Ch. 1: Passing The Torch
"Feng! What is the square root of 484?" Mrs. Hawkenbrow snapped, cracking her pen against her desk. Behind her, Porter, a friend of Feng's, 's hand shot up.
Feng racked her brain, desperately trying to calculate the answer. But the teacher cracked her pen against the desk again, shouting, "Too late! There goes two marks in your exam!" before whirling around and advancing on Porter, who was noticably shivering.
A faint red-and-white light suddenly shone from the closed zipper of Feng's schoolbag as she lay on her desk, her head buried in her hands. "For the record, it was 24," a breathless, excitable, childish voice whispered from inside her backpack. Feng rolled her eyes and whispered back, "Since when have you been a maths expert, Machalcon?"
The red and white was suddenly joined by silver. "You are wrong! The correct answer is -" a cool, mechanical voice replied, before being cut off as the silver vanished, replaced by gold. "Get out of my way!" a new voice instructed, before continuing, "The correct answer, is 22!"
Feng rolled her eyes. "Where were you about two minutes ago, Mr. Golden Genius? Besides, I understand Machalcon being here, but surely you two have better things to do than mess around on my Soul Sensor,"
The silver returned. "No, we do not," he commented.
Feng groaned. "I kinda wish something would happen, just to get out of this boredom!"
Of course, right then the wall of the classroom exploded, revealing a dark silhouette standing on the fire escape outside. "Me and my big mouth," Feng rolled her eyes.
So I guess you're wondering what's going on by now. Who I, Feng, am, why I'm talking to Machalcon, a supposedly fictional character, what a Soul Sensor is, and who just smashed through my classroom wall. Well, I guess I should just take you back to the start, which was two days ago. It all started when the big robot dinosaur showed up and started attacking the city . . . . . . . . . .
X
Feng was wandering down the street towards the train station when it happened. She was, at the time, a slim girl with short, braided black hair in a white undershirt, khaki brown shorts and a red jacket. Like everyone else on the street, she turned and looked at the soectacle that was a huge, navy, robot Spinosaurus tore itself out of her school oval and roared to the heavens.
Unlike everyone else on the street, she didn't run away at the sight. Instead, she recognised the metal monstrosity. "Zyudenryu Tobaspino? But he's fictional!" she gasped. Feng was also a big fan of Power Rangers and Super Sentai alike.
The dinosaur roared and, since no one else was there, looked directly at her after seeming to sniff the air. "And now I'm going to be eaten by something that doesn't exist," Feng gulped, before turning and dashing towards the train station.
Tobaspino chased her down the street, but she made it to the safety of the train station before he could catch her. Feng paused, gasping for breath, as she collapsed into a bench on the station platform.
A thundering noise alerted her to the fact that her worries were not over, as the mighty dinosaur walked over the station and, dropping his head down to the platform, moved it towards her. Frozen in fear, Feng merely watched as Tobaspino slowly moved his head towards her, pausing when she was mere inches from his snout.
Feng quivered in fear, but raised a suspicious eyebrow as the Zyudenryu seemed to dip his snout towards her. Acting on impulse, she hesitantly reached out and placed her palm on his metal snout.
Tobaspino violently shook her off with an angry glint in his eyes that scared Feng, before roaring and rearing up - only to bash his head on the roof of the train station. He collapsed to the floor, moaning.
Suddenly, the damaged speakers of the station crackled to life with an oddly familiar, melodious, seven-note jingle, before a Japanese voice announced, "The ultimate train is now arriving! Please stand behind the white line!"
Feng knew she was far behind the line, but took a couple of steps back just in case. Tobaspino, probably not understanding, cocked his head in confusion.
Feng couldn't help but smile as her assailant was violently rammed by a ten-storey-tall golden steam engine, being thrown back several metres as the train braked to a halt.
She blinked as a door opened in the train nearby her, and stairs descended from it to the platform. A silhouette beckoned for her to get on. The girl considered her options. Board the mysterious train that had just saved her life, or stay on the platform where Tobaspino would probably kill her as soon as he recovered.
Hoisting her schoolbag, she started to climb the stairs.
