"Sophie! Sophie, where are you?!" The five were walking down the barren streets. Ever since the last kidnapping, civilians had started to hide indoors from the culprit.
"Hey, does anyone else hear something?…" Dylan darted his eyes around as the sounds of multiple figures trotting towards them began rising in volume. In the distance, they saw waves of men walk towards their location.
"Hey, is there like a frat party that you guys are going to?!" Ed jabbed a finger towards the group with light smirk. But that smirk quickly dropped seeing what exactly they were.
They were in a dirt-brown color, their faces were frozen in a stern expression, and they had worn ancient Chinese armor. Every single one of them looked like the rest and that's when they realized, these weren't human.
"O-ok… this is bad, guys!" Robyn squeaked out as they trotted closer to them. One of the inhumans walked up to Robyn, ready to deliver a blow to her face. But she quickly grabbed its forearm by instinct and jabbed it in the chest, knocking it onto the floor.
"Nice Rob!" Quinton clapped her right arm with a wide grin, but her heart was beating fast as she looked down at the recuperating statue. He readied his stance with eager eyes, "Man, it's been a while huh?"
He rushed over to one and delivered kicks to the stone statue's chest, keeping his distance while he laid down attacks. "Hey c'mon guys!" He motioned his friends to jumped into the fight. "I'm going to need a little help here!"
"Ok, guess we're doing this now…" Ed pounded his fist into his palm as he spat out his plan. "Liv, go help Quin. Dyl and Rob, you guys pair up."
"And you?"
"I'll stay close to you four, I should be fine.. Now, break!" Splitting into position, they began striking the statues.
-(~0~)-
Olivia swayed her body around, dodging their strikes. Her sudden waist movement confused the enemy, not knowing where she'll move next. She coiled back and knocked a statue back into other, creating a domino effect as it knocked into others.
As she looked over her work, a statue creeped up behind her. It was ready to strike her but it was knocked away by a swift kick from Quinton. As Olivia turned around, Quinton hiked up his thumb with a winked as he lowered his leg.
Dylan widened his stance as five statues rushed over to him. When they got close to him, he delivered strong punches to their chests. But he was too slow, allowing one of them to put him in a choke hold.
He choked and sputtered as he started to lose breath. The statue tightened it's hold, making this process even faster. But he was allowed to breath again when Robyn pulled the strangler by the arm and jabbed it in the head. Dylan simply nodded in thanks before standing up to finish off the rest.
Ed delivered quick jabs to their necks, letting them collapse to the ground. Before he could continue attacking, the sounds of hissing rang through the area. Five large tendrils shot out and wrapped around the five's waist and lifted them up into the air.
-(~0~)-
As they were suspended in the air, a figure that looked to be a large knot with limbs skipped towards them. The five string that held them suspended midair originating from his head. He began to cackle in delight as the five tried to wiggle free.
"Hello there!~ My name is SlipKnot!" The monster bounced up and down with excitement. He called upon another large tendril, this one being the same monster worm from before. "I sense a lot of Aura from you five! You're going to serve us well!"
"Don't count on it!" The five reached for the device on their left arm and pulled out the ring, extending a key of sorts.
"Red!"
"Green!"
"Blue!"
"Yellow!"
"Pink!"
"AURA, FORTIFY!" As they plugged the key into the right device, the five glowed different individual colors. This caused the strings holding onto them to sever. The five perched onto a nearby stepcase, standing above the monster and foot soldiers. The light broke away from them, revealing five Rangers.
Their helmets having golden sketches of different animals on their faces. A golden belt strapped with holsters wrapped around their waists. And a white vest with golden outlines and small golden symbol with five stripes of their colors on its left side.
"You-You five are…" SlipKnot jabbed a finger in their direction before they began to call out their roles.
"Breath of the Dragon! Red Ranger!"
"Roar of the Lion! Green Ranger!"
"Speed of the Pegasus! Blue Ranger!"
"Agility of the Qilin! Yellow Ranger!"
