal!" was Taeko's cry.
"Queue up! Pop!" is what Kioko received.
They thrust their arms forward again, did a circular motion, and then raised the Rhythm Changers to the sky.
"Ready to Rock?" asked the Rhythm Changers.
The group loudly proclaimed:
BEATRANGER, ROCK ON!
Noboru could hear the sounds of an electric guitar wailing, followed by the loud crash of drums, and the slow, steady beats from a bass guitar. It felt like rock music was coursing through his veins as he was surrounded by red musical notes. They connected themselves to his body, creating a strange type of suit. It was bright red on the legs and the right side of the chest. A triangular patch of white was sectioned off from the rest of the costume by a shiny gold border, and a white stripe led down from the back of the triangle down the middle of the left arm. Three gold lines also stretched from the bottom right side of Noboru's torso to the lower middle of his chest. The gloves of the suit had wide cuffs with golden trim; the boots had a similar design. A black belt with a star note belt buckle and a red holster materialized itself around Noboru's waist. A pair of sunglasses made of red energy appeared in Noboru's hand and he applied them to his face. They transformed into a red helmet with a black visor in the shape of the star musical note and a silver mouthpiece that resembled a speaker; it also had a slight lion motif. The golden image of a guitar appeared on the white area of Noboru's chest in a flash of light, and his transformation was complete.
Toshiro heard the smooth melodies of a bass guitar, harmonica, and trumpet resounding in his ears. Blue musical notes swirled around him to create his costume, which was essentially the exact same as Noboru's, except every red aspect of his costume was blue for Toshiro's suit. A fedora made of blue energy formed in Toshiro's hand. He suavely flipped it into the air, and it landed right onto his head, forming into his wolf-themed helmet. His chest emblem appeared as a golden fedora.
Yuuki could see the dazzling lights and feel the powerful bass of techno music pumping through her core. Yellow musical notes forged her suit; it was yellow and came with a short, white skirt attached to her belt. A pair of yellow energy-constructed headphones appeared in Yuuki's hands, and she put them on; they formed into a helmet that bared a firefly motif. Her chest emblem was a golden pair of headphones.
Taeko's ears were filled by the deafening blare of heavy metal. The power of the bass guitars and drum charged him up with energy. Swirling black musical notes formed his black costume. A beanie made of purple energy formed in his hands and he put it on, creating a black scorpion themed helmet. His chest emblem was a golden pentagram.
Kioko felt happy and carefree as the upbeat sounds of pop music flowed through her body. She twirled around like ballerina as pink musical notes created her suit around her. Her's was pink, and like Yuuki's, had a skirt. A hair bow made of pink light was created in Kioko's hand, and she gently set it into her hair. It expanded into a pink helmet that looked like a panda bear. The chest emblem etched onto her uniform was a golden heart.
The forces of the Akudoma stood in awe as the warriors' new uniforms glittered in the sun like precious jewels. All four of the major monsters were taken aback by the revelation of the humans' newfound power.
"They've got the power of light music!" Katty exclaimed, worried. "Oh nyo!"
"This is killing my mood!" Yankov whined. "Do something, Megatalico!"
Megatalico snickered, "So you have some fancy powers? It makes no difference to me! Crescendo can watch as his precious warriors are killed and turned into ash. Metro-Gnomes, attack!"
The foot soldiers heeded their master's command and ran headstrong for the heroes. But they weren't about to be beaten that easily. The team split up into three parts: Noboru and Toshiro, Yuuki and Taeko, and Kioko going solo. Noboru and Toshiro managed to mostly fight for themselves. Noboru was able to strike quicker than his partner; he was a red blur as he delivered rapid kicks and punches across the battlefield. He grabbed the arms of two Metro-Gnomes and flipped them over onto the ground. Then he roundhouse kicked one more of the enemies standing behind him, and backflipped away to give himself more room to fight. Toshiro was easily adjusting to his newly enhanced strength, and used it to great effect by beating down swaths of Metro-Gnomes. He jumped up into the air and body slammed down onto a group of Metro-Gnomes. Once he was back on the ground, Toshiro slammed back down with an elbow attack. He picked up two Metro-Gnomes by their necks, slammed their heads together, and tossed them away like ragdolls.
"Toshiro!" Noboru yelled to get his friend's attention. "Give me some leverage!"
Toshiro started tossing Metro-Gnomes into the air for Noboru to use as stepping stones. Noboru jumped up and hopped across the helpless Metro-Gnomes like a frog does with lily pads. While Noboru was conducting his strategy, Taeko and Yuuki were doing their best to take on their opponents. Taeko was having much easier time while he fought. He blocked an incoming punch and kicked the Metro-Gnome away via a boot to the chest. One Metro-Gnome tried its hand to punch Taeko from behind, but it missed, and this allowed Takeo to grab its wrist and flip it over his shoulder. Yuuki was way too nervous to actually put up any actual fight, so she simply ducked and dodged under every attack thrown her way. It was working… up until the point she was surrounded. Taeko tried to fight his way to her, but the sheer amount of foes kept him from reaching her.
