Kouyou Sentai Soulranger
(Elemental Squadron Soulranger)
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Vessel 1: The Four Chosen
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It is the year 2018 on the planet of Earth; the world has been the same as usual as it's always been, but most of the higher technology has been given out to the higher class or the more important groups and while the stronger side, the side of nature and animals, endured and gained characteristics that are being analyzed. Everywhere are souls in someone, strong souls, but there are also those who are not strong and can be corrupted by evil.
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While on a space expedition from Earth to Mars…
The Terran spacecraft called the Comet Flash 9, which mostly looks like an arrowhead-shaped space shuttle, makes a moderate landing on the red planet. Astronauts roam the rust-covered surface to be proud to be walking on Mars.
Of course, they were not alone… a mysterious warrior-like figure in hellish violet armor (with a touch of black-and-crimson) stood just a few feet away from the shuttle. His armor is designed for battle and appears to be fit to be worn by the devil. His face is hidden behind a pitch-black visor in the shape of a demon's mouth (which is full of fangs).
Lured by a strange radiance, the ground-walking members of the crew sped off to find out what it is. The hellish-looking warrior stood there, observing whatever the astronauts were about to do, but not doing anything else about it except for watching them.
The mysterious radiance came from a glowing blue gem on what appeared to be an alien grave marker, hypnotized by its beautiful glow… the astronauts placed their hands onto it without thinking twice. The gem lost its glow and beneath it was a secret compartment and inside it was a deck of mysterious dark violet colored cards.
A voice from inside their heads said to them, "After unleashing that, you have just given me some extra competition." Spooked yet if not awoken from the trance, the astronauts looked around for the one who said that. The cards flew off and surrounded the astronauts and the grave in a tornado of wind filled chockfull of them, clearing away the rust on the surface.
Before the 'tombstone' revealed to be an even larger secret compartment, it opened up to reveal the body of a young-looking woman with long flowing black hair and an aura of darkness over her blue robes which cover most of her black metal armor, which is almost scantily cladding her well-figured and highly appealing body. Standing less than 6 feet high but a little over 5 feet, she has a face more sexy than beautiful. She opens her dark red eyes at the astronauts caught in the card tornado and sinisterly smiles.
From afar, close to the Comet Flash 9, which is also caught in the card tornado, the hellish-armored warrior said with the same mysterious voice, which belonged to him in the first place, "So… it has begun."
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In the city of Odaiba, in Japan, in a luxurious hotel… a 19-year-old beauty is sleeping, waiting for a meal that she ordered to be delivered. Her name is Umishuuha Meiru. Unlike a lot of Japanese women in the country, she has been gifted with beauty since she was young. She worked on herself to be her fullest as possible, the results are her having a healthy and strong body combined with her radiance. Of course, ever since Meiru was young, her mother asked her to find a man to find romance with for time to time. But the result to that was poor Meiru developing a tendency to fall for every attractive guy she lays her eyes on. Of course, it usually happens when she gazes on one she hasn't met before.
Meiru was woken up from her nap by some friendly hands, "Hey, Aneki!" Meiru opens her brown eyes to her young friend and smiles a little, "I'm up, Yuri-chan. What is it?" Yuri tells her, "Your lunch has arrived." Meiru groans, "Oh darn… I've missed yet another deliveryman. Did you pay him for it?" Yuri bows in apology, "Sorry, I've used your money." Meiru sighs, "Don't trouble yourself, I would've done that by myself. Thanks for doing it though."
The 16-year-old yet intelligibly gifted Soyokaze Yuri has been best of friends with Meiru since high school, although Yuri hasn't been around as long as Meiru has; she has always been in the same grade as she was since she's a young genius. She was born in a struggling family as one of 18 siblings. She has been considered an oddball in her family and to most of the public; since she absolutely loves anything under the sci-fi genre and will do anything to recreate them to them into scientific facts, she is also almost never seen without a white lab coat over her normal clothes everywhere she goes, including to the mall. Another odd fact about her is that she never seems to lose her smile.
They help each other: since Meiru has a job as a chiropractor and masseur, she gets paid well so she can share some of her money with Yuri and her family and Yuri, in return, helps Meiru with her college work.
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In a certain construction site up north of the island, 23-year-old Yamahouku Iwamaru shovels away some excess dirt and rocks. Iwamaru is a muscular fellow who comes from a very wealthy family with an empire, but what they don't know about him is that he prefers physically hard work over paperwork since he's also a businessman (his father's idea).
While working, he listened to the news on the radio close to him. The news reporter said through it, "This could be the biggest space disaster since 1992; the Comet Flash 9, the first successful Earth-Mars landing craft has just been reported to be caught in a mysterious red and white cyclone within some unusual Martian storm. And this just in, a young man is climbing a very tall building in the southern vicinity of Odaiba for some unknown reason. Despite the crowd, he's just climbing higher and higher!"
Iwamaru scoffs, "Well, another idiot gone for the count."
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Back in Meiru and Yuri's hotel, they were watching the news on television, which Yuri is practically toying with. Yuri says, "Even if idiots did float up high in the sky like smoke, they'd have to be some type of bird, not a human." Meiru said, "That's just an expression, hopefully a rescue team will be on their way to pick him up once he's realized his reckless mistake."
From what the screen could make out, the young man is dressed in a pair of blue jeans, white sneakers, a white-and-red jacket (emblazoned with an eagle symbol), and sports a long tail jet-black hair from his head. He turned his head to face to the camera, his face shows a little bit of fear but also a sense duty and determination at first, he then bravely smiled and waved, "Good morning, Japan. This is Rosuto Li, deliveryman from Sonic Bird Express, at work!" then continued on!
Meiru and Yuri both knew Li well! "HUH?"