"Wings of the Phoenix! Pink Ranger!"
"We call upon the power of aura!" The five raised their hands to the sky before kicking the air. "POWER RANGERS: ANCIENT THUNDER!"
"Hey! StinkSnot!" Ed called out, clenching his fist.
"It's SlipKnot!"
"Whatever... You can give up now and release those kids. And maybe we'll let you walk away!"
"Don't make me laugh! Why don't you come and take them then?! Terra Troopers!" He snapped his fingers, calling upon another wave of stone soldiers.
"Ok… you asked for it!" The five jumped into the fray and began their attack.
-(~0~)-
"Phoenix Style!" Robyn cartwheeled over to five statues and laid down a flurry of jabs to their chests. She gripped onto one's forearm before it could strike her and shoved it onto the ground. This had allowed her to deliver a split kick onto it, the blow from her ankle shattering it in two.
"Qilin Style!" A few feet away, Olivia called forth a long beam of light that took the shape of a red bo staff. As the statues circled around her, she whipped it around as she wobbled about. Shattering multiple of statues before giving a hiccup.
"Pegasus Style!" Quinton swiped his foot against the heads of a couple of statues until they bursted. He performed a reverse roundhouse kick to a soldier creeping up on him before it could attack him. Leading it to slam into more soldiers, causing them to burst. Quinton rushed towards the last soldier and delivered a butterfly kick, crushing it to dust.
"Lion Style!" Dylan's fist penetrated through a row of statue's chests, letting them crumble to the ground. After a punch from another statue was sent towards him, he blocked it with the back of his forearm and retaliated with a fist to face. Shattering it's head.
-(~0~)-
"KYAAAA!" Ed forced his palm into the chest of the Knot monster, but this unfortunately lead to his arm being ensnared. And with this, SlipKnot violently threw the Red Ranger into a set of boxes.
"HAHAHA! Guess it's package deal for you, Red Ranger!" But he had stopped his cackling as he saw Ed lunged for him, pulling out a sword and dagger from his holsters.
"Aura Saber! Thunder Dagger!" He slashed away, sparks and smoke flying away with each swipe. After forcing the monster to stagger back, he brought the two blades together. Streams of fire swirling around him as his blades trembled.
"Blaze Destruction!" He sent a stream of fire towards the knot, sending him crashing into a wall. With the amount of damage done to the monster, a blue ball of light erupted from him. And as the light flowed out and collided with the ground, it revealed 8 startled children including…
"SOPHIE!" Ed rushed over to his sister as the other Rangers went over to check up on the rest of the children. "Sophie! Are you ok?"
"Yeah…" She meekly nodded her head before tilting it at the Ranger with the familiar voice. "Um… who are you?"
"Oh! It's me! Ed!"
"Ed?-"
"You!" SlipKnot interrupted their reunion as he began to pick himself up. "You all are going to die!" He brought out a large silver orb with a circular plug on the top. Pulling off the plug, he threw it on the ground. Blowing himself up.
"Uhh.. Well, I guess we're done here-" but Quinton was cutted off as the residue explosion began to swirl around and took the shape of a gigantic SlipKnot. "Ok, nevermind…."
"GET EVERYONE INSIDE!" Ed directed both Olivia and Robyn to bring the children in a nearby building before the monster kicked the ground, sending a wave of dirt that nearly buried the boys.
"Guys!" The girls rushed over the boys, helping them to their feet. "This doesn't look too good guys…" Olivia trembled as the Knot monster began slamming his feet onto the ground.
"Ok now, this is the part where we leave this to the military because there is NOTHING else we can do..." Dylan remarked as he grasped Ed's right shoulder.
"Wait… I hear something" Ed placed two fingers on his temple as he casted his head down.
"Yeah, pretty sure it's PitSlop's-"
"Not that Quin! I-I swear, I hear… a dragon…"
*ROAR*
And right on cue, the same red mechanical dragon from before swooped down from the sky and laid down a wave of flames that burned the monster's body. Seeing this, the Rangers jolted in surprise.