Taeko called out to her, "Yuuki! You have to fight back! I can't reach you!"
Yuuki was gripped with absolute terror as the Metro-Gnomes started to creep in, closer and closer. She felt something move on her left hip. She saw the holster that hung from there, and the weapon it carried inside. Without thinking, she pulled it out and pulled the trigger. Sparks exploded everywhere as she gunned down the Metro-Gnomes with yellow energy blasts. Yuuki got a chance to have a better look at the weapon in her hands. It looked like a G-clef attached to a handle and a blaster barrel going through the top.
"Clef Buster! Fire!" Yuuki cried as she continued to shoot down Metro-Gnomes as if they were fish in a barrel. A stray blast narrowly missed Kioko as she was fighting, and the pink warrior was not slow to voice her ire.
"Watch you're aiming that thing! You nearly shot me in the ass!"
"My bad!" Yuuki meekly replied. Though in her head, she wondered: What ass? The girl was all boobs!
Kioko's fighting prowess had only seen a drastic increase from her newfound powers. She was able to take down one Metro-Gnome by elbowing it in the face and chest, another was beaten by rapid palm strikes furiously directed into its lower abdomen, and yet another fell to the swift yet satisfying justice of an uppercut to the jaw. In other words, the young lady was opening up a can of whoop-ass that the likes of God had never seen before. Meanwhile, Noboru had managed to make his way over to Megatalico and the other generals. They startled by the human's bravery, but Megatalico was no coward. He rushed forward, and attempted to impale Noboru with his blade. Luckily, it missed its mark and only grazed Noboru's chest.
"Fighting an unarmed man with a sword seems like a coward's move!" Noboru taunted.
"No one calls me a coward and lives!" Megatalico screamed, fuming.
He started to slash away with wild abandon! Noboru did his best to dodge what he could, but Megatalico did managed to land a lot more hits than he missed. The final slash across Noboru's chest sent the wannabe rockstar flying. When he crashed back down, Megatalico was walking toward him with his blade outstretched, and ready to deliver the killing blow.
Noboru complained as he tried to crawl away, "As much as I enjoy getting my butt kicked, I could use some help over here!"
Euterpe's voice came through his Rhythm Changer, "Noboru, use the down button, then hit 'play'! Hurry!"
Noboru rolled to the left just as Megatalico brought down his sword. He pulled out his Rhythm Changer and followed the muse's instructions.
Rock On! Riff Slasher!
A bright red flash appeared in Noboru's hand. It dimmed to reveal a red and black sword with guitar strings on the blade, two gold horns coming from the pommel, and the head of an electric guitar on its hilt. Noboru smiled underneath his helmet and ran back into battle. He and Megatalico clashed blades, but even with his new weapon, Noboru was still the lesser swordsman. And Megatalico took advantage of that fact by knocking Noboru's sword from his hands, then grabbed him by the neck.
"Pathetic human. It's as I told you," Megatalico said, his grip tightening. "The only warriors to face against me are either brave or foolish. You honestly thought you could best me? ME?! Time for you to learn that Crescendo only sent you to die a fool's death."
Rock On! Blues Gunners!
Before he could make good on his threat, Megatalico was shot in the back by a barrage of blue blasts. He dropped Noboru, who grabbed his own sword and repeatedly slashed Megatalico, then rejoined his teammates. Megatalico turned around to find Toshiro wielding two blue mini-SMGs with magazines that looked like harmonicas. Toshiro wasn't done however, and continued to spray down the monster with gusto. Some would call this overkill. Toshiro called it "fun". The entire team reunited as Toshiro's attacks had rendered Megatalico much weaker than before. He hobbled his way back over to his fellow Akudoma.
"Thanks, Toshiro," Noboru said, grateful.
Toshiro put a hand on his shoulder, "Hey, it's what I do."
"This isn't over!" Yankov swore. "We'll destroy you… you… who are you guys anyway?"
Noboru triumphantly yelled out, "Live and on stage!"
Noboru played the air guitar, spun around, then posed.
"The Rocking Leader! Rhythm Red!"
Toshiro put his hand to his helmet and mimed tipping his hat.
"The Heartbroken Soul! Rhythm Blue!"
Yuuki put one hand to her ear and used the other to pretend to play a turntable.
"The Explosive DJ! Rhythm Yellow!"
Taeko did the sign of the horns with both hands, then made a fist over his heart, and thrust it forward.
"The Darkened Heart! Rhythm Black!"
Kioko blew kisses, made a heart sign over her chest, and then did the peace sign over her visor with her right hand.
"The Upbeat Idol! Rhythm Pink!"
Noboru stepped up and the others crowded around him. They all placed a hand over their hearts before doing a sweeping motion.
They yelled in unison, "The dark power inside of you is nothing but evil, but the music in our hearts is the Song of Justice!"
Noboru cheered, "Together, we are: Rhythm Sentai Beatranger!"
"Beatranger?" asked Taeko and Toshiro, simultaneously.
"I like it," said Kioko. "It sounds pretty cool. Right, Yuuki-san?"
"Yeah, I guess," Yuuki replied. "I've heard worse."
"So, Megatalico, what's it going to be?" Katty asked her ally.
Megatalico was torn. On one hand, he was a proud warrior and a damn good fighter. But on the other hand, he hadn't had a real fight in centuries, and as much as he hated to admit it, he was rusty. The ashamed, metallic warrior got himself off of the ground by using his sword. Though beaten at the moment, this wasn't the last time these new "heroes" had seen of the Akudoma.
Megatalico eyes burned with hatred and he vowed, "Savor the feeling of your victory this day. For it is not a sensation that will befall you again."
Ludvig, Yankov, Katty, and Megatalico transformed back into energy spheres and flew back into the giant skull structure. A crimson rift ripped open the sky, the skull slowly flew inside, and the rift closed itself with dancing lightning and screeching thunder.
"Where'd they go?" asked Toshiro.
"Who cares? At least they're gone," said Yuuki. "Now I can do this!"
Then, without warning, Yuuki fainted! The others started to freak out as they tried their hands at waking her up. They were teleported back to the Tree of Melodies and their Beatranger suits dissipated into musical notes of their respective colors. They saw Crescendo and Euterpe waiting for them. And a satisfied smile decorated the old wizard's face.
"Congratulations, Beatrangers. You have overcome your enemies for now. You should be happy!"
Toshiro, peeved, berated the wizard, "You crazy old bastard! We almost died out there! And Yuuki fainted! Plus the Akudoma got away!"
Crescendo did his best to talk Toshiro down, "They didn't 'get away', Toshiro. They've probably just retreated back to their home dimension. They'll be back. They'll never stop coming. Not until you destroy them."
Euterpe floated over Yuuki's face and sprinkled a glittery powder into her mouth. Almost instantly, she sprang back to consciousness, nearly kicking Taeko in the face as she did.
"Watch it!" Taeko yelled. "I don't mind having a black helmet, but a black eye is another matter!"
"I had the weirdest dream… I was a superhero that fought these weird music demons. There was a wizard and a fairy… and… and..."
Yuuki looked up. It hit her like a tsunami. Everything she had "dreamt" was real. She was a superhero, she did fight demons, and… she fainted. How lame!
"Ahem! I am not a fairy! I am a muse, a being of pure creativity and imagination! Why I ought to…" Euterpe revved up her tiny fists, but Crescendo simply grabbed her by the wings and lifted her away.
"Don't mind her," instructed Crescendo. "She's always angry. But you should be mindful of the future. You five carry a great burden on your shoulders, but you must remember that you aren't carrying it alone. The song inside of you is powerful; it can do great things. Like this."
Crescendo whistled, snapped his fingers, and a brand new blue and white-striped fedora appeared on top of Toshiro's head. The man was shocked at first, but, hey, free hat!
"I have the utmost faith in all of you. You've got a long road ahead of you, but the power of music will see you through anything. Never stop believing that. Ever."
Crescendo waved his hand again and all five Beatrangers were returned to their original locations. They all felt differently about the entirety of the situation. Noboru felt a rush of excitement, but Yuuki still felt as if she was having a fever dream. All Toshiro could do was look over his Rhythm Changer in his hand and laugh at the absurdity of it all. Kioko was taking it all in stride and wasted no time in covering the back of her Rhythm Changer in stickers. And Taeko? Well, he didn't really have much time to ponder the day's events. After all, he had shows to play and not a lot of time to get ready. He could already hear the screaming crowd of excited fans and the booming voice of an announcer:
Everybody give it up for GUNMETAL BLACK!
THE END
A/N: There's not much I can say when it comes to deleting my old stories. They're gone. They were fun while they lasted, but I just never had enough to time to write them, and I just didn't want to leave them there. Plus I didn't really feel all that inspired to work on them anymore. However, now I'm back and I have a lot more time on my hands than before, so that means it's time for a new story! This chapter was simply meant to introduce our cast and set up plot, so trust me, the character stuff is coming later.
