Kouyou Sentai Soulranger

(Elemental Squadron Soulranger)

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Vessel 2: Rise of the Demons & Familiars

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It has been about two days since the Soulrangers first appeared… in a deep cave far in the northwest of Japan… a human hand picks up a piece of newspaper with a headline reading 'New Sentai and New Mysterious Evil!' in Japanese, a young masculine voice growled coldly before throwing it away, "Now's about time I'd take my wrath and vent it upon those who calls themselves dominant!"

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Li was on his way to the Soulranger hideout; Yuri, his teammate also known as Soul Yellow, called a special meeting there with the rest of the Soulrangers. But something caught his eye; a nest of four different-colored egg-like mechanical objects (one red, one green, one yellow, and one blue) sitting in the shade of a bush. Suspicious of the eggs at first, Li decided to collect them so they could be studied further.

Soon afterwards, he discovered that the red one opened and disintegrated as soon as it made contact with Li's bare skin, revealing a small red-colored lion cub from within. Li hid the little creature into his jacket before continuing on.

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As Li got there, the whole place has been remodeled and painted with earth tones on the bottom, topped off by an oceanic theme, above that was a sky-blue paint with white clouds, topped off with fiery designs on the top. The blue curtain sign on top of the door read in Japanese, 'Elemental Four Café', a sign next to it read 'Open on Sundays and Holidays; or to anyone with an customer card or employee's ID at any time'. A circular logo with a volcano on the upper-left corner, a forest on the lower-left corner, a rainbow-filled sky on the lower-right corner, and an ocean on the upper-right corner sat above the door and below the windows above it.

Li entered the café to discover the inside has been re-modified as well; the center of the café room has a circular counter for the cashier's work. The north side of the large room has a counter similar to a tree trunk with tree stump-like stools in front of it, the east side has a counter that is somewhat space age with impressive sci-fi features too, the west side has a counter that has a very tropical beach theme along with an aquarium behind it and palm tree-like stools in front, and the south side has a volcano-like counter with interesting fire-themed chairs in front of it.

Yuri popped out from behind the space age counter waving to Li with great glee, "I see that you've showed up!" Li nods, "Yeah… isn't the thought about who the other 5 groups of the 7 Deadly Forces are bothering? It has been driving me nuts! First we've got a sorceress/princess from space who uses magical cards named Keia, next shows up a very powerful Hell Knight named Kyamio… what's next someone with a bad temper?"

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In the forest, a humanoid figure with a large mane of silvery hair stopped to sneeze. "As usual," he said, "mankind mocks me when it has no idea I still exist!"

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Meiru shows up from a secret passage, that functions like revolving doors, in the corner between the forest and beach counters, she notices Li and said, "I see that you've noticed that Yuri-chan has rebuilt this old café into something of our theme on the ground level."

Li asks, "What's on the upper and lower levels? Plus where're the kitchen and the bathrooms, even the supply room?" Vaal came out of the same place Meiru has, but this time in a normal white-colored modern day attire of an executive, then he answered to Li, "The upper levels are personal rooms between you Soulrangers plus any extra. The lower levels are just our new headquarters, more appropriate for a headquarters down below when we're out to combat evil. The kitchen is right behind the space bar, and behind the kitchen is the supply room."

Li sighs, "I presume Iwamaru-san is also here." Iwamaru came in, with a load of frozen ingredients in his hands, "I've been here for a while." Iwamaru whispers a question to Li, "Tell me if anybody who's possibly raised you told you to grow up right some time in the last 7 years ago?" Li said, "Those jerks that dare to call themselves my sisters used to say that you'd have to lie or cheat to get along with other people. Fortunately, I've learned better." Iwamaru said, "Thank the lord."

Li yelped a bit, "Oh!" From out of Li's jacket leapt out the red lion cub, which landed on the forest counter with ease. Iwamaru was surprised at it, "What in the world… is that?" Li confessed, "Okay, I've found these strange eggs and I've felt a bit suspicious of them so I decided to bring them here. Strange thing is that little red guy took a liking to me."

Vaal said, "Congratulations, Li; you've found not only your first Soul Familiar Egg, but the ones belonging to your comrades." The Soulranger got confused, "Soul Familiar Egg?" Vaal explained, "Soul Familiars are genetically created creatures formed from a combination of science and magic, along with the power of Soul Force and sharing the same Soul DNA as the original. In other words, creatures that share a small bit of Soul DNA equivalent to the Soulranger it belongs to. To, in a way, hatch them, the appropriate Soulranger must be in skin contact with the 'shell'. When the Soul DNA injectors flew off to find you, the Eggs blasted and became scattered across the land."