"Ok... Talk about Deus Ex Machina… but anyways let's run before Puff here, decides to have us as a snack!" Quinton quipped as Dylan, Olivia, and him began to run into the building. But stopped seeing Ed stand frozen in his place, keeping his gaze on the dragon. After knocking SlipKnot back down, the dragon turned its gaze towards Ed.
"ED!" The five called out for his friend to enter the building with them. "Ed! Get out of there!" Robyn howled out, nearly taking a step outside.
"I think… it's calling me…"
"Wha-"
Suddenly, he brought his weapons and pieced them together. Forming a pistol. Ed pointed the gun towards the head of the dragon, firing a string made of blue light that propelled him onto it as his friends called out for his return.
"Lets go!" Ed pumped his fist upwards as the dragon charged towards the monster.
-(~0~)-
"Hm?!" But before the dragon could lay down another wave of fire, Ed felt a weird tingle in his hands. He opened his palm, seeing his red gem glow bright red before the dragon roared out to him.
"You… what?" Ed jolted hearing what the dragon requested of him. But another roar came from the dragon, serving as a confirmation. "Ok… Whatever you say."
Hopping into the head of the dragon, Ed was in a brightly lit cockpit with a blue lighted symbol at the back and a stand with a black orb on top.
"Alright... Let's do this!" Placing a hand on the orb, it lit up with a purple plasma running through it. He placed down his red gem onto the console, lighting up as he did so. "Red Dragon Thunderzord! Warrior mode!"
-(~0~)-
The dragon's legs clipped together, forming a pair of arms.
It's head and tail disconnected from its lanky body, allowing it to become a pair of legs.
It flipped its body over as the tail end clipped onto it's pelvis.
The face of the dragon was flipped downward, revealing a humanoid face. The head slipped onto the chest, finishing its transformation sequence.
It called forth a bo staff and pointed it towards the Knot monster.
"Ready for round two, DipThot?!" Ed called out as the Zord whipped its staff around.
-(~0~)-
"So what if you got a giant robot?!" SlipKnot sent a tendril towards Ed. "You'll still get wrapped up in the moment!" It binded the Zord's legs, slowly slithering up its body to bind its arms.
"Don't quit your day job…" Ed deadpanned as he ordered the zord to start twirling its staff around. "Dragon staff! Turbine stance!" The wind generated caused the Knot monster to be pushed back, dropping its grip on Ed.
"Time to finish this! Turbine slash!" The Zord slid over to the Knot, slashing in a diagonal cut. The monster staggered back, holding onto his chest. But finally collapsed to the ground with a loud groan of pain, bursting into a ball of fire.
-(~0~)-
Seeing Ed jump out of the zord, the other Rangers alongside the children began to cheer. The four rushed over their friend, patting him on the shoulder.
"Nice one, Ed-" Robyn looked over to the children, realizing that they were still in close proximity. "Er... Red!" She placed a finger over her mouth as she faced the other Rangers.
"Yeah… not bad, Red." Olivia getting the hint. She slapped Ed's back, causing him to wince.
"Thanks… but I think we should probably get these kids back home." Ed recommended with a nod of his head, walking over to his little sister. The other four shared confident bobs of their heads as they escorted the children to the police.
-(~0~)-
It was a amber lighted palace, large jade beams holding up the roof of it. There were large clay pots that lined the walls and a large pool of water that centered the room. It was quite a beautiful sight, and yet this palace served as a prison…
"Lord Gaius!" A feminine figure kneeled down to face a man resting on a golden throne. He looked to be a 40 year old Chinese man, he wore a black trench coat with black slacks. And on his face, rested a white half-mask that had features of dragon. He motioned his servant to continue on with a wave of his fingers.
"Lord Gaius… The Five warriors have finally emerged, and… they have destroyed your newest creation… SlipKnot." The woman that spoke wore a black Ancient Yuan dress. Her hair tied up by butterfly hair pin. And on her face, was a bleach white death mask with red lips.
