Author's Notes: Hey guys, this chapter should be the wrap up for the recent events and will finally see the next Meteo warrior. It'll be a little different than usual though. Please enjoy the arrival of the new hero and the last addition to the squad before we deal with some of the overhanging mysteries of the series.
Episode 7
Shuuji punched the wall outside the school, suppressing the urge to scream as his legs finally went out from under him. He dropped to his knees without a sound before listing to the side uselessly. He stared morosely forwards while reflecting awkwardly on the other two going ahead of him. His phone lay uselessly in his pocket, the call to the police having gone about as well as expected. He hadn't even finished his story before the futility of the endeavour had drained his will. He began to smack his head off the wall lightly in protest. That slowly modified into a more aggressive, painful pace as he angrily growled.
The growing throb was proving insufficient to dissuade Shuuji's self-harm, so a somewhat tanned hand stuck itself between the skin and cement. It then pulled itself across, separating Shuuji from the wall forcibly as he ended up clumsily sprawled out on the ground. Trailing up from the interfering hand was a set of sleeveless white robes cut too close to create a flowing effect. Green hair shifted out of his eyes as he grinned down at the fallen boy. He then twisted his hand around to offer assistance, "I don't think even your hard head will be getting through that wall."
The offer was lost on Shuuji, who scrambled back to his full height to slap away the offered hand. "Who the hell do you think you are?" he demanded before changing his mind, "Scratch that, I don't care. You don't want to mess with me today, so buzz off." He pushed past the strange man without hesitation, only stumbling slightly when met with surprising physical sturdiness. He just wanted to be alone now.
The man laughed at that, the sound unusually low to Shuuji's ears. He gripped his fists tightly but continued walking away with a straight jaw line. The man's voice was commandingly masculine, not loud but dominant in its certainty. "You don't have to rush away. I'm a friend, after all." "Not any friend I know," Shuuji snapped back sharply, all but gnashing his teeth. The amusement from the other man actually brought Shuuji to a halt, the boy turning on his heel to march backwards. He gripped the white robe in his right hand, stepping forwards with narrowed eyes, "What the hell is so funny?!"
"You're making me laugh. You have all this fire wrapped up in that tiny little body," was the answer. Shuuji suddenly became aware that the other man was noticeably taller than he was but he refused to pull back. Sensing his frustration, the man gently touched Shuuji's wrist. "If you let me go, I can help you with your little musical problem," was the seemingly perfectly practiced line. The loosening of the thin hand near his chest showed the allure of his offer. He just had to close the deal. "My name's Lucifer and I can give you the power to fight the monsters."
Shuuji's arms fell to his side, his fragile youth finally creeping through his façade. "How?" he asked, clearly lost and desperate. For all his efforts, he was still barely more than a child. That almost caused Lucifer to hesitate but he pushed through the uncomfortable feeling and produced a white band bearing a yellow gemstone. "With this stone, you can take the form of one of the heroes fighting those creatures in this town," Lucifer said simply, dangling it at the edge of his fingers like bait before a fish. Shuuji pointed to it in shock, "That's like the one Haru got!" Lucifer paused, unaware Shuuji had known that change had taken place. "Yes, just like it. The same power source to fight the same demons. To not have to fear them anymore."
The mention of fear was all that it took for Shuuji to attempt to grip the offered power source but the quick reflexes of the green haired man pulled it out of his reach. "If you take this, it will be a long commitment. Are you sure that you want to take this, still?"
A firm nod was all that was offered from Shuuji as he glanced down at the ground to collect his thoughts. "People I care about are in danger," his words stumble slightly, shaking with obvious dread. "I can't let them suffer… even if I am a coward." His neck craned upwards, a fierceness underlining the inexperienced uncertainty in his eyes. Lucifer didn't respond, his usually controlled expression melting into a calculating gaze as he studied the boy in front of him. He then lowered the band, shifting it into his open palm. "Good luck," he said with a gentle quirk of his lips as Shuuji soon wrapped the object onto his left hand and took off sprinting towards the concert.
He was soon out of ear shot and Lucifer turned away to wander back towards the church. As he went, a simple thought passed through his head, "May they protect one another and grow."
Shuuji ran as quickly as possible, shoving his way through everyone that happened to stumble into his path. He was just recklessly charging through the normal people in his way. Those watching would just see a rude, ill-dressed young man with little respect for those around him. Shuuji wouldn't have cared if he'd noticed though. His self-importance tended to outweigh such concerns when he had somewhere to be. In this case though, he was still wrestling with his desperate desire to save his endangered friends and not prove to himself that he was the coward he'd increasingly noticed.