The second her foot left the final stair, they telescoped back into the side of the train and the door closed. "Welcome to the Hyper Ressha Tei-Oh!" a vaguely familiar voice told her.
Feng turned. "Beet J. Stag? Seriously? Okay, what is going on, why is all this stuff from Super Sentai coming to life?"
The Buddyroid from Tokumei Sentai Go-Busters seemed happy that she had recognised her. "I have a fan! This is fabulous! But perhaps I, should not be the one to explain. Come! I will take you to the leader!" he shouted, grabbing her wrist and pulling her towards a staircase. "You could at least explain why you're real!" Feng complained, before a deep, Japanese voice sounded over the intercom. "Hyper Ressha Henkei! Hyper Ressha Tei-Oh!"
Suddenly, the entire corridor inverted ninety degrees, sending Feng and her newly acquired travelling companion sliding back down the hall and landing on the wall as what had formally been a corridor leading forwards now became a corridor leading upwards. "Oh dear. What shall we do now?" Stag asked, looking at Feng, who pointed at what had formerly been the roof. "There's a ladder right there, bolts-for-brains," she pointed out, indicating a set of metal rungs set into the roof/wall.
Stag facepalmed. "Of course! I knew there was a reason those were built!"
Feng sighed and began climbing the ladder, closely followed by the silver-and-gold robot.
A few seconds later, the entire thing rocked, and Feng nearly lost her balance. "What just happened?" she asked, shocked. "If I had to guess, then I suppose that the Hyper Ressha must have taken a hit!" Stag responded.
Feng groaned. "How long do we have to climb?"
Stag paused and thought for a second. "Well, we are currently about thirteen storeys up and the cockpit is twenty-two storeys, so nine storeys worth of ladder, give or take," he responded. "There has to be a faster way to do this," Feng sighed. "I could carry you to the top?" Stag suggested.
X
"We have now reached the height of twenty-one storeys!" Stag announced, five minutes later. A vein pulsed in Feng's neck. "You have said that every storey for the last eight storeys! Cut it out!" She shouted from her position riding piggyback on the robot. "Yes! I apologise!" Stag enthusiastically shouted, before silently climbing up the last few rungs. "You're a fast climber, I'll give you that," Feng decided. "Thank you!" Stag replied, as the robot rocked for the third time in as many minutes. "What is going on out there? Giant robot battles as a rule don't take this long," the human girl wondered. "Oh, you'd be surprised. They just cut out a lot in the TV shows," Stag replied.
"What's it like being a TV star? And a Super Sentai for that matter?" Feng questioned the robot. Stag shrugged, or seemed to anyway. "Having fans is good! I also like owning an action figure of myself!" he commented, before going silent.
"We have now reached the height of twenty-two storeys! We are here!" Stag announced a few seconds later as he climbed through a trapdoor, unceremoniously dropping Feng on the platform above it. She carefully picked herself up, before giving Stag a light punch on the shoulder. "That's for dropping me," she told him, before turning away to make sure he didn't see her nursing her knuckles from punching steel.
The room was small and compact, with a white automated sliding door on either side.
"So everything's the right way up here, but everything else is turned around. Sure, why not?" Feng sighed. "There is usually no one in any part of the mecha except the cockpit. It was deemed a waste of materials," Stag responded.
"Do you understand the concept of a rhetorical question?" Feng questioned, raising a skeptical eyebrow. "A what?"
Suddenly an explosion sounded behind one of the doors in the room, followed by a masculine scream. Stag gave a start. "AkaRed! He's hurt!" he shouted, before dashing through the door. "Aka-who now?" Feng gasped, following the robot.
Feng gasped as she entered the room. She recognised the golden steam train-like cockpit in the centre of the room, it was the exact same as which Hyper ToQ #1 piloted the Hyper Ressha.
But the noticeable difference was that a giant metal beam had crashed on top of the pilot seat. And the costumed figure who had collapsed in the cockpit was a far cry from Hyper ToQ #1. "AkaRed?" Feng gasped. The Red Warrior was struggling to lift the beam off his body. He looked up and saw the two. "Stag! Help me!" he instructed. "Yes sir!" the robot saluted, before rushing over and effortlessly throwing the beam away.