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As does Iwamaru, "What the hell? I wanted to put that idiot out of his misery first! Damn you, fate!" then he storms off to the same building Li was at.
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Yuri was amazed, "Where on Earth did he get the permission and the equipment to do what he's doing? And why?" Meiru growls, "Damn it! That jerk is going to pay dearly for scaring everybody!" Yuri turns the TV off and says, "Let's go and find out what's up."
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The whole reason Li was climbing in the first place was because he, among other people, saw something mysterious fall from the sky and hit the top of a building! He succeeded into getting up to the top then he went into searching for the mysterious object.
Down below on the streets… Meiru, Yuri, and Iwamaru showed up to the building in the area that Li probably climbed!
Li found the mysterious object, from his point of view it looks like the point of a golden sword's blade broken off. He felt it with his hand, noticing that no more heat was emanating from it. He took out a red neckerchief from his jacket pocket and wrapped it up before pocketing it. He went to the edge of the building and called out to the audience below, "I'm coming down now, by taking the stairs!"
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As he came out the doors of the building, people were crowding him and he presented what he's found and explained what he knows about it so far. An astounded scientist, who was in that crowd, looked at the object Li found with interest. But Yuri carefully snatched it away saying, "This object will be under my studies, Li-sempai." Li shrugs, "Just be careful with it, Yuri-kohai."
Meiru and Iwamaru showed up to them, Iwamaru stayed at least 6 paces away from the women, including Meiru and Yuri, since he's never been close to a female before; when he was younger he was slim and short and girls (excluding his mother) made fun of him; as he trained day by day he became stronger but incredibly shy of the opposite sex still.
Meiru pulled Yuri away from Li. When they were little, Li used to make fun of her a lot. She didn't take the bratty jokes too well. So she looks at him like he was an enemy whenever he's in her sight. How come Yuri sees Li differently she'll never know. The longest time she hasn't seen him is the past 7 and a half years since she was at an all-girls' school.
Meiru starts the scolding, "What kind of moron are you, Li?" Li calmly states to her, "A moron who couldn't get past a thick crowd and decided to try the old-fashioned 'climb-the-modern-building' to stop the commotion down below." Iwamaru exclaimed, "That's what was going on about and why you didn't go inside? Why not let the police take a good look at it?"
Yuri came into the argument and said, "They just did. They told me that they asked Li to bring back anything he'd find for them since he's the best and most reliable deliveryman from Sonic Bird Express as they took the unidentified object from me." Iwamaru and Meiru looked at Yuri in confusion, "Eh?" Li presented the gear he used to scale the building: actual property of the police force. Li handed them to the nearest police officer walking by.
Then the three looked at Li, who answered, "Hey, I was generally asked by the police to bring them crime files and evidence that need to arrive to them on the double, so they sent me since the other people were too scared. But believe me, I was scared myself."
Iwamaru just socked Li in the face, but he didn't make a response to it. The police wanted to stop him, but Li said, "Leave him alone; I've deserved that punch." The officer who was about to arrest Iwamaru asks Li, "But why?" Li replies, "I used to make fun of him… when we were little."
Li pulls out a mobile phone and flips it open to look into the small screen, "No more assigned deliveries for now." Iwamaru prepared himself for an attack, but Li got onto his white motorbike with a red box on the back (for carrying what he deliveries) and waved the three people who knew him in the past later before zooming off. What he left behind was a stumped Iwamaru, Meiru with her mouth hanging open, and Yuri looking at the police strangely.
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Li stopped by the delivery department, just to see if he could pick up some extra deliveries before the day is out. His boss, a kind elderly man in his early 60s, kindly shook his head in response to Li's actions——
He said to the young worker, "Look at you; a wonderful young man and you chose the life of a deliverer that's putting his own fellow workers out of work. You should at least find a hobby to slow down a bit." Li asks, "Well… what did you do?" Li's boss, whose name is Tsuyoshi Kurenai, sighs, "Back in 1975, I was a big supporter of the legendary Super Sentai." Li went confused, "You worked for one of them?" Tsuyoshi laughs a bit, "No, I was a fan who believed in them."
Li gets up and walks out. Tsuyoshi asks him, before he could get out completely, "Li? Didn't your stepfather get the news yet?" Li said, "I haven't told him my side of the story," then sighs before finishing, "or anyone else for that matter." Tsuyoshi asks, "Been up again? Stopping his crimes?" Li sighs, "Yeah, he's absolutely pathetic compared to me… yet the police aren't able to catch him." Finally, Li left for home.
Tsuyoshi sighs in his current solitude, "Because he paid them… and that you're too good for him." He laid back a bit and asks, "When will your path come clear?"
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As Li got home… his own hotel, the southernmost hotel in Odaiba, his flat wasn't as messy as one would expect… in fact, his place is as clean as heck; he saves up a lot so that he could travel the world. He's been depressed since he found out some facts about himself that he didn't know about since he was little.
Before hitting the sack, he looks up to the sky and says, "Please… give me an answer."
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In that night, two mysterious lights, a black one with a blue aura and a white one with a red aura, flashed across the sky and coming downwards while clashing with each other. As they hit the streets… the lights turned into two separate human-like beings——
The blue aura-covered black light turned into the woman who was uncovered on Mars. The red aura-covered white light turned into a young-looking man with long flowing white hair and an aura of light over his white robes which cover most of his gleaming white metal full-body armor, clad to his strong and muscular body. Standing a little over 6 feet high, he has a face more striking than handsome. He opens his pale if not bright blue eyes at the young woman and growls lightly.
The mysterious woman said, "Go ahead; imprison me once more, Vaal." The mysterious young man, Vaal, didn't respond in words, he charged in at the woman and lashed out a silvery sword at her. The woman scoffs as she dodges the blade effortlessly, "What's holding you back, old-timer? You're usually a sword master, but now you're so predictable."