Meiru said, "So we have to travel to look for the Soul Familiar Eggs?" Li shrugs, "That's basically what he's saying." Yuri hatched hers and got a small yellow eaglet earlier, which has perched on her left shoulder, "Think of it as an adventure of a lifetime. Yellow Eagle here said it's an idea."

The other Soulrangers were confused, "Said?" Vaal explained that too, "Soulrangers have a telepathic link with their Soul Familiars, even though they're very young they're as mature as you are… in spirit, because of your physical contact and Soul Force. But they will grow up faster, or evolve, into much more powerful beings after achieving enough experience they need."

Iwamaru and Meiru looked at each and decided to see what was inside their blue egg and green egg… Iwamaru's first Soul Familiar looks like a small green bull and Meiru's is a blue snake. Meiru sighs a bit, "Am I sly like a snake?" Iwamaru looks curiously at the miniature green bull before him, "This could be one piece of the explanation to why I feel like butting my head into other people lately."

Li said, "Oh, that's nothing; lately I've been chasing mice due the feline genes I've discovered in me." Meiru laughs at Li, "I've always thought of you as a ridiculous cat; but I never thought you'd stoop to actually chase mice!" Li adds in, "And eat them whole?" Meiru stopped her laughing, then checks his back by feeling it… finally she said, "A master of the sword and firearms? Oh! Due to a few dislocations in your spinal cord due to overworking yourself, you will mess up in… one skill of any type… once… every… 3,000 times you use them."

Li asks, "Do I have to pay an extra million yen? It's the 3rd time you've asked me to extra." He hands Meiru a check worth of 58.8 million Japanese yen ($500,000). Her eyes bug out at the sight of it! She asks, "Where the heck do you get this kind of cash?" Li answers, "Before our adventures as Soulrangers began, which was less than three days ago, I've gotten lucky into monetary lotteries. Plus, I just last week I've bet on a prizefighter called the Roaring Mountain God."

Yuri and Iwamaru gasped in unison, "You've gambled?" Li replies, "Only a little." Iwamaru asks, "How many times did you gamble?" Li answers, "Just the one." Iwamaru was surprised, "Just the one?" Yuri asks, "How many times did you enter the lottery?" Li answers, "Well, probably once a week ever since I've turned 18, so that was about a total of 7 times I've won. So in cases like that, I've got extraordinary luck. Plus I've gotten earnest-paid money from doing chores for my allowance and saving it up, working at first as a coffee boy at Sonic Bird Delivery, then saved up during my time as a regular boss's assistant there, and I've gotten my employee of the month just two months ago for being on time at each of my deliveries. So… I'm a good worker too."

Meiru was aghast, as were the others, "All that dough… multiplied after that one gamble?" Li nods, "That's right. I'd say that in American cash, I'm to about $321 million after paying Meiru-san another time, which is now." Yuri's eyes flashed with yen signs (¥) in her eyes, "That's about 37.7496 billion Japanese yen; think of all the cake and ice cream you can snack on!" Meiru regained herself, "Okay. Just lay down on your chest and hold still!" Li does so… Meiru lands a powerful punch to the base of Li's spine, which he endured well, as she starts his work.

A few minutes later… after a few more rubs from Meiru's hands to Li's shoulders—— POP! Li sprawled on the ground, as Meiru sighs out, "Now that feels a whole lot better." Meiru stuffs the check down her dress, "That kind of cash deserves the magic in the wrist." Li tests his back with a little hip-shaking form of dancing, no problems whatsoever. Meiru asks, "During my exploration on your back… you seemed to have taken a massive emotional blow in your childhood too."

Li stops his ridiculous test dancing and sighs, "I'm going to get my luggage, so I can move into my room here." Then he left out the door… Meiru suddenly got soft, "What? Was it something I said?" Red Lion leapt from the counter to Meiru's shoulder and said to her, "He's a little sensitive when it comes to having others discovering his secrets." Red Lion leaped away from her shoulder and began hopping like a he was chasing mice.

Meiru sits in a stool at the beach bar of the café, "The blow must've been serious to him." Iwamaru sighs, "Hey, Green Bull." His Soul Familiar mooed to him, he answers it "I'd like you to help out with the supplies in the back, so follow me." Without question, the little green calf followed its owner through the hidden revolving door.