AkaRed carefully got up. "Good. We need to get out of here. Who are you?" he questioned, pointing at Feng. She shrugged. "Feng. And I'm still waiting on my explanation," she commented.
The Red Warrior pushed a lever forward, and the cockpit rocked. Feng nearly lost her balance, but Stag seemed unaffected. "Was all the stuff in the TV shows real? It all actually happened?" Feng tried. "Wrong!" AkaRed responded, punching a couple of buttons.
Suddenly the entire room rocked as, as Feng could see on the screens of the cockpit, Tobaspino dealt a devastating blow to the Hyper Ressha Tei-Oh. Suddenly the golden cockpit exploded, throwing AkaRed against the back of the room. Feng gasped, running over to him.
The Hyper Ressha was thrown back, and everything tipped again. AkaRed was now sprawled against the new floor and Feng and Stag were rapidly sliding down the new wall to join them.
Feng and AkaRed simultaneously caught sight of the viewscreen, where Tobaspino was preparing to deal the final blow to the Tei-Oh.
"You two need to get out of here," AkaRed told Feng and Stag. "Where is the exit?" Stag asked. Feng blinked, and she presumed that AkaRed did too. "You're standing on it," she pointed out. Sure enough, Stag was standing on the - obviously no longer - automated sliding door. "She is correct!" AkaRed shouted, before fumbling inside his uniform and producing three things; a silver gauntlet of some kind, a piece of metal that Feng recognised as a Go-Onger Engine Soul, and what seemed to be a toy of Engine Machalcon with his eyes closed. "Machalcon's cast and soul?" Feng asked, shocked. "Stag! Go with her. Keep her and those items safe," AkaRed instructed.
Stag saluted. "Yes sir!" before the door he was standing on suddenly sparked and slid open. "Oh dear," the robot commented, before falling down into what had been the corridor.
AkaRed chuckled. "He is clumsy, but well-intended. He will keep you safe until -"
Suddenly a crash sounded from the front wall/roof above them. A huge chunk suddenly got torn out of the structure, revealing Tobaspino's growling face.
AkaRed's eyes widened behind his mask as a chunk of the structure came loose and fell towards them. "Look out!" he shouted, jumping forward and pushing Feng out of the way.
A split second later, a chunk of metal fell from the ground and crashed into the Red Warrior's spine, crushing him to the ground. "Oh no," Feng gasped.
"This is the end for me," AkaRed told her. "What? But you're AkaRed! The warrior who inherits the red souls! You can't end!" Feng protested. AkaRed nodded ruefully. "I am. But I am not infallible. Which is why, until I recover, I must entrust the Super Sentai Soul, to you,"
"What?" Feng gasped. AkaRed remained silent, but Feng watched, fascinated, as the golden V shape that was the universal symbol of Super Sentai marked on his suit's chest magically removed itself from his chest, leaving blank redness. The V floated in mid-air to Feng's chest height, before vanishing into her chest. "What was that?" Feng gasped.
AkaRed never got the chance to answer, as Tobaspino's head crashed into the cockpit and, with a mighty gulp, swallowed both him and the debris he was trapped under. "Oh shit," Feng sweatdropped as Tobaspino hungrily eyed her.
Something cold and metal wrapped around her ankle, and Feng awkwardly squeaked as she was pulled through the open door, out of Tobaspino's reach.
Stag seemed to blink as the girl landed next to him. "Are you okay?" he asked. "I'm fine," she breathed.
Tobaspino's metal maw appeared in the door above them. "We should go," Feng decided. "Agreed," Stag added, pulling open the door in the floor, which had been across from the door leading into the cockpit when the room with the trapdoor was the right way up, and was now also in the floor.
Feng looked through it, and opened the hatch on the other side. It seemed to drop down a few feet to a set of train tracks. Shrugging, she easily made the drop, quickly followed by Stag. "This way. We should be safe in here for a while, but we must get moving," Feng numbly nodded, still shocked by AkaRed's death.