Vaal held up a sword-free left hand at her, but nothing happened. He was hesitating… he dropped it and said, "I can't, Keia." The woman, Keia, thrusts out a hand holding a card, creating a force powerful enough to send Vaal flying towards the horizon!
But from his, she spotted six colored lights zooming away from Vaal's body as he disappears! She sighs, "Oh darn it… I've almost had whatever was in that pouch on his belt too."
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The four lights individually went into Li, Iwamaru, Yuri, and Meiru's bodies respectively.
In Li's dreams, he saw many red-colored animals emerging from a sun-like object in front of him pass him by! He looked behind him and saw them all explode and the fragments jabbed themselves right into his body!
In Iwamaru's dreams, he saw many green-colored animals emerging from a forest beneath him and pass by him upwards! He looked above him and saw them all explode and the fragments jabbed themselves right into his body!
In Yuri's dreams, she saw many yellow-colored animals emerging from a storm above her fall past her! She looked below him and saw them all explode and the fragments jabbed themselves right into her body!
In Meiru's dreams, she saw many blue-colored animals emerging from an ocean around her! She nervously looked behind her as quickly as possible and saw them all explode and the fragments jabbed themselves right into her body!
Outside of their dreams, single triangular marks appeared on their bodies each.
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Li woke up and looked into his mobile phone schedule, nothing at all assigned to him, except a letter noting that the moviemakers would really like him to be one of their stuntmen or an actor and a letter from Tsuyoshi that he should probably take the next two days off until further notice.
Li walked out to at least enjoy the day-off as much as he could. Then he witnesses the girls; Meiru and Yuri, also enjoying their time at Tokyo Beach in Odaiba, apparently both of them are having a day-off too. Meiru is in a blue two-piece bikini and Yuri is in a yellow one, both of them are playing with a rainbow-colored beach ball that appears to be 4 feet in diameter.
Li thinks to himself, "Meiru looks drop-dead gorgeous in a bikini."
Meiru froze in her spot, just for long enough to have the ball bounce off her head! Yuri said to her, "Hey, Aneki! It was your turn to hit the ball! What's wrong?" Meiru said, "I don't know, but it sounded like someone like Rosuto saying that I look great in this."
Li froze in surprise, Meiru just heard his thoughts as if they were out loud and he was right next to her!
Meiru thought to herself, "There's absolutely no way he could possibly sound that kind and be that interested in me! First those blue exploding animals emerging from the sea in my dreams and now this!" Yuri gasps in surprise, "You too?" Meiru looks at her friend skeptically, "Eh? You too?" Yuri said, "Except the ones in my dream were yellow and came from a storm above me."
Li gulps, "Did Meiru, Yuri, and I become psychic?" Then he heard Iwamaru's voice, "What are you doing here, you bastard?" Li turns to face Iwamaru, who is in a green-and-yellow Hawaiian shirt and red beach shorts, and asks, "What am I doing here? What are you doing here?" Then he heard Iwamaru's thoughts, "Rosuto is never going to grow up or stop bothering me!"
Li said, "Actually, I did grow up and I've decided to stop bothering you about 7 and a half years ago." Iwamaru growls, "The hell you——" he stopped in mid-sentence, and asks Li, "What a minute; did you just read my thoughts just now?" Li nods, "Yes… not just you, before you… Meiru-san just heard my thoughts about her and then Yuri-kohai heard Meiru-san's thoughts."
Meiru's voice was heard, "You two, too?" The boys looked towards the beach and found Yuri and Meiru, looking about half-spooked, close to them. Li asks, "I suppose you've heard our argument that died down and quickly ran over here?" Yuri nods, "See? I've told you that a lot of years could change a man's personality."
Meiru asks, "But what was the source of this telepathy between us?" Yuri says, "Yeah, think something to us, Li." Li puts his knuckles to his lips in deep thought then finally thought-spoke to them, "I'm sorry for the insults I've given you, Meiru-san, Iwamaru-san. And I've always thought you were adorable, Yuri-kohai. Plus I've come here on a day-off."
Iwamaru was dumbfounded, "HUH? Rosuto did change after all?" Meiru was shocked, "EH? He actually like-likes my body in a bikini?" Yuri smiles, "WOW! Li-sempai, you're the best!"
Li suddenly went into a trance… the top of his right hand's fist revealed a red plain triangle caged in a circle of strange symbols and markings. He snapped out of it the moment he's found it in his sights! "EH?"
Iwamaru saw the mark and said, "I saw this strange green symbol here this morning. Don't know what it is exactly." He showed them a green triangle with a horizontal line through it caged in a circle of strange symbols and markings on his left upper arm.
Yuri said, "Same with Aneki and me." She showed a yellow triangle with a horizontal line through it caged in a circle of strange symbols and markings on her left forearm. Meiru pointed to a spot on her right leg's inner thigh, which is covered up with a special skin tone cream that dried up some time ago. She removed it with her hand to reveal a blue plain triangle caged in a circle of strange symbols and markings there.
Li said, "Do you think it's possible that we can communicate with others like so?" Meiru said, "I've come to enjoy my scheduled day-off, and yet this day's too half-good to be true." Yuri asks, "Half-good? What do you mean? It's too real to be a dream."
Li heard Iwamaru's thoughts, "Hmm… I wonder…" Li held his ground as Iwamaru sucker-punched him in the back, Iwamaru asks him, "Does that hurt?" Li pinched him, "Of course it does." Iwamaru was freaked, "Okay, I'm convinced that this is too real to be a dream!" Yuri and Meiru pinched each other on the shoulder to check if they're dreaming, in unison they shouted "ITAI! It's not a dream!"
Li grunts as he moves his head a bit, "Some voice in my head is telling me to concentrate on its owner's location… in an abandoned café in the center of town… and touch the encircled triangles on us." Iwamaru grunts too, "Same here." Yuri said, "Could be the one who did this to us." Meiru said, "We may as well get to the bottom of this."
Li concentrated and touched the red triangle on his fist; he became a great ball of red fire and flew off south through the sky! Iwamaru gulps as he did the same thing and turned into a small green dust devil and spiraled off after Li. Yuri and Meiru looked at each other before touching their marks, Yuri became a bright yellow cloud and zoomed off as Meiru turned into a spray of blue-colored water and jetted after her friend!
The four landed together in an abandoned restaurant in the center of Odaiba… to their surprise, new changes were beginning to grow on them, literally—— Li's hair turned a bright red, Iwamaru's turned bright green, Yuri's hair turned bright yellow, and Meiru's turned bright blue!
Yuri was a little excited, "What's happened to us?" A gruff voice from behind her replied, "Calm down or else you're going to change into your Soul DNA Shape, a form which can make you mistaken yourselves as monsters."
But it was too late… Li felt his blood boil! Then he felt and heard his bones crunching and his flesh stretching! He felt himself on the head and felt what felt just like fox ears! Nervously and slowly, as soon as the earthquake was over, he looked at his reflection in a mirror on the wall; he is no longer a normal human!
His human ears repositioned and reshaped into 100 percent fox-like ears (bigger than an ordinary fox's)! His complexion and skin tone is not normal anymore; it's more orange than his usual Caucasian! His hair is now not only longer than before but the color is now lava red and lightning white tipped! He felt his muscles; they're firmer beyond normal! His legs have become covered in thick red hair! His nails are now charcoal black! His eyes' irises have gone rose red! Another extraordinary thing is that he has a white-tipped red-haired tail like a fox too!
He nervously looked at his clothing; it glowed right and than a bright white! As the glow stopped, he reopened his eyes to see that he's now got huge metal shoulder pads of gold and iron, a few leather belts holding things together, he's got no shirt, red denim shorts, and no shoes! He has found a fire opal wristband on his left wrist! On the belt around his waist he's discovered a sheathed Japanese sword from the Medieval Age on Earth!
Iwamaru's transformation was much more different from Li's; his human ears have recently repositioned and reshaped into 100 percent wolf-like ears (bigger than an ordinary wolf's)! His complexion and skin tone is not normal anymore; it's browner than his usual Caucasian! His hair is now not only longer than before but the color is now a real grass green! His muscles are firmer beyond normal! His legs have become covered in thick green fur! His nails are now gold-colored! His eyes' irises have gone pine green! Another extraordinary thing is that he has a gray-colored tail like a wolf too!
He's now got huge metal shoulder pads, a few leather belts holding things together, he's got no shirt either, green denim shorts, and no shoes! A quartz wristband is on his left wrist! On the belt around his waist is a war hammer with a pentacle!
Yuri's human ears have recently reshaped into 100 percent feathery wing-shaped elf-like ears! Her complexion and skin tone is still normal! Her hair is now not only longer than before but the color is now a sun yellow color! Her legs and muscles still seem the same! Her nails are now gold-colored! Her eyes' irises have gone a golden yellow color! Another extraordinary thing is that she has a pair of rainbow-colored butterfly wings on her back!
She's now clad in a yellow 2-piece silk bikini with straps connecting the pieces together with the thick gloves and the garter-length boots with thick heels/soles! Over her eyes and ears is what appears to be a Virtual Reality headset with butterfly wings over the earpieces! A choker with a topaz charm/clasp hangs around her neck! On the garter belt her right leg is a quiver of arrows and a bow!
Meiru's human ears have recently reshaped into 100 percent elf-like ears too, only hers are webbed-like and triple-pronged! Her complexion and skin tone is still normal! Her hair is now not only longer than before but the color is now a crayon blue! Her muscles and legs still seem the same! Her nails are now silver-colored! Her eyes' irises have gone a sea blue color! Another extraordinary thing is that she a pair of long ribbon-like antennae on her head that swirl around her body!
She's clad in a blue 2-piece spandex bikini with straps connecting the pieces together! The garter-length boots shape her legs! Most of the back of her hair is now placed in a long ponytail like a whale's tail. An aquamarine clasp on a choker like Yuri's is hanging around her neck! She's got fin-like skirt sides, two of them shorter in front and two longer on behind. On the garter belt her left leg is collapsible trident!
Li's thoughts went haywire, "Oh man! You wait 7-and-a-half years to just to find those you've met and apologize to; next thing you know; you and they become strange chimera creatures! Well… Meiru-san is still gorgeous." Meiru scoffs, "I heard that, Li. If you're sorry for insulting me those countless times back when we were children, you're going to have to be my slave until you pay me 1,000,000 yen (about $8,536.80)."
Yuri said to Meiru, "Aneki; now's not the time to be arguing with Li-sempai and making him your slave as you wish. Someone is here and it's not the same voice as the one we heard in our heads." a small red humanoid robot with a golden stylized lightning bolt symbol on its chest, a golden badge-like pack on its back, and has a golden flying saucer-shaped (or an inflated hockey puck) head with a red visor as eyes. Its left forearm is like it's covered in a large blue almost cube-shaped gauntlet with a wrist cannon.
Yuri was amazed, "A fully-sentient multifunctional automaton." Then she went into an excited state, "THIS IS TOO COOL!" The same gruff voice, which came from this robot, said to Yuri (before she could rattle on), "If you would please, young lady. I, Alpha Sword, and my comrades are introducing ourselves to you."
Two more robots appeared from out of the darkness, side-by-side with Alpha Sword. The first one is like Alpha, but is yellow colored with gray plates and has arms and legs like coils and has a head like battle tank (whose caterpillar treads on side serve as a visor for the robot). He introduced himself in a somewhat C-3PO type of voice, "My name is Beta Gun." And the third is like the Alpha, but this one is blue with silvery linings and has small yet thick angelic wings, no thick arm, a more feminine build, and its head is like a small submarine. She spoke with a kind and calm voice, "And I am Gamma Wing. It's of great honor, we've finally met you."