"Hmm… Is that so, LiangYu? Oh well.." He shrugged, stepping off of his throne. He turned towards a large masculine figure in the corner. As it stepped out of the shadows, he showed his features.
He had worn dirt brown ancient mongolian armor, a sword and bow strapped to his body. And on his face, he wore a black demonic wolf mask.
"Shou…" Gaius sighed out in his laxed voice, stretching his right arm across his chest. "Could you please hand me some more clay… I believe it would be best if I get started on our new monster."
"Yes sir..." The brute bowed to his master before walking out of the room.
Gaius began to pace around, adjusting the collar of his coat. "It's been too long since my sealing in this palace. With a crack finally being formed in this seal," He pointed up to a small fracture in the jade green ceiling. "The weak of this world shall fall… and the strong shall finally rise…."
"...Um, milord? Who are… you talking to?"
"...no one, absolutely… no one…"
-(~0~)-
"With the rise of a set of new Rangers here in our little city of Long Coast, the missing kids safely reunited with their parents. What will our local heroes do next? Only time will tell…" The five were watching the news at the Yeung house, celebrating their victory with snacks that Ed's dad made.
"Woo!" Olivia stood up, slightly tipsy from a celebratory drinking contest. Which she totally served Quinton in. "Gotta shay… I wasn't on board wit' the Ranger thing at fersh, but I kinda like it!"
"Hey… hey theeere, missy!" Quinton wobbled back and forth as he pointed a finger towards the Yellow Ranger. "You sho... sit down!"
"Ok, I think you both need to sit down…" Robyn meekly said as Dylan and her lowered the two onto the couch.
Ed and his family began chuckling his friend's antics, which somehow spiraled into an argument about who was taller. Don't ask…
Suddenly, Ed felt a soft grip onto his right arm. Looking down, he saw that Sophie was hugging onto him with a light smile. "Thanks for saving me, Bro…"
"Heh… no problem, Squirt." Ed began playfully ruffling his hair, returning a wide smile.
After seeing his children bond, Mr. Yeung stood from his seat and faced towards the five. "Now, I know that the recents events that took place today were… odd, to say the least." He placed a hand over his chest before he continued.
"But this is something that will change our lives forever. We have now involved ourselves in a war against the clan of Earth. And I thank you five for joining this fight. Now I may not be your Sensei, I honestly don't know when he will return… but until then, I am honored to help you in the right direction…"
"Wow Hon… that was… really cheesy!" Ed's mom began chuckling at her husband speech, much to his chagrin. "Hey! It was not cheesy..." He insisted, with a stomp to hammer in his point.
"Ok… Ignoring Dad's cheese filled speech." Ed received a scowl from said Dad. "We now have a job to do, showing that Dirt Clan who's boss!"
The five stood in a circle, placing their hands on top each other's. Ed raised his arm in cheer with a wide grin.
"Power Ran…" This grin faded seeing that he was the only one with a raised arm.
"Hey guys, you're supposed to do the cheer…"
"Honestly, that's kinda dumb Ed…" Robyn shrugged in response.
"Then, why did you act like you were gonna do it!?" Ed hissed with a dissatisfied frown.
"We wanted to bait you…" Dylan gave a mocking sneer, causing him to frown further.
"I really hate you guys right now…"
A/N: So yeah, that's the first episode finished. ( Excluding the Prologue ) I hope you guys liked it...
I was on the fence with what I should call Olivia's Zord. Originally, I was going call it a 'Unicorn' but finally decided on the original 'Qilin' name. I even thought about calling it the PR names, but remembered 'griffin and unicorn' would seem a little out of place with the whole China motif...
A little fun fact, while I was doing my research. I found out what exactly the Dairanger's fighting styles are. Which helped me a lot when it came to writing the fight scenes and made it a little more fun to write about compared to fights in PR:KOT
Also, I swear I'll explain how they have the Thunder Zords later on and its connection with MMPR.
Anyways, I'll see you next time...