After a couple of minutes of running, Feng stuffing Machalcon's cast and soul, as well as the silver metal gauntlet, into her backpack as she ran. The occasional thunk of metal on metal told them that Tobaspino was still outside. Eventually, when they reached the end of the tracks, Stag stopped near a service hatch. For a second Feng didn't notice, but when she did, she quickly backed up to his position. "This way," Stag instructed, opening the hatch into a cramped, dingy corridor. After a moment's hesitation, Feng followed the Buddyroid.
"How long does this go for?" Feng questioned. "Not long. We just need to reach the Jet Ressha," Stag instructed, crawling forwards. Feng nodded, then paused. "Wait. There's no Jet Ressha!" she exclaimed. "Yes there is," Stag told her. "it was just never in the show," he continued.
Sure enough, eventually the cramped service hatch came to an end, opening up into a small platform, hidden in the bowels of the Hyper Ressha. Feng was shocked to see a two-carriage gleaming silver train with the customary white stripe of the Rainbow Line running across it. However, there was a thick bar of blood-red crimson paint running beneath the white stripe. The front carriage had a triangular shape like a bullet train, with a large tinted black glass visor across the front. Feng noticed specialised clamps at the back and front of the front and back carriages respectively, and triangular folds of metal that seemed to be similar to jet wings collapsed against the side of the train.
Stag had already slid the doors open and was climbing on board. "Come on!" he shouted. Feng nearly dropped her bag, but hoisted it over her shoulder and climbed on board the train. Stag gestured to the cockpit seat. "You expect me to drive?" Feng questioned. "I don't even have a license to drive a car, let alone a train!" she complained.
"Driving a Ressha requires IMAGINATION!" Stag shouted for no apparent reason. "I am a Buddyroid! I have no Imagination! It must be you!"
Shaking, Feng slowly moved towards the cockpit and sat down in the cockpit seat. "Is this the Jet Ressha ToQ Changer form?" she asked, picking up what looked like a toy of the carriage she was sitting in. "Yes!" Stag nodded. "Great, all I need is a ToQ Changer to use it in," Feng sighed. "There is one of those on board somewhere! I will find it!" Stag proclaimed, running into the back of the train,"
"Again with the rhetorical questions," Feng sighed. "There has to be a way to start this thing," she sighed. "I recommend the ignition lever! On the right!" Stag shouted from somewhere in the train.
The young girl easily found the lever, and, shrugging, pushed it forwards.
Feng gave a start as the train hummed to life and jolted forwards.
"Congratulations!" Stag shouted, appearing behind her with a ToQ Changer in hand. "You are getting on my nerves," Feng growled as the Jet Ressha pulled away from the platform.
Suddenly a yawn came from Feng's schoolbag. "Oh, that was a nice nap, bari bari. Hey, wait, bari, where am I?"
"Good, Machalcon is awake!" Stag seemed to smile, reaching for the bag and fishing the Engine Soul out of it. "Hello Stag, bari," the piece of metal commented. "Can you load me into the Soul Sensor, bari bari? I can't see a thing like this, abari bar,"
"Understood, but be ready for a surprise," Stag instructed. Machalcon made an engine noise that sounded like a contemptuous snort. "What could be that bad? You really annoy me sometimes, abaribaribar,"
Feng saw daylight. "We're about to exit the Hyper Ressha. Where am I going?" she questioned Stag. "Who's that, bari bari?" Machalcon asked.
Stag removed the metal gauntlet from Feng's schoolbag and, opening a slot on the side, slid Machalcon's Engine Soul into it. Seconds later, a small, cartoonish hologram version of Machalcon flickered into life from the gauntlet. "I'm back! Baribaribar - hey! Why are we inside the Jet Ressha? And who's that?" he asked, gesturing at Feng.
Stag thought for a moment. "Take us to your place for now, we will work out what to do from there,"
"Hey, bari! You didn't answer my question, baribari!" Machalcon complained. "Or mine? I still have no idea what's going on here?" Feng complained.
Stag seemed to look sheepish. "I will explain things to Machalcon first. Feng, keep driving. I will answer your questions when we get to your place,"
Feng frowned. "That won't work. The place I live, we shouldn't go there in this. But I know a good place,"
"Take us there," Stag instructed.
A/N
A/N
So, this is my latest fic, and my first not about Skylanders! What does everyone think? Please R&R with comments and suggestions!