The transformed young adults were confused, "Huh?"
"Please don't fret," said a calm and depressed man's voice, "they help me in my conquest against evil." The four of them turned to the counter to find a white-haired young-looking man in white armor and robes sitting in one of the seats before it, "Greetings."
Li heard Meiru's mind go off; "Oh my god! That white-haired man is not just drop-dead gorgeous, he's sexy as heaven!" along with disturbing images of her with him. Meiru rushed up to the white-robed fellow with hearts in her eyes! The mysterious man said to her, "Right now, young Meiru-san, you need information to why you were called here and why you're like this."
The mysterious man introduces himself, "I am Vaal, a paladin from beyond the stars. I've come to this planet of Earth, as a protector, 4.6 billion years ago." Meiru froze stiff at the end of that sentence! Vaal gulps a bit, "Although I did skip off this planet about 6 million centuries back, until I was needed again."
Li remembers something, "Wait! Does this have to do with the mysterious storm that absorbed the spaceship, the Comet Flash 9?" Vaal nods, "Yes. But that was no ordinary storm… it was a spell." Yuri asks in a worried tone of voice, "And the Terran astronauts that were on that mission?" Vaal answers, "Seduced." Meiru gasps, "What, you mean they're possessed by something evil?" Vaal nods, "Yes… close your eyes and focus on my memories; in a way, it can open your eyes to the world beyond your normal form of sight."
Iwamaru was dumbfounded, "Huh?" Li answers, "He means we can see things in our heads that are happening around the world." Iwamaru understood that, "Oh, why didn't you just say so?"
The four concentrated and in their heads they've found a beautiful woman in black, Vaal's thoughts narrated to them, "This is the Space Sorceress Princess Keia, a she-devil capable of powerful magic. Billions of years ago, she was one of my people… then her heart has become corrupted by evil. With her magical cards known as Keia Cards, her kingdom up on the moon, and her foot soldiers known as Shikigami, she plans to conquer Earth firsthand. I've imprisoned her on Mars until she could be saved, but now the chamber that kept her contained has been accidentally opened by those reckless human astronauts and she's continuing on with her plans."
As the psychic vision ended, Yuri asks, "How is it that we were able to perform those psychic abilities?" Beta Gun sighs, "The Soul DNA that was injected into you with a combination of animals under any same possible alignment or element and some specific microscopic machines and then bombarded with Soul Force beforehand. One with Soul DNA can morph into a specific animal he/she is injected with or a combination in between, plus learn techniques and gain abilities that are virtually impossible to him/her; including specific kinetic abilities, healing factor, etc. The marks left on you after the injection came in different shapes. Those injection marks are also known as Soul DNA Marks."
Iwamaru twitched… then nervously pointed questionably at him and others several times, but his thoughts spoke for him as his mouth soundlessly moved on, "You mean to say that on Rosuto's fist, the arms of me and Yuri-san, and Meiru-san's thigh are these injection marks?" Vaal said, "Yes. No need to be timid. You can turn back into a human, if you'd just think something like 'become human again'." Alpha Sword sternly said, "But remember, you will always be with those transformation abilities."
Iwamaru concentrated and then—— FLASH! In a blast of green light, Iwamaru changed completely back to normal, with the exception of the Soul DNA Mark on his left upper arm, only it's in a darker skin tone than the rest. Iwamaru shrugs, "Well, at least it's less conspicuous."
Li asks Vaal, "Are there any limits of these transformations that we should be aware of?" Gamma said, "Well… if any of you goes into an elemental emotion or attitude, you will begin to partially shapeshift into a new form. For example, Li; if you become hotheaded or highly aggravated, you will not only increase your body temperature but also gain features in your human form; like fox ears and/or tail, lion's mane, dragon scales, etc. Other than that, whatever form you're in it can last as long as you'd like and still be able to change into a different form later."
Meiru asks, as she changes back into a human in a blue flash, "But most importantly, what are these Soul DNA injections supposed to be for? Because it could be a mistake." Vaal said, "The injectors were programmed by my will, and the four of you have been chosen because… somewhere inside your own souls… the four of you have the will to save the world… as the paladins of elemental souls that span across the universe and beyond… Kouyou Sentai Soulranger."
Amazed, Yuri started, "Kouyou——" Iwamaru gulps, "Sentai——" Meiru finishes, "Soulranger?" Li, who wasn't amazed at all, asks, "What are your first orders of command, sir?" Meiru and Iwamaru opposed him——
Iwamaru started, "Hey! First, we didn't accept this!" and Meiru said, "Second of all, we've got other important things to worry about!" Li stands up to their objections, "Don't any of you get it? Now that we've been infused with Soul DNA, there's no turning back, now that Keia's come to Earth, we have the responsibility to protect the planet and its people! I know that this is not some stupid video game and we could get killed, but regardless this is our duty… and this could help us in return."
"Very good, Li," said Vaal, "if the four of could protect this world, what do you want in return?" Meiru starts, "A nice man I'm destined for." Yuri follows, "Knowledge of all types, especially those under science." Iwamaru grunts, "The recognizable respect I deserve." Li thinks about it to himself, the others couldn't get into his head with the mind-reading technique because he focused on thinking to himself, and is doing a very good job at it. Finally said, "There's nothing I want in return; all the things in the future life I can get on my own or with the help of the others."
Alpha grunts with a half-laughing scoff, "Li passes." The four recruits asked in unison, "Eh?" Vaal sighs, "Unfortunately, the asking for what you needed in return was actually a test to see if any of you are ready to achieve the Soul Badges, the next items needed for the full transformation of each member." He presented the recruits with triangular metallic badges with crystalline interiors with colored orbs in the central points.
Li was confused on which to choose, then notices, "Six? Where are the other two members? Who are the other two members?" Vaal saddens a bit, "Unfortunately, they could not be on this planet… they may… or they may not. So far you should find the other two, of course, I have absolutely no objection to having extra Soulrangers. But what I do object is Iwamaru, Yuri, and Meiru's self-claimed incapability to work with you and with each other. All four of you will have to work together in the first battle when it arrives."
Vaal picked up one of the Soul Badges (with a red crystal interior and golden orb center) and tossed it to Li, who caught it with ease. He looks at it, but as he changes back into his human guise he says, "If these three are not willing to transform to Soulranger… then I will not either. The day I transform into a Soulranger; should be the day they should as well. So until then, I can't accept this yet." He hands it back to Vaal.
Vaal said to Li, "Take a good look at it; it's no longer in your hand." Li looked into the cup of his hand where the Soul Badge was, he asks, "What happened to it?" Beta answers, "It's safe in a pocket dimension, just seconds before it came into contact with you." Alpha said, "It's a sign that you are worthy of it, not only because of the Soul DNA inside your body but also your own soul." Gamma finishes, "In times when you need it, you will just call out 'Soul Badge' it shall appear and to transform, just place it on your Soul DNA Mark for full power and call out 'Soul Force unlock, Soul Henshin'."
Yuri came close to the one with yellow crystal interior and aluminum-colored orb, "A pocket dimension, huh? You're definitely alien from this Earth, aren't you?" Vaal nods, "Alien technology, that is correct, Ms. Yuri." Yuri changes back into her human form and picks up the Soul Badge she eyed on, it didn't disappear. She asks Beta, "Why won't it disappear?"
Beta said, "Because although you have Soul DNA, it can sense your doubts within your heart." Meiru picks up the Badge with a blue crystal interior and silver-colored orb and asks, "Sense? Are you… meaning to say… these things are almost… in a manner… alive?" Gamma nods to her. Iwamaru picks up the Soul Badge with a green crystal interior and lead-colored orb, it won't vanish either.
Li understood why they won't disappear from his to-be-comrades' hands, so he said, "Listen, regardless of how you still think of me, you're going to have to trust me and right now we're all in this thing together. Whether you like it or not."
Iwamaru felt some sort of sensation, "Like that woman, Keia, showing up in the western district?" Meiru asks, "What should we do it?" Li said, "Isn't it obvious? We have to save the world!" Then he dashed off! Yuri shouts out, "Li-sempai, wait up!" before she disappeared in a poof!
Alpha scoffs, "Not bad for a non-Soulranger." Gamma was amazed, "Super-speed; she may not be accepted by the Soul Badge yet, but I guess what Alpha meant to say is that she's got courage to help out." Iwamaru groaned, "Oh man! Compared to those two, I'm the slowest!" Meiru said, "That's my childhood friend out there; we've got to help her!" then she remembers, "and Li too!"
Gamma would've smiled if she had a mouth as she saw the remaining recruits run off into battle with those who should be their teammates, "They may not be ready, but there's no one else." Vaal nods, "I know."
—————
Keia stood amongst a panicking crowd of people, she drew a card from the deck and smiles, "Keia Card, summoning spell; Shikigami!" From that one card, a countless number of pieces of white paper flew off into the air and each expanded into larger forms that crumbled up and reshaped into more paper-mâché forms that quickly formed into white humanoid forms.
The four fighters chosen by Soul DNA arrived, in Soul DNA Shape form. Li said, "You wanna take over our planet? Well, you're going to have to go through us first!" Keia looked at them and had personal comments about them, individually——
"Too weird." (Li)
"Pathetic." (Iwamaru)
"Too adorable." (Yuri)
"That is so unfair!" (Meiru)
Iwamaru gulps, "I guess she found out that I'm phobic about girls still." Meiru was confused, "Eh? What do you mean by that last statement?" Keia points to her bust and to Meiru's, Meiru looks at her respective bust and asks, "What does this have to do with anything?" Li answers, "For one, both of you are well-endowed and both of you are the same size as each other." Meiru growls in aggravation, Li quickly defends, "But I must say that sexiness is still one of your major benefits." Meiru hisses, "Just be glad that you're safe from my wrath, Li."
Keia calls out to her Shikigami, "Attack!"
Iwamaru pulls himself together, "Well, some real challenges. You know what they say; the more there are——" he stood still, waiting for the first wave of paper-mâché soldiers, he delivers a mighty punch which forced them all to fall like dominoes! Iwamaru finishes his sentence, "The easier they are to knock down."
Li nods, "Yeah, if she thinks she can beat us with paper-mâché servants/paper cut rejects, she's gravely mistaken!" He pulled out his sword, rapidly slicing a couple of the Shikigami to harmless pieces. Iwamaru pulls out his war hammer and smashes several of the Shikigami into dust, literally.
Yuri concluded, "Paper-mâché is nothing more than pieces of paper with dried textile paste, so it's a piece of cake to defeat these Shikigami hard enough, they will be defeated just as easily." She pulled out her bow and a few arrows, "I'm going to test what happens when deal a small amount of damage to them." She fired off a few arrows at some of the Shikigami, they're still standing; they pulled out the arrows and surprisingly the Shikigami have a healing factor that made the punctures from Yuri's arrows disappear.
Meiru took out her trident and extended its pole, making it a more capable trident and weapon. She saved her friend crushing each of the Shikigami after her, which caused them each to split in half and crumble. Meiru said, "They may strong and heal fast to minor attacks like your arrows, but against strong attacks like Li and Iwamaru's weapons, they crumble like cookies."