The yellow gem gleamed strangely from his wrist, the glint only annoying Shuuji rather than reassuring him. He had no idea what he was doing and had yet to test the bizarre man's words before rushing headlong. His seething annoyance brought the normally hard-headed boy into a more sceptical mind-set, if only so that he could complain about it. The sounds of music trailing after him had his heart hammering in his chest. The slight twist at the edge of his mind was melding with all of the pent up aggression as he slid to a halt towards the edge of the town centre. He covered his ears as the crowd came into sight, fighting off the control every second as he turned sharply to the wall of one of the nearby buildings.
His arm twisted in front of him as he glared at it suspiciously. "Don't let me down," Shuuji instructed oddly, admitting he was more praying to some higher power than he was actually commanding. The arm spun around, raising upwards to allow Shuuji to strike the central stone of the trinket, accompanied by an instinctual shout, "Meteo Shift!" His school's blazer was soon replaced by a white jacket stretching down towards his waist flowingly, his boots shifting to obtain a white aura under his feet. He tensed at the strange sensations crawling over his body, a powerful aura engulfing his senses to blind him. The white's edges soon shifted to a hotter colour, pouring over his entire form in a solid coating. He fought the urge to hold his breath as a motorcycle-like helmet tinged with a black visor and flattened imprints similar to those borne by the others with those powers. The light died down in that moment, fading away to reveal a yellow suit with angelic adornments as he stood uncomfortably. He glanced briefly at his new threads before letting out a jubilant yell, an alien strength sliding through his form to enhance his very essence.
He slapped the wall and took to running headlong into the gathered throng of people overpowering Meteo Blue and Meteo Pink. Blue was thrown to the ground by the aggressive group gathered around him. Pink was desperately trying to get limbs between her face and the unskilled lumbering aimed at her. The heavy blows made the effort null though, save where her own arms were actually blown backwards into the girl's face harshly. The sight of the other two floundering gave Shuuji pause, his charge stalled by the sight. The sound of his own pulse was completely drowning out the music coming from the stage. He faltered in the face of what seemed hopeless, having absolutely no idea why he'd shown up. He was in this shocked state when he was finally spotted and the people crowded around started to turn on him, several of them making a blind rush for his unprepared body.
He staggered back a few steps instinctively, swaying back awkwardly before dropping to his knees and clutching at his yellow helmet to evade two clubbing blows. His opponents wound up cracking each other in the face, causing them to comedically collapse backwards. The stylish singer glanced up to notice boots coming for him, forcing him to scramble on his palms in the opposite direction. The unnatural crab walk was followed by several boots stamping down around him in a bid to squash him. An attempt to stand was thwarted by a salary man leaping onto his back awkwardly, attempting to wrap his arms around the boy's throat. Meteo Yellow yelped without dignity, rolling onto his back as a shock reflex. This not only threw off his attacker but his flailing limbs and unwilling passenger managed to become entangled with most of the limited force aimed at him, causing them to chaotically pile up. Meteo Yellow wound up rolling to his knee as his opponents were momentarily tripping over each other in a bid to blacken his visored eyes.
He moved backwards, realising what he'd just pulled off before putting his hands on his hips and laughing at his opponents, "Yeah, you guys had better be careful… don't want to piss off a great man like me." Seeing that they were quickly freeing themselves, Meteo Yellow made a waving motion with his hand as he turned around. He nervously said, "Well, I've got a meeting with a lady in red, so I'll let you off with this for now." His running brought him into the middle of the melee, his eyesight drawn to the pink bodysuit and skirt. Yellow's leg made contact with the behind of one of her assailants to push them away before his hand reached out to grip his female ally's wrist. He yanked her to her feet just before she could be struck, though he hadn't noticed any such fact. His luck just seemed to be holding out so far. "You waiting for me, babe?"
His cocky tone and choice of nickname immediately resonated with Pink, whose shocked response was simply, "You're Meteo Yellow?!" The boy's head made a sharp turn to the side as his voice failed to be as suave as he intended, "Damn, I guess my raw charisma gave me away." Pink could only stutter before adding, "Are you- move!" she suddenly cried as she pulled him into a tight hug, dropping to her back and allowing the two to roll out of the way of the attempted pile-up on them. Meteo Yellow was left lying beneath the svelte body of the slightly older girl, his hormones going ballistic at the sudden closeness. "I really wish a girl being this close wasn't so weird," ran through his head as it lay on the hard cement. "Hey, thanks f-" his effort to give a compliment was halted by her dropping down onto him to evade a kick aimed for her face before she rolled them both over again to avoid another attack coming down. She used this chance to push back to her knees while her impromptu dance partner remained laying on the floor.
Their disorganisation was barely giving the latex wearing warriors any space to manoeuvre, making the gathered melee seem almost pointless. Blue was knocked to the ground near the pair, clutching at his chest painfully as Ayame stalked after him. The one-sided beating had taken Blue around the crowd, the teen girl's enhanced strength actually causing Blue's flung body to take out a few of the hypnotised people. "Blue!" Pink shouted, helping him back to his feet as the crowd seemed to encircle them more widely than before. Several of them were now littering the floor, completely unconscious despite seemingly not suffering any real physical harm.
The three were surrounded as Yellow's head snapped from side to side, surveying the entire group nervously as his fingers started to twitch uncontrollably. His own sister was now attacking them and he couldn't stop her. She was in such danger and she probably didn't even realise it. Without even realising it, a white aura gathered in the air before he managed to pull what seemed to be the long neck of a string instrument from the ether. The boy could only stare at the suddenly materialised Biwa. Its thin body was accompanied by four strings and fit comfortably with the boy's small frame. "What the hell is this?!" he shouted, infuriated by the appearance of the object at that crucial moment. "What am I supposed to do with this thing?!"
"Play it, most likely," a darkly playful voice commented as the gathered masses parted to allow the porcelain faced demon to saunter towards her captured enemies. Caina shadowed her movement, keeping a slight distance but ensuring a front row seat to the confrontation. Blue took a protective stance between the demon and his allies, spreading his arms wide to serve as a shield. Daemla tilted her head femininely, tapping curiously on her chin, "What's the matter?" "I'm not letting you hurt them," he responded gruffly. He received a haughty laugh in response though, "You don't really have a choice in that. I can't stop when I'm so close, after all."
"Why are you doing this?" Pink asked, her voice shaking slightly. "What do you have to gain from randomly hurting people?" Daemla observed this in confusion before saying, "Your pain fuels me. Every person here is a battery, feeding my legend… isn't that right, my legions?" The call to her crowd gathered a large cheer in response, the phrase likely interpreted a lot more metaphorically than could be anticipated. "I'd have come for the fun alone but with Lord Astaroth's aid, I can actually stay up here freely on his energy." She ran her hands along her opposite arms sensually, "I feel so powerful and free with his strength coursing through me." She gripped the red guitar still hung over her neck, its decorated neck tipped upwards in her hands as she eagerly played sharp notes. "I rock!" That boast brought a snort from Shuuji, who immediately complained, "You kidding, your sound's mindless. Without that hypnotism, it's just lame jazz."
Meteo Yellow shoved past Blue to complain, allowing the demon to stalk forwards, her voice worryingly sweet as she crooned, "You don't mean that, right? You weren't actually stupid enough to insult my music." "What, you're deaf too? Guess that explains that last song," Yellow remarked with a spiteful arrogance he couldn't explain. The back of Daemla's hand slapped him clean across the face, knocking him back into Blue's strong arms.
His teammates hadn't even had a chance to complain before Yellow forced himself back to his feet, gripping his Biwa threateningly. "Alright, this time I'm going to show you what real metal sounds like!" He then clumsily moved his fingers about in a bid to try and work out what he needed to do, light strums following as he tried to guess the sounds. Daemla simply slapped him in the face again, sending him staggering into the edge of the mass of humanity at the edges, the charged crowd soon shoving him backwards. "Damn it!" Yellow screamed, feeling utterly helpless and humiliated as he angrily dragged at the strings to make an irritating noise, possibly as a prelude to shattering the instrument. However, the petty act of retribution made an unusually reverberant screech, the air around them seeming to bend before the force knocked everyone listening to the ground in a powerful blast… including the three Meteo fighters at its epicentre.
There was little time to take that in though, a red blur racing into the centre of the crowd over the fallen townsfolk. A white blade cut across the stone ground to send up a burst of sparks and smoke. Daemla and Caina regained their feet and ran into the centre of the smoke but stumbled clean into their controlled humans on the opposite side. Daemla began to shudder in anger, her hands curling into fists before she struck one of the rising humans near her, knocking him messily to the ground. Caina looked around for a moment before commenting, "Looks like you let them escape," as her friend only seethed harder at her failure. If those affected by her music had their full capacities, they likely would have soon started trying to flee before she could take out her soreness over the loss on her meal tickets.
The messy dash for freedom came to a halt in an abandoned public restroom. The few objections offered were cut off by Red, who calmly said, "The demon's vanity makes her unlikely to find us here." Pink wrinkled her nose beneath her helmet, "Well, I wouldn't want to check in here either but it's still gross." "We need to regroup either way," Blue commented sorely as he held his stomach. "I don't want to be stuck in this suit all day. Hell, I don't even know if we can stay in them all day." The dank tiles made an occasional squelching sound when stepped on in just the right way. The wet sound echoed against the constant dripping of the leaking roof to create a miserable harmony alongside the unpleasantly stale stench.
Meteo Yellow was staring into one of the mirrors as the others gathered behind him. Their discussion of strategies or goals was completely lost on him as his eyes bore into the cracked surface reflecting his brightly shaded gear. He reached a hand out to trace one of the sharper lines that split the image, his finger crawling along the dark curve that seemed to split his helmet in half. The extravagant outfit had been completely wasted on him. While that girl Haru had rushed to the rescue with her new powers, he'd just run in and made a fool of himself in front of everybody. He hadn't been able to save his sisters or any of his friends.
"We can't hit those kids though," Meteo Pink sighed as she leant back against the wall, her arms crossing over her stomach in a vulnerable way. "I mean, what if one of them were to get hurt?" "We can't hit all of 'em," Kenta agreed, sitting up on a nearby barrel to assess his injuries. This largely involved pushing down on whatever felt tender until he had to stop. "I could smash a lot of them but with Ayame there, I can't throw a punch. Not that she's thinking the same…" Meteo Blue grumbled absently, his last few words trailing off into a dark muttering. His female companion reaches across, her smaller hands gently moving his own away. "We'll save her, right?" her voice was so much smaller, more hesitant than he was used to that his stomach churned unnaturally. Meanwhile, the Yellow figure staring in the mirror was frozen in place, staring even more hatefully at the figure before him as Blue tried to uselessly comfort when his own faith was shaken. "We can't outfight them, we can't survive against them… what can we do? … what can a coward like me do?"
"You're all so spineless," Meteo Red finally commented, having grown frustrated with their hopeless whining. He impatiently banged his fist against the wall, haughtily towering over his alleged comrades. "Meteo Green was at least smart, what good are you if you stumble in the face of a threat like this?" His words were tinged with disgust and bitterness. "They're just normal people. You shouldn't be intimidated by them. They're only a wall she's built around herself, a meat shield." Meteo Blue angrily grunted at that, pushing past the warnings of his more conflict-adverse companion to challenge their crimson comrade. "Yeah, well those are innocent people, you mook." "That didn't sound like it was stopping you before," Meteo Red countered sharply. Meteo Blue had little to retort with at that, his boiling frustrations not manifesting in physical violence but leaving him at a loss. He wasn't a natural leader but a man who marched to his own beat. It was hard to do that when so many people were at risk.
Meteo Red pushed past that, "It's a moot point. I'd wait her out if her music wasn't spreading too fast." Pink interjected at that, "Spreading?" Meteo Yellow's ears peaked as well, his fingers digging into the cracks in a way that would have torn skin without his gloves. He would have been impressed if he had cared about himself in that moment. Meteo Red shook his head in disappointment, "You didn't notice those people were losing consciousness. After a while, the Demon's music causes them to pass out. I assume she grows stronger with each victim but that isn't a concern." His arrogance was breath-taking in that moment but grounding, almost reassuring in a way that he had no intention of losing. The idea angered him on some deep personal level. Meteo Red cracked his neck, "There's no point in waiting out for her followers to lose consciousness, they'll just be replaced."
"You can't just let people get hurt!" Meteo Pink interrupted fiercely. However, her own objections were overshadowed by Meteo Yellow gripping the shoulders of the only man in the city with an ego to match his own. The shaking was quick and frantic, "My sister is in there! You have to do something before she-!" Meteo Red's arms came up to knock Meteo Yellow's away in one quick defining movement, "Don't touch me. I don't have to do anything. I'm going to kill the demon in my own time, in my own way. Save her yourself."
Meteo Red had planned to leave it at that but was shocked to see Meteo Yellow regrab his arms, "I don't know how! Help me save them! I'm not strong enough as I am!" "What did you just say?" Meteo Red asked. "Help me, dammit! I need you to help and I won't stop until you do!" Meteo Yellow roared. His energy, his emotions, his whole world was spiralling out of control. "If they die, I won't let you rest for the rest of your days!"
The tense, violent atmosphere was shattered by laughter as the man in the black jeans reappeared. Lucifier flicked his green hair out of his eye as the four present stared at him in surprise. His relaxed cadence gave his drawling an irritating length as he asked, "Shouldn't all five of you be here?" Meteo Blue bristled at that but Meteo Pink gripped his bicep tightly before simply saying, "One of our own is caught up in this demon's plans. Can you help us?" Lucifer's eyes trailed over the group before he shook his head, "No, we Angels don't act directly. That's not how this works," he explained airily, giving no detail.
While the group's moral prepared to plummet back into infighting and desperate plotting, Lucifer decided to throw in an interesting tidbit, "Besides, you got lucky this time. The perfect tool to stop her just came available to you." All four soon followed that, led along expertly by the experienced man, who was unable to suppress his lazy grin. Meteo Pink sighed at that before shrugging, "Care to elaborate on that?" Meteo Yellow meanwhile eyed the man who had given him his powers, "Do you mean my suit? Is there something in it that will let me fight them?" A spark of hope was lit in his chest, burning and bursting at the edges in a bid to reach the surface. His normal swagger had started to return as he got to his feet, nodding his head, "Yeah, I knew I couldn't be a failure. Lay it on me, what do I have to do."
"Fight with your weapon," Raphael responded simply, eyes gleaming in amusement at the puffed up pride of the man before him. Meteo Yellow deflated somewhat at that before he all but snarled in his only just broken voice, "What the hell does that mean?! This stupid banjo doesn't work." He materialises the instrument in his hand, glaring at it through his visor as his fingers grip the wood tightly. An errant shrug and a fluttering of the untucked in shirt was all he got in response as Raphael made a point of walking away, "If it ain't working for you, change it. Simple as. If you can make use of it properly, you can stop sweet Daemla. It worked earlier after all." He laughed a little smugly before saying his farewells, "You kids are fun, don't let me down now." A brief salute signified his mysterious disappearance, no trace remaining. There wasn't even the usual heat-like haze.
Meteo Red glared at him, while his Blue compatriot did likewise, the two eerily mirroring each other in that moment. They continued to mimic one another by grunting and looking away. Meteo Yellow grabbed his instrument and smashed it as hard as he could against the wall but it bounced off without a scratch, causing him to lose his balance in shock at the unexpected resistance. He glared at it before frustratedly yelling, "How is this even a weapon?!"
He was caught offguard by a hand resting on his shoulder. It was not the slim, slender fingers he expected though, instead feeling meaty and strong. He sighed, ready to face the blue member of their team, only to glance over his shoulder to see the team's swordsman. His grip was firm, the intention hard to decipher. "He said you were the key to winning this fight. If that weapon is the key, it must be worth something." Meteo Yellow shook slightly at that but was taken even more by surprise when Meteo Pink overcame her own confusion, "Looks like we're a team now. Let's do our best and save those people." She wasn't exactly over her own despair but the realisation of how close one of her juniors was to cracking had gotten her protective instincts going. She wouldn't allow him to suffer unnecessarily.
Meteo Blue was the last to join, simply standing up and looking at Meteo Yellow directly. "I don't trust those angels but we're out of options. I'll believe in you for now. Just promise you'll carry through and save those people." Meteo Red cut in, twisting that promise to, "No, promise to kill the demon." Meteo Yellow glanced at the outdated string instrument with an odd reverence as it rested on his open palms. His words were quiet but no longer held an ounce of doubt. He had made up his mind, especially if all these people were offering support.
"I'll do both…"
Daemla sighed anxiously as she put a hand gently to her head, her contact having vanished back to the underworld to report on her failure. The Meteo Rangers had escaped her somehow despite her having them trapped. It wasn't her fault though. She could still come back from this. They had no way to beat her, only delay her. She just needed to capture whoever had rescued the multi-coloured freaks. Her slaves were pouring over the city as they slowly lost consciousness, creating an expanding web that would soon capture the annoying flies she had been hired to destroy. She was also generating huge amounts of chaos, something that was sure to please Astaroth. That was the Demon's main goal right now after all. Just turn the city into a chaotic mess and reward will follow… the Rangers were a personal goal, Daemla convinced herself of that. Her rewards were already secure. She was a star after all.
She was surprised to see the sparks flying up on the outskirts of the throng that still clung around her stage, stumbling back as her slaves lost their footing. She attempted to regain her balance but a series of shots impacted into her body, knocking her onto her back. She rolled over to give further commands, only to have a blue shield smash into her kneeling form as Meteo Blue managed to launch himself up onto the stage and charge directly into her. He followed up by trying to bring the edge of the shield down hard on her face but she narrowly caught the attack with her hands, their strength test shaking the hastily gathered wood of the makeshift stage as they struggled against each other. Her slaves were in disarray it seemed, many caught up chasing after the Red and Pink clumsily without her voice to focus them. This strategy was terrifying for her… she might die!
"No!" she roared in her mind, red fingers digging deeply into the shield as her porcelain face cracked imperceptibly. Her arms bulged as she pushed against the dirt, lifting her stomach against Blue's force. He pushed in harder, as she predicted, her leg flinging out quickly to clip his knee. His balance tottered like an egg from a cracked cup, leaning awkwardly into it to create a small amount of breathing room. Daemla rolled on her back before letting out a deafening roar tinged with the joyous screams of her adoring slaves that were feeding into her soul. The surprising display of raw power blew Meteo Blue clean off the stage, his back hitting the concrete hard, the lack of bounce indicating the hardness of the impact. Daemla forced herself to her feet and started to hum lowly, her slaves growing sharper and more vicious in line with the heightened pitch. Red's sword arm shook as one of the salarymen kicked the blade while Pink's arms were held to her side, a group of schoolgirls restraining her body as they started to kick and claw at her armoured body like wild animals.
Meteo Blue himself instinctively lashed out with his shield but his body froze in place at the sight of familiar classmates gripping onto him. He struggled, rushing through in a wild frenzy, bucking with his enhanced strength to cast off his hanger-ons. He refused to get bogged down, rushing into Pink, sending them sprawling to the ground as the slaves were knocked free. It was a wild scramble, the roughhousing injuring Daemla's followers as they suicidally clung to their prey. Daemla continued to hum, gathering momentum into her song as her servants pushed and pulled in a wild panic that soon grouped Red, Pink and Blue into one central place… allowing Daemla to breathe in deeply and unleash another piercing, guttural scream that sent sparks flying off the suits as their ears violently shook. Their whole bodies seemed to vibrate in agony, the difference in power clear.
The situation seemed hopeless until Daemla's scream was ripped through by a single piercing note. The mindless citizens oddly seemed to freeze in place. Daemla started to sing again but another overly sharp sound ripped through the air again. It was uneven, tinny and unbearable to even untrained ears, let alone musically gifted ones such as Daemla's own. The lack of skill seemed to travel through the air as clear as day. The issue repeated twice more as the Meteo Rangers gathered together to help each other up, Red's arm shaking off Pink's offer for help even as his legs quivered under the sonic assault. Marching through the audience and still fiddling with his instrument was an increasingly frustrated Yellow. He stopped in the middle of the audience and slammed his foot down, "Are you serious?! How many cool speeches do I have to make to get this instrument to play right, you ditzy angel jerk?!" Meanwhile, Daemla was having a stroke on stage, her ego bruised and rolled over by this musical albatross's comical interruptions. She felt like she was the butt of a clown's humour, an exceptionally gaudy one at that.
The Diva Demon gripped onto the microphone stand on stage, holding it close, "To the tasteless yellow fashion crime," she started, an annoyed crack in her voice matching the subtly growing damage to her porcelain mask. "This is a death march tribute." She began singing softly, the words lost to the venomous intent as the slaves stopped their attacks on the Rangers, having them pinned in place as it goes. Instead, they all started to encircle Yellow. He gripped his instrument tighter as they approached, glaring the device. He wanted to smash the device, to rip it to shred, to scream at it until it could fix. Yet, a white coat started to trail the wooden body, a warmth engulfing the substance in his hands. Beneath his helmet, the Meteo Yellow's thin eyes widened somewhat. He gripped tightly onto it as the solid shape beneath him began to twist under his long fingers.
The smooth stroke ended when his left palm gripped onto the head of a familiar shape, the odd growth feeling like a microphone as the attached stand ended with a bottomless staff. Meteo Yellow held the familiar object in his shaking, sweaty palms as the slaves leapt at him. Time seemed to slow, his attention firmly locked onto the new shape of his weapon. Beneath the faceguard of his helmet, his lips curled up wildly, a frantic, undeserved confