I DO NOT own Power Rangers or Super Sentai or anything. Kinda obvious, but it's usually a good idea to mention that for copyright reasons.
This is my first attempt at fan-fiction, so go easy on me.
When Power Rangers finally ended with RPM, I was a little disappointed as I had followed the series since I was young. However, the Super Sentai continued, the next season being Samurai Sentai Shinkenger. I watched the first couple of episodes, and started coming up with ideas of how it could work as a PR series. So here goes my attempt at a series! I give you...
POWER RANGERS SAMURAI STRIKE
Chapter 1: Blades Unite Part 1
3000 years ago, in the ancient lands of Japan, an army of malevolent spirits called the Gedoushu led by the demon lord Doukoku threatened to overtake and destroy the world. Millions of humans were slaughtered and defeat seemed inevitable. Until one day, five mighty samurai clans united to stop the demons once and for all.
First was the red Fire clan, brave and proud. Their totem was the Lion.
Second was the blue Water clan, cunning and wise. Their totem was the Dragon.
Third was the green Wood clan, strong and loyal. Their totem was the Bear.
Fourth was the yellow Earth clan, clever and agile. Their totem was the Monkey.
And fifth was the pink Wind clan, kind and protective. Their totem was the Turtle.
These five clans combined their elemental powers, and together they destroyed the armies of the Gedoushu. Unable to defeat Lord Doukoku and his more powerful minions, however, they sealed them away in another dimension, and forced Doukoku into a long sleep.
The people of the world rejoiced, thinking the terror to be over forever, but the five samurai clans knew better. The sleep and the sealing would not be permanent against Doukoku's power, so they quietly began to prepare for the day of his return. The Fire Clan would continue to train in secret, while the other clans would disappear from view, integrating themselves into the common populace, where they would remain undetected until the time can for them to fight once more.
And that day has arrived...
Tovern City, Present Day
It was just another average day around noon, people walking back and forth, stopping to talk occasionally, sitting at tables in cafes and restaurants. All in all, nothing out of place.
In a less crowded, out-of-the-way area, a boy was bouncing a baseball off a wall against which several vending machines stood. One throw went wide, and the ball rolled behind the machines.
"Aw, man," the kid said, kneeling down next to machine, trying to reach the ball, but it was just to far away.
Then suddenly, something reached out from behind the machines and grabbed the ball. The arm was black, and covered in spikes, and was definitely not friendly.
The boy screamed, and backed away, as hideous creatures began to pour out from the gap behind the machines. They were humanoid in shape, but wore yellow robes covered by black, scaly armour, and their heads were shiny and red, with spines and huge mouths full of sharp teeth. They carried spiky curved swords, and the creatures were moving in a way that looked like they were willing to use those blades on anything that moved.
The horrible creatures advanced towards the boy who was frozen in fear, but then suddenly a small red object flew in out of nowhere and slammed into the creatures, causing sparks and knocking them down. As it flew away, the boy caught a better look at the thing. It looked mechanical, and was shaped like... a lion?
The lion flew into the hand of a boy who looked to be in his late teens, and who was wearing a red hoodie jacket. The lion shook itself and roared, and then folded itself into a red pentagon, with the kanji symbol for "fire" on the front.
An middle-aged man in a golden robe ran towards the boy, helping him up and dragging him away. "Run away! Quickly, go!" he yelled. The boy needed no further encouragement, and legged it out of there as fast as he could.
The teen turned to face the creatures, a frown on his face. "Picking on kids now, are we, Nanashi?" he muttered. "You'll pay for that!" He pulled out an object that looked like a flip-open cellphone, which he then flipped and folded into a calligraphy brush shape. There was a bright red flash, and a lot of smoke billowed forth. When it cleared, the teen had transformed.
He now wore a skin-tight suit, with a red top with black lines to look like a martial art uniform, black legs, white gloves, red boots and a golden belt with a rather large buckle. His head was concealed by a red helmet, with a black visor shaped like the kanji symbol for "fire". He wielded a large katana, with the crosspiece of the hilt looking like something attached onto it.
The man in the golden robe stepped forward. "Listen well, Nanashi!" he called to the creatures. "Standing before you is the descendant of the Fire Samurai Clan, one of the five who sealed your masters a way 3000 years ago! The current head of the Fire Clan, Strike Ranger Red! Lord Tyson Shiba!"
The Nanashi clamoured about, clearly recognising the names. "Fire Clan, Strike Ranger Red!" they growled.
"Now," the man continued, "will you flee back through the crevice in terror? Or would you prefer to be the rust on my lord's sword?"
Tyson turn to the man. "Old man, you made my intro too long again."
The man looked offended "But my lord, a person of your high ranking deserves to be recognised and introduced to his opponent. Also," he continued in a huffy voice, "I request that you stop calling me 'old man'. I'm not that old, and I do have a name, you know."
"Fine, whatever, Hikoma," Tyson said, pulling an ornate black disk from his belt buckle, slipping his sword hilt through the hole in the middle, and clipping it onto the crosspiece. "Now stand back, this fight's about to get started." He then strode towards the Nanashi, while Hikoma quickly withdrew to the side.
The Nanashi roared and charged forward, swinging their swords at Tyson, who quickly deflected their attacks and started slicing away at then. The Nanashi may have had numbers on their side, but Tyson was far more skilled, trained to fight against many attackers at once. One by one, the Nanashi fell as Tyson swiped away.
The fight moved into a nearby alleyway, where fighting large numbers of enemies was a lot harder due to the confined space. This could be a problem, Tyson thought. I better get out of this alley as soon as possible. He began to run along the alley, forcing the Nanashi to follow. The alley opened out onto the docks on the river that went through Tovern City... and where another dozen or so Nanashi were waiting for him.
More? Tyson thought franticly. Okay, time to pull out the big guns! He withdrew another disk from his belt, this one red, and clipped it to his sword as well. He then span the disk, and called out "Elemental Katana Mode!" The sword glowed, and then flames spiralled around the blade. He then began making massive sweeps with his sword, the fiery blade now doing far more damage to the Nanashi. With one final swing of the sword, the flames blasted forth, slashing into the rest of the Nanashi and destroying them in a spectacular explosion.
"Red Strike Ranger, mission complete," Tyson said to himself.
"My lord, that was splendid, absolutely splendid!" Hikoma said as Tyson returned to where he had left him, de-morphing as he approached. "I believe this must be the result of my devotion in raising you." He then laughed, but stopped as a boy about Tyson's age carrying a laptop computer rounded the corner, gasping for breath.
"Sorry I'm late," the boy said, leaning against the wall. "I had to pick up my laptop, and then I got lost."
"You're a real pain sometimes, you know that Graydon?" Tyson said calmly. Graydon was Tyson's close friend; they had been raised together by Hikoma after Tyson's father had been killed in a fire.
Graydon grinned at him while regaining his breath. "And yet you still put up with me, when you could get rid of me at any time?"
Tyson smiled. "I only keep you around because you're useful," he replied. "Now, what new information have you got?"
Graydon sat on the ground, flipped open the black-coloured laptop and started typing. "How many Nanashi got through the crevice this time?" he asked, now deadly serious.
"Thirty-three," Tyson answered. Graydon typed in this new information, then frowned at the screen.
"What's the problem?" Hikoma asked, worried by Graydon's seriousness.
"The rate at which the Nanashi are coming through is increasing faster than I expected," Graydon said, typing away. "The incident three days ago contained only twenty-five Nanashi. A week before that it was only eighteen. If this keep up, in two months, we could have hundreds of those things pouring out of each crevice daily!"
Hikoma looked at Tyson fearfully. "Not even you could handle hundreds of Nanashi every day!"
"It gets worse," Graydon continued, using a camera hooked to the laptop to scan the gap behind vending machine. "The crevices are stabilising. At the moment, only Nanashi can get through, but soon, the crevices will be stable enough for a Ayakashi spirit to cross, and they're far worse than even an army of Nanashi."
Hikoma frowned, thinking hard, the he seemed to come to a conclusion. "We have no choice," he said resolutely. "We shall have to gather the other Strike Rangers. It's the only way we can continue to fight."
Tyson was furious at this. "No, we can't get them involved!" he shouted at Hikoma. "The other Rangers are just civilians who haven't received any training. They don't even know that they're descended from the ancient clans! They'll be a liability in battle, not a advantage!"
"Calm yourself, my lord," Hikoma said patiently. "According to Graydon, we have two months before you will not be able to succeed alone. So we bring in the other Rangers, train them as much as we can, and their samurai blood and Elemental Talismans will do the rest."
Tyson pulled out his own talisman, the red fire pentagon, looked at it and sighed. "Alright, we do it your way," he said. "But I won't have enough time between battles with new Nanashi and my own training to train them myself. You and Graydon will have to do it."
"No problem!" Graydon said, flashing him a thumbs-up. "Everyone knows I'm second only to you when it comes to the samurai arts."
"I shall do as you request, my lord," Hikoma bowed respectfully.
"Good," Tyson nodded. "Now, if we're going to have to track the other Rangers down, we'd best get started."
Graydon stood up, still typing away. "I've got a few leads, so I'll get started right away."
Unbeknownst to them, an evil red lizard-like eye watched them leave from behind the machine. The eye belong to one of the Gedoushu, a short, robed humanoid with a staff and what appeared to be a squid for a head the tentacles forming his beard. Shitari, for this was his name, was using his staff to spy through the crevice, and he had heard everything that they had said.
"Intriguing," Shitari muttered to himself. "I'm sure Lord Doukoku would be very interested to know about the Power Rangers plans..."
END CHAPTER ONE
Please review, I'd love some feed back on what people think!
More chapters to come soon, hopefully!
A/N: Those of you who have watched Shinkenger may have noticed that I have changed the Pink Ranger's element from Heaven to Wind. Personally, I think it fits better, with both the other Rangers' elements and her weapon that she receives later.