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The silver-haired being entered Odaiba, he is clad in an old but fancy kimono that made him appear to be from an aristocratic family in the feudal era, and searched everywhere for a normal human to terrorize. He eyed a young man with the Sonic Bird Express logo on the back of his jacket. He found his aura interesting, so he followed him…

Li, who didn't want anyone to pry into his childhood yet, has left the Elemental Four Café in search for himself for a bit and to calm down too. But something from behind him made him tense, he looked behind him but found nobody there. But, as a Soulranger, he knows he should never let his guard down and should always expect the unexpected, especially if it's one of the mysterious Seven Deadly Forces.

He figured it would be best to stop thinking like a human and more than that… he dashed off for a place to hide, feeling the presence of a mysterious being pursuing him still and changed into his Soul DNA Shape. He leaped to the roofs of the buildings to look for his pursuer… or by chance, have the mysterious pursuer look for him.

Li stood still and asked, "Are you one of the Seven Deadly Forces? If so, are you organized?" The silver-haired man who was chasing him earlier asks, "Who are these Seven Deadly Forces? I am organized with no one but myself, for I hate all humans. But you are special——" Li turned to face the silver-haired man as he continued talking, "The blood in your body carries more than just human blood, it transformed you into something not human, and you carry a hatred for a few certain humans. Join me and then we can vent our wrath open our enemy!"

Li asks, "Our wrath? The only thing I want to vent is my temper. Besides as much as I dislike the family I was raised in, it's still my duty to protect them." Kyamio's voice was heard, "Well spoken, paladin of the fire element."

Li growls, "Kyamio." The silver-haired man's eyes widened, "The Hell Knight?" Kyamio nods, "Yes, my dear half-demon." Li looks at the silver-haired man, "Half-demon?" Kyamio says to Li, "Paladin of the fire element, if there is one thing we, the Seven Deadly Forces, aren't; it's that we aren't organized with each other. We may in the future join forces to crush you, but we're not organized with each other. You've just found one of them on your own; his name is Lusaten." Then he disappeared.

The silver-haired man turned to Li, "Since you refuse to be allies with me and are one of humanity's protectors, you are my enemy." From out of his back sprayed out a black cloud of darkness that formed into 16 black-colored humanoid warriors; each with a pair of small horns on their heads, little bat wings on their backs, small mouths with fangs, claws instead of nails on their fingers, and small black tails like monkeys. The silver-haired man said, "These Imps will turn you into a corpse. Partially, I'm glad they weren't referring to me in the old newspaper… just the Seven Deadly Forces, and I'm one of them; more than enough to punish mankind for shunning my existence. Your powerful-looking foe, Kyamio, was right about me: my name is Lusaten! Good-bye!" then he disappeared into thin air!

Li wouldn't let the number of the Imps scare him, so he stood his ground and let them come to get him!

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Back at the Elemental Four Café, Meiru was looking at her new Blue Snake straight in the eye out of boredom. When she noticed Red Lion trying to get to the door with a bag in his little mouth, Meiru got up and picked the little feline up, and asks him "What seems to be the problem, Simba-chan?" The little red lion cub said, "Aniki's in trouble!" Yuri asks, "By 'Aniki', do you mean Li-sempai?" Red Lion shouts, "Yes! If you're Aniki's partners, you should be able to sense what he's experiencing now!"

Iwamaru scoffs, "Don't call me his partner!" Yuri said, "We should concentrate and see if he's in trouble anyway!" Meiru sighs, "She's right, even if we don't exactly trust him yet, we must learn to if we're really Soulrangers."

The three Soulrangers closed their eyes and concentrated on Li, what they saw was not good for Li's position: they saw Li trying to fight his way through the Imps!

Before taking off to help him, Red Lion shouts, "Hey! STOP!" The Soulrangers complied; Meiru bent down and asks, "Why?" Blue Snake hissed, "You may need us." Red Lion drops the bag to the ground, "And these." Yuri opens the bag, only to discover the walnut-sized colored gems they've found in the Eggs, she and Iwamaru asks in unison, "The Soul Familiar Egg yolks?"

Green Bull said to them, "The Soul Gems are our source of nutrition when we were dormant in our eggs, now that we're out, you can use our egg shells which recycle down into Soul Familiar Capsules which get transported through your Soul Badges." Iwamaru asks, "We can do that?" Yuri asks, "But where do the Soul Gems come in?" Yellow Eagle answers her, "Well, Onee-chan… they can become Soul Mediums, powerful items that can affect reality within our combined powers and imaginations."

Meiru realizes, "You mean… with you, we can have tools for battle? Aside from our personal abilities?" Blue Snake nods to her Soulranger, "Yes-s-s-s-s."

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Back with Li, he avoided the touch of the Imps and landed punches onto their heads. His reckless battles got too close to the innocent civilians; he's got to get them away from harm. One of the Imps snagged one of the adults and the poor man became paralyzed in fear the moment he was touched by the Imp. Li landed a punch to the Imp's face, freeing the poor man and catching him with his free hand, before landing to the ground on his feet.

Six of the other Imps surround him and began to jump him, but that was until a blizzard of arrows sent them all flying towards Li's leftward direction! Li recognized the arrows and looked to his right, the other Soulrangers in Soul DNA Shape form have arrived to the rescue along with the first Soul Familiars! The man who was petrified at first regained his senses to reality, "That devilish creature, its touch made me feel helpless… scared."

Iwamaru felt the man's shoulder, "This is strange; those devil foot soldier Imps as that Lusaten guy calls them have the power to make anyone they touch scared as hell." Li was surprised, "How did you figure that out on your own, buddy?" Iwamaru replies, "First, don't call me 'buddy', and second, it's called psychometry; Vaal said it's become a natural ability for me now that I'm a Soulranger."

Li said, "Fine! Let's finish these guys off and find the half-demon named Lusaten, he's one of the Seven Deadly Forces!" Iwamaru prepares for battle, but then relaxes a bit, "Why don't we wait here a bit and watch our little pets finish off these imps?" Li asks, "What do you mean?" Iwamaru pointed to their Soul Familiars, who are going at it against the Imps rather well——

For a small blue extraordinary blue snake, Blue Snake is quick and careful when getting to her enemies safely, climbing around their bodies and then immediately biting them in possible vulnerable points of their bodies.

Yellow Eagle was like a rocket, zooming from one opponent to the next at startling speeds, pecking and clawing each of the Imps in the face. She was even quick enough to avoid their reach and touch.

Green Bull was surprisingly strong, bashing his head against the Imps' skulls!

Red Lion leaped from Imp to the other, digging his bites into the places where the shoulders meet the necks on the Imps' bodies.

Amazingly, the Soul Familiars got their fighting techniques from their owners: the Soulrangers! They also hold out well against bigger enemies!

Li said to his comrades, "Listen, this Lusaten is plotting something; just imagine what he may do: he just created just 16 of those Imps just by expelling a little of his aura into the air." Iwamaru touched Li on the forehead, "Okay," then leapt up towards the roof where first met Lusaten face-to-face and asks, "Lusaten was right about here, right?" Li nods, "Yes." Iwamaru said, "Then I know just where he is. Let's transform and get there!"

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!

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In the southwestern point of Tokyo, Lusaten was terrorizing a young girl, who was hypnotized by him for some reason. He said to her, "Just be happy that you're going to be much stronger than you can ever dream of once his is over." A black demonic shadow rose from his body and crept closer to the girl…

The Soulrangers jumped in and kicked Lusaten in the back so hard that the shadow fell into the newspaper clipping he handed to the girl before him. Lusaten got angry and said, "Who the hell are you?"

Soul Blue 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!"

Blue Yellow 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!"

Soul Green 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!"

Soul Red 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!" Soul Red and Soul Green stood beside each other as Soul Blue stood beside Soul Red and Soul Yellow stood beside Soul Green. Finally, they shout out, "Kouyou Sentai Soulranger!"

Soul Red said, "Your Imps are no match for us or our Soul Familiars, so surrender while you still have a chance, Lusaten!" Lusaten said, "I would rather die than surrender to you punks!" He stopped at the sound of paper rustling, he turned to look at the girl, who was now out like a light but the newspaper clipping got bigger and folded itself up into a giant origami creature made from newspaper, shaped almost like a lion!

Soul Green was amazed, "What the hell is that?" Soul Red had to agree, "Holy shit!" Soul Blue said, "I'd say it's a combination of a newspaper, a demon spirit, with a touch of black-and-white manticore features." Lusaten stood there and thought about it, "You know what? He tells me his name is Newspaper Manticore, even though he's made from the newspaper clipping I've got that gave me minor information about you four, he's still a force to be reckoned with. For now, adieu." Just like that, he faded into thin air!

Newspaper Manticore charged at the Soulrangers, sending them flying like pins hit by a bowling ball! As they crashed back down to the ground, Soul Green said, "This paper cat is certainly much stronger than those paper-mâché soldiers Keia uses." Like a flash, the tail came darting its way to Soul Green, narrowly missing him, but perfectly piercing a large hole in the pavement below him!

As the woman snapped out of her daze, she asks herself, "Where is that handsome man?" Soul Yellow sped her off to safety. Soul Blue said, "Be careful; if he's anything like the original manticore, his stinger tail would be poisonous and he'd have a powerful bite." Soul Red nods, "Yeah, if this origami lion would get any closer, we'd be Soulranger Shish kebab before we see any more of the Seven Deadly Forces!"

Soul Green incredulously asks, "And what makes you think we're actually going to make it?" Soul Red looks ahead, which happen to be a horde of more Imps, and sighs at the sight the oncoming number of enemies, "First time we fought these guys was when I met him then had Kyamio tell me a fact about the Deadly Forces, now we're facing about twice as many this time and that makes 32."

Soul Blue hands Soul Red his red Soul Gem, it glowed into a bright orb of light that almost blinded him! As the glow turned down… it revealed a red wand-like object in his hand. Soul Green said, "Welcome to the loser's club; I've received a coin." He held it up to their leader, a perfect coin appearing to be made of solid gold with green metallic Saxon symbol of earth. Meiru shrugs as she pulls out a blue crystal chalice, "I've received a chalice and Soul Yellow-chan got the real winner; a sword." Soul Yellow pulls out a golden-yellow short sword from out of nowhere and thought-speaks with her friends, "We can combine our powers with our Soul Familiars called Soul Tools or Soul Armaments. Remember?"

Soul Red places his hand over Red Lion and said, "Let's make it hot." Red Lion levitated and turned into a red ball of light that went straight into Soul Red's wand. FLASH! The glowing red wand turned into a large red lion head-like gauntlet weapon on Soul Red's arm. "Lion Gauntlet!"

Soul Green places his hand over Green Bull's head. Green Bull levitated and turned into a green ball of light that went straight into Soul Green's coin. FLASH! The glowing green coin turned into a large green war-hammer weapon with a bull's head at the pommel of the handle. "Bull Hammer!"

Soul Yellow places her hand over Yellow Eagle's head. Yellow Eagle levitated and turned into a yellow ball of light that went straight into Soul Yellow's sword. FLASH! The glowing yellow sword turned into a medium-sized crossbow with the likeness of an eagle. "Eagle Crossbow!"

Soul Blue places her hand over Blue Snake's head. Blue Snake levitated and turned into a blue ball of light that went straight into Soul Blue's chalice. FLASH! The glowing blue chalice turned into a medium-sized baton weapon with a snake-like head at one end and a triangular spearhead on the other. "Snake Spear!"

Soul Red looks a bit confused at his weapon but then decides, "Aw, who cares? Let's go!" The Imps charged at the Soulrangers, and each Soulranger armed with a single Soul Armament in hand took on eight Imps.

In his battle with his Imps, whether he's hit them with the pommel's horns or the hammer's head, each Imp Soul Green has attacked is met with a small but powerful explosion that sent his foes flying before exploding into black smoke! Soul Green patted his Soul Armament on the bull's head and laughs, "I'm loving you, already, Bull Hammer!" Bull Hammer said to his wielder, "And you're amazing, Soul Green-Aibou."

Soul Blue twirled Snake Spear around like a cheerleader's baton and threw it like a boomerang, which all of the Imps she was taking on before returning to her hand perfectly. "I'm glad I took those 3 hard years of elementary school cheerleading and passed with good marks." Snake Spear said, "Let me at one of them, I'm famished." Soul Blue shrugs and thrusts her Soul Armament forward at an Imp and it extended in great length, like it can be used as a bullwhip too. The snake-like head part of Soul Blue's weapon widened its jaws to an extent to swallow an Imp and it does so successfully. As the baton returns to normal form, the snake's head belched before she said, "Excuse me." Soul Blue attacked an Imp from behind her with the spearhead end without looking at him. "You were hungry, Ebi-chan." The fallen Imps to the boomerang baton attack exploded on the ground, "And you've got one venomous bite."