Li snaps his fingers, producing a small flame hovering over those fingers. He concentrated and it got bigger, giving him an idea, "Yuri-kohai, do you have any arrows left?" Yuri answers, "The quiver seems to create a virtually unlimited supply of them." Li says, "Fire some more after I set them aflame!"
Yuri prepares a few arrows and pulls back on the string, Li shoots a jet of fire over to her arrows and set them on fire, Yuri got the idea and fired the flaming arrows at rest of the Shikigami; the flaming arrows burned through the Shikigami and continued on to the rest!
No more Shikigami, the four stood victorious!
Keia said, "I see that the four of you are capable of defeating my always-replaceable Shikigami, but how are you against my Keia Cards?" She cackled malevolently, as the four got ready to stop her, suddenly… she stopped in her tracks. She held her stomach in great pain; "My body must be experiencing something terrible since I was set free from that chamber back on Mars. I apologize for not being able to destroy you now, but we'll get to making the four of you either my death victims… or my love slaves." She gibbered out a few mystical words before disappearing into thin air.
The crowd gathered in satisfaction and gratitude around their rescuers. Iwamaru puts his hands to his hips and scoffs, "So… that's Keia? Nothing to it!" Meiru shivered and gagged, "That's one sick lady!" Yuri shrugs, "Who cares? We've won and that's all that matters."
Li felt differently, "Then what is this unholy aura in the air I'm sensing?" His comrades looked at him questionably, "Huh?" The sky darkened and crackled with lightning soon afterwards…
The crowd moved away in terror at the sight of it! A bolt of lightning from the darkness struck the ground with incredible force… from the destruction in the pavement emerged a warrior in hellish armor.
Iwamaru squeezed his knuckles inward with a gleeful grin, "About time we've got a real challenge. Maybe if we defeat this guy, it should convince our Soul Badges that we are worthy after all." Yuri said with a bright smile, "That knight doesn't stand a chance!" Meiru said, "Don't get too reckless, Keia could be dangerous as well as this goon of hers."
The hellish warrior figure stood up and gruffly said, "Keia? I serve no one but myself, for I am more powerful than anything the past foe you've encountered was. I am Kyamio the Hell Knight" Three of the four transmutant fighters were surprised, "You're not with her?" Li said, "I've been trying to tell you guys that something much bigger is going on here. I can feel it; this guy's got a power that's even greater than about 14 duplicates of Keia plus herself." The warrior nods, "Your ability to sense power levels in others is uncanny, Fire Elemental."
A lion-shaped body of dark energies fell from the darkness above, taking it with it and within itself, and then landing beside Kyamio. Kyamio placed his left hand on the mysterious entity and it turned into a large metallic violet shield with black plates. The lightning that was still above since the darkness left, bolted down and struck the shield, forming a hellish silver sword from behind it. With his free hand, he drew it and pointed at them.
Iwamaru felt fear well up inside of him, "Oh no! I'm starting to sense Kyamio's level of power too! I can't handle this!" Yuri felt the fear overcome her too, "If someone like Iwamaru couldn't stand up to that? Does that mean that Kyamio is capable of killing his foes with a single attack?" Meiru felt despair filling her soul, "Does this mean that with one blow of that sword can devastate all these cities in one stroke without having to touch them with his blade? All the innocent souls… doomed!"
Li stood courageously, as his comrades lay on the ground in fear, gloom, and despair, "I know what destruction is and comes with calamity, but even I won't let that happen! For I: the strength and power of Fire, I am also the light to guide others through the darkness! Iwamaru: the stability and support of Earth, he is also the darkness to balance things out with darkness and light! Yuri: the intellect and purity of Air, is also the mind that knows all that we should never give up hope and always know that the sun of miracles will always rise, bringing the break of a whole new day! And Meiru: the wisdom and force of Water, is also the heart that cares for all life and gives life to all who have a purpose in the universe! I have confidence in them, but do they realize it yet? First, I want to let them know I'm sorry for everything mean I've did to them in the past. Will they forgive me?"
Kyamio said, "Pity, all the pretty and noble words in the world cannot bring those who've already lost hope in their first battle." Then he sent his sword crashing down at Li, who caught the blade with ease, and pushed down on the blade, believing that it could cut through and kill Li!
But Kyamio was proven wrong; Iwamaru is pushing against Li's back, supporting him with the force to push Kyamio back! He said, "Even though I still wanna kick your ass… you're right… and I forgive you, Rosuto Li." Yuri joined in by pushing against Iwamaru's back, "Think of a bright and righteous future, and it will come!" Meiru joined in too, "I forgive you too, Li… now let's save the world from these evil forces… together!"
The feelings of the four formed a powerful ball of radiant rainbow-colored energies into Li's hands, which are still blocking Kyamio's blade! FLASH! Kyamio's sent flying backwards! The same energy that forced their foe back suddenly got to the Soul Badges and caused them to disappear!
Yuri telepathically contacted Vaal and asks him, "Does this mean——?" "Yes." replied Vaal.
Yuri said, "We can transform now!" Iwamaru smiles, "Then what're we waiting for?" Li nods, "Let's transform!"
Together, they shout out, "Soul Badges!" their Soul Badges formed into their hands, they placed them over their Soul DNA Marks and shout out, "Soul Force unlock…" and presented them forward in their palms, shouting out, "SOUL HENSHIN!"
Meiru stood in the middle of an ocean, the she exploded into a humanoid figure of illuminating blue water! A tidal wave came crashing from behind her… as she resurfaced… her body is suited into a blue suit with white gloves and boots! A white-colored belt appeared and had her Soul Badge appear onto it like a belt buckle, with a holster on both sides of the belt. A gentle rain came down on her, creating a blue helmet over her head; the visor is like the fin at the end of a whale's tail. She positioned herself in a water-connected kata, with a beautiful rainbow above the calm sea in the background!