Soul Red decided if he's got a gauntlet-like Soul Armament he could try some multiple rapid-fire right hook attacks with the Lion Gauntlet, which proves to be rather effective against the Imps. While pausing for one last attack on them, they're given major damage from the attack they've received from him. Soul Red said to Lion Gauntlet, "With you, I bet I can crush diamonds and use those extendible claws on the sides of your jaws to scratch through steel!" Lion Gauntlet said, "I can even take on energy blasts and shoot them out at our enemy, Aniki. Use the Soul Fist!" Li shouts, "Soul Fist!" with the ungloved fist, his left hook, he made all eight of his weakened Imps explode into black smoke!

Soul Yellow folds the wings on her Eagle Crossbow Soul Armament back, covering the weapon's sides, and pulls on the trigger from inside, which produced piercing sound waves from the beak that made the Imps she targeted at, get so confused that they went onto attacking each other until they've destroyed each other. "Ultrasound waves! Perfect!" Eagle Crossbow said to her, "If I had my wings in their original position, I can also fire energy arrows."

The Soulrangers regrouped before the Newspaper Manticore, who was charging at them! Soul Yellow fired ultrasound waves at the monster, but they barely had any effect on him as he plowed through her and her Soulranger comrades!

Soul Yellow asks, "What happened? The sound waves I fired at him didn't work!" Soul Red suggests, "I guess it's because he's made from a newspaper and a demon spirit; loud sounds aren't going to work on something made of living paper."

The Newspaper Manticore shouts out, "Newspaper Grave!" from his paper paw/hands shot out tied-up stacks of newspapers that buried the Soulrangers. Soul Green's helmeted head popped out from the massive pile first, looking at the headlines, "Whoa… 'Third of the Seven Deadly Forces Discovered.' I really wonder who the other four are."

Soul Blue struggled her way out of the newspapers, "That stupid newspaper grave attack is NO way… to treat a lady!" Soul Yellow giggles a bit as she followed Soul Blue, "Now this is what I call 'Hardcopy'." Soul Green sighs, "Isn't there something to get you down, girl?"

Suddenly, the mountain of newspapers began to rumble like an earthquake… the three Soulrangers remembered, "Soul Red!" Somehow their red-suited friend is starting erupt in great power. BOOM! Soul Red caused the whole mountain of newspapers to explode, and he started roaring like a lion!

Suddenly Soul Red's eyes glowed bright red through the lion-like jaws-shaped visor over his eyes which, in a way, 'roared', and the silvery human-like mouth-plate opened like it was its wearer's mouth, full of lion-like teeth, as if they were two sets of real mouths before averting to normal! The fingernails and toes of Soul Red produced metallic red claws, and a golden lion symbol formed and emblazoned on his chest!

Soul Red got down on all fours and continued roaring, almost provoking the Newspaper Manticore!

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Vaal felt something, "Soul DNA Act-Up… Li."

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The other Soulrangers heard Vaal, Soul Blue contacted him telepathically, "What's Soul DNA Act-Up?" Vaal replied, "It is when a need for more strength like a wild animal within the Soulranger occurs, new animal-like features appear on the Soulranger suits and helmets, etc. The power enhancing forces make the visor and mouth-plate seem like they're roaring. It's something like a combination of your Soulranger forms and Soul DNA Shape, and it's what Li's experiencing, you three can do it too, just focus on one of the animal genes that coexist inside you because of the Soul DNA."

Soul Green says, "Let's summon that strength too!" He focused of the bull inside him as Meiru and Yuri respectively focus on the snake and eagle inside them.

Soul Green's eyes glowed bright green through the bull's head-shaped visor over them and the silvery human-like mouth-plate lets out a stream of steam as if it was an actual mouth before averting to normal! Soul Green's muscles dramatically bulked up to an extremely muscular level and a grey bull symbol formed and emblazoned on his chest!

Soul Yellow's eyes glowed bright yellow through the flying bird-like visor over her eyes flapped as if it was a bird's shadow before it averted back to normal! Soul Yellow's toenails produced metallic yellow claws, a lot of golden feathers sprouted from underneath her arms making them appear as both arms and wings, and a white eagle symbol formed and emblazoned on her chest!

Soul Blue's eyes glowed bright blue through the whale's tail fin-shaped visor over her eyes, which 'waved' before averting to normal! Soul Blue's blue suit flashed with signs of blue reptilian scales with black lines and a silver snake symbol formed and emblazoned on her chest!

Soul Green charged at Newspaper Manticore with great but blind fury of a bull, but the newspaper monster anticipated the attack, "Front Page Capture!" he pulled out a blank page of paper from behind him, and held it between him and the charging Soul Green. As Soul Green passed through the paper through Newspaper Manticore's matador act, the Soulranger disappeared!

Soul Blue and Soul Yellow became worried, "Where is Soul Green?" The blank human-sized piece of paper changed into a large page from a newspaper, revealing a picture of the missing Soul Green; the monster has turned one of their comrades into a picture on the front page!

Distracted by the girls' worry, the Newspaper Manticore monster was too distracted to notice Soul Red was right beside him, tackling him! The female Soulrangers came to the page with Soul Green, which has been dropped by Manticore earlier when he was tackled.

Soul Yellow said, "If only there were a way to get him back." Soul Green's thoughts were heard, "I'm feeling a little dehydrated, but I'm still alive. I'm not the paper; it's just a portal that's been sealed by that monster. Now get me out of here!" Soul Blue gulps, "Um… we don't know how." Soul Green's telepathic voice was heard, screaming out, "WHAT?"

Vaal sends a telepathic message to Soul Green, "Use Soul DNA Act-Up, your elemental power is of Earth and plants are also under it." The picture of Soul Green changed to his Soul DNA Act-Up form, feeling the paper shake, the girls stepped back and watched the page explode, as Soul Green broke free! Soul Green said, "Now to finish off that monster!"

Soul Red, meanwhile, was battling Newspaper Manticore. Soul Yellow opens Eagle Crossbow's wings and shouts out to Soul Red, "Get out of the way!" Soul Red leapt away from the monster, just in time for Soul Yellow to fire a powerful golden arrow of energy from the beak of her Soul Armament and strike the monster in the chest, leaving a gaping hole through it! With that defeat, the manticore exploded into a pile of newspaper clippings!

As they powered down from their Soul DNA Act-Up forms, Soul Yellow said, "I've certainly got the best weapon around!" Soul Red said, "Well, I don't believe who's better; as long as we're a team for one purpose: saving the world and its people." Soul Blue sighs and admits, "Soul Red is right, the more energy we waste in our fights, the weaker we will be when we face the Seven Deadly Forces."

Lusaten shows up and says to them "Way to defeat my monster, Soulrangers. But how can you destroy him when he comes back for revenge?" before disappearing into thin air!

Each of the scraps of newspaper clippings emitted a dark-violet aura, which soon expanded and merged with the aura of the others. The aura formed a black cloud, which became a giant version of the late Newspaper Manticore!

Soul Yellow became worried, "I knew I should've thought of colossal assault vehicles to build!" Soul Blue asks, "Do we even have enough space to create them?" Soul Red said, "We've got the Soul Familiars and Soul Mediums." Speaking of whom, the Soul Armaments changed back into Soul Familiars and Soul Mediums. Soul Green asks, "And how do you propose we do that? We could run out of strength after attempting something like that!"

Red Lion said, "I wouldn't go there, fuel your power with your doubts and you won't even have the strength to do so; we must believe in our powers, and that includes not only us Soul Familiars but you too, Aniki-tachi." Soul Red thought about it, "Alright, Red Lion… let's do it! Soul Force Infusion!"

Placing his hand with his Red Wand over Red Lion, Red Lion took on an armored form before growing to an impossible size! Soul Red sat alone on top of his enlarged Soul Familiar's head! Red Lion, who's became more adult-like with a golden mane in this form, let out a mighty roar!

Newspaper Manticore pulled out a few shuriken/pinwheel fan-like weapons made from his special newspaper body, "Newspaper Shuriken!" the weapons sliced through sides of the buildings that they passed and kept on going toward their target; Red Lion.

Soul Red shouts out, "Flame Breath Shield!" Red Lion exhaled a stream of fire that become a dome-shaped shield made of fire in front of him burning the projectiles as soon as they came in contact. Surprisingly, Newspaper Manticore wasn't too pleased to be there. Soul Red shouts out, "Heat Draw!" red-glowing energy takes place around the city, Red Lion roared as he and his Soulranger draws in the energy, which proves to be all the heat in the city and in the air coming from the sun!