Yuri stood in the calm clear blue sky, and spun like a top and formed a tornado from it! Feathers of all sizes, shapes, and colors came flying from without her; as her small whirlwind died out… her body is suited into a yellow suit with white gloves and boots! A white-colored belt appeared and had her Soul Badge appear onto it like a belt buckle, with a holster on both sides of the belt. Small gusts of wind blew through her hair, creating a yellow helmet over her head; the visor is shaped like a bird in flight. She positioned herself in a wind-connected kata, with a flash of sunlight in the background!
Iwamaru stood in the middle of a rock quarry, before he dissolved into a humanoid figure of brown stone! A landslide of boulders came crashing from behind him… as he resurfaced from the boulders… his body is suited into a green suit with white gloves and boots! A white-colored belt appeared and had his Soul Badge appear onto it like a belt buckle, with a holster on both sides of the belt. Small gusts of wind filled with fresh green leaves blew through his hair, creating a green helmet over his head; the visor is like a bull's face. He positioned herself in an earth-based kata, with a beautiful tree growing to its fullest potential in the background!
Li stood in the middle of an ocean of fire; he exploded into a humanoid figure of red fire! Flame came erupting from around him and within… as the flames calmed down… his body is suited into a green suit with white gloves and boots! A white-colored belt appeared and had his Soul Badge appear onto it like a belt buckle, with a holster on both sides of the belt. A gentle shower of sparks came down on him, creating a red helmet over his head; the visor is like a lion's gaping jaws. He positioned herself in a fire-based kata, with a beautiful display of fireworks popping in the background!
Meiru performed a back-flip before 'swimmingly' danced on the spot like a dolphin, "The wisdom and force from the pure heart; the soul of the water element, Soul Blue!"
Yuri spins in a pirouette on one toe with her arms outstretched like wings, "The intellect and purity of the tempest of joy; the soul of the air element, Soul Yellow!"
Iwamaru slams his fist to the ground and showed off his muscles a bit, "The stability and fertility of the sacred ground; the soul of the earth element, Soul Green!"
Li quickly spins three times, stops, then spreads out his arms like wings, "The strength and power of the holy sun fire and light; the soul of the fire element, Soul Red!"
Together, they shout out in unison, "Together our combined elemental souls create a whole new universe!" Li and Iwamaru stood beside each other as Meiru stood beside Li and Yuri stood beside Iwamaru. Finally, they shout out, "Kouyou Sentai Soulranger!"
Kyamio screams out "DAMN YOU!" The Soulrangers looked at their latest foe without fear. Soul Green squeezed his knuckles with a free hand, "Let's see how tough you are, Kyamio."
Kyamio started to give off an aura not too indifferent from the dark energies he's showed up from, but then it created three warrior entities that appear to be in the same hellish armor as Kyamio with the exception for the additional features and look a lot sleeker than his. Soul Red said, "Oh man! He's cloned himself from his aura!" Kyamio pointed his blade at Soul Red, "You, who did not flinch at my power, shall face me while your comrades die at the hands of my Hell Clones!"
Soul Green and Soul Yellow looked to their left hand holsters and found blaster weapons with a numeral keypad and grabbed it, she folded hers down into a gun-like form, "Soul Stick, laser gun mode!" while Soul Green's had a blade flip out like a Swiss army knife, "Soul Stick, sonic sword mode!"
Soul Blue looked to her right hand holster, and found a mystical-looking dagger with a plain if not prismatic crystal blade and drew it out, "Soul Blade!" At the hilt of the dagger is a golden symbol with the same triangular symbols like their own Soul DNA Marks forming a strange four-pointed star, which is surrounded by other celestial symbols. Her crystal blade glowed a bright blue as she held it up high!
Soul Red took both his Soul Blade and Soul Stick and inserted his mystical dagger's handle into the barrel, which shrank into the technological sidearm, giving his new weapon a crystal blade! "Soul Sword!"
Soul Yellow faced her opponent from a distance, and giving him a slip every time he had his sword come close to her by a millimeter, making him miss every time. She typed in a code, "111." The weapon said to her, "Attack Beam." She pointed her weapon at the Hell Clone after her and fired a yellow laser beam at him, but he blocked the beam with his sword and redirected it to the ground. Soul Yellow didn't give up with her weapon and kept firing until she struck her opponent's eye, then he fell backwards and exploded!
Soul Green held out against his opponent in a battle of strength and swordsmanship, "You guys are about as tough as the gigantic boxers I used to take on in my youth!" He also observed Soul Yellow's victorious battle and typed into his Soul Stick's keypad, "95137." The Soul Stick said, "Sonic Frequency 95137." Soul Green pushed the blade into his opponent's sword so hard that it not only somehow cut through the blade but also his opponent as well, slicing him in half!
Soul Blue could hardly believe the amazing power her Soul Blade possesses as she battles her Hell Clone opponent, it seemed to have its power increase by her own, making it sharper, stronger, and tougher than her opponent's armor and sword. She also concentrated on the spinal cord of her opponent and struck the back of his neck, destroying him!
Soul Red typed in 111110 into the keypad of his Soul Sword, which said earlier, "Elemental Access." Every time Kyamio and Soul Red's blades connected, an explosion set them apart thanks to Soul Red's own weapon.
Battered, exhausted, and outnumbered, Kyamio said, "I've never expected the four of you to be a capable team. For now, I will take my leave, but remember; I'll be back to finish you off someday. Also, beware of the Seven Deadly Forces, for that kingdom belonging to the pathetic slut Keia and I are but 2 of them." Then he disappeared away from their point of view.
Although the good citizens of Odaiba cheered for their new champions' victory, a concern has been placed upon their shoulders; who are the other Seven Deadly Forces?
To be continued…