Newspaper Manticore folds out large paper wings on his back and flies away, hoping for safety… then in unison, Soul Red and Red Lion shout out, "Fire Flash Smasher!" then right from his opened mouth at the last second, a great maelstrom of red energy pours out in a torrential fiery beam shot at the monster, vaporizing him to ashes!

As the heat returns over Odaiba… Lusaten appears once again, he growls and says, "You may have won this battle, but our war goes on, Soulrangers! Even if there are four more of us to face!" he disappears in frustration.

The other Soulrangers leapt up on top of Red Lion's head with Soul Red and cheered for their victory. Soul Green's cheer for Soul Red was; "I've got to admit, you did well today, kid."

—————

Later, back in Elemental Four Café… Vaal sat silently in a seat in the volcano bar side as the Soulrangers were dressing in their rooms. He asks, "What's the whole point of this dressing up business?" Alpha Sword shrugs, "How am I supposed to know? Our base is underground of this café and one of our Soulrangers wanted to open this place for extra money." Beta Gun said, "But Vaal and I were the ones who planned on their living quarters on top." Gamma Wing said, "The dressing up is for this café's business, they have to look the parts if they want to look like workers here."

Li came out, in a fiery Hawaiian shirt with a volcano pin over the left breast and white cargo shorts complete with dark-blue flip-flop sandals, "Where does Yuri-kohai come up with her ideas? I look like a slacker who thinks everything's cool!"

Iwamaru walks out of the secret passage, in blue jeans and a green-and-black shirt with a green pine tree pin on the right side of his chest and a brown pair of lumberjack boots on his feet, "Supposedly, she got these for the theme for our café. And by the way, I've always thought of you like that, which really frustrated me."

Yuri shows up in her patented white lab coat over a cloud white blouse and a short sky-blue skirt, on her lab coat's right chest's side sat a rainbow pin, plus some pastel sneakers on her feet. She asks Li, "What's gotten into your head, Li-senpai?"

Meiru comes out of the secret passage in a watery dress with a white apron decorated in seashell pictures, "Perhaps he's mad at the fact I've poked at the fact that we've discovered something that upset him in the past that made him change since we've last seen him before we've become Soulrangers."

Li sighs, "Actually, ever since the warning of the Seven Deadly Forces from Kyamio; we've got more enemies than anyone in history, especially in power: Keia's got those astronauts captive, she may build up power in her rest, Kyamio is much stronger and him being in the premises makes everyone else around him fall to their knees in despair, he could be training himself or his Hell Clones to be stronger than before, and now Lusaten the demon monster maker is still out there probably building up on that power to create stronger monsters. Besides… if we're going to be a team that's going to save the world, we should live closer, in a way, and forget our personal differences if we're going to have to be stronger too."

Iwamaru sighs, "I have my doubts, but I'll agree with you on that." Yuri nods, "The robots are already helping me work on the scientific stuff downstairs, and the money we'll make through this café will surely help us out some." Meiru says, "Okay, I'll work with you until our war with the Seven Deadly Forces is done… but this is going to cost you another 500 thousand in American cash (58.8 million in Japanese yen)."

A knock on the front door alerted the Soulrangers! Vaal and the three robots hid into the cashier's counter, which had an elevator platform in its floor, and escaped into the underground base…

Li asks, "Did anybody pay for the bill you've used to remodel the place?" Iwamaru said, "Me and Meiru did, but I don't think it's them."

The four Soulrangers stood together and look puts on their best faces. Coming in from the front door was no one else than… Kurenai Tsuyoshi!

Li was surprised, "Boss?" Iwamaru, Yuri, and Meiru looked at their 'leader' in confusion, "Huh?" Tsuyoshi brightly smiles, "Good afternoon, everyone!"

Yuri was shocked, "Hey! How did you get a customer card?" Tsuyoshi held up a white card with the café's logo on it, in English and Japanese it also read 'Elemental Four Café Customer Card', "I'll pay for this card, I've found it on the streets and thought 'oh well, it may be better than McDonalds'."

Yuri realized, "OH NO! It must've fallen out of my pocket when we were coming to your rescue, Li-sempai!" Li quickly calms down, "That'll be 2,000 yen ($17.19), sir. I hope you won't mind me working here more often than at the delivery company!" Tsuyoshi shrugs, "Not at all."

The others couldn't believe it, their first customer ever is Li's boss! But Li went to work in the volcano bar working on chili and white rice for the customer. Iwamaru stood aghast at the customer, "How is this guy going to work as both a deliverer and a worker here?"

To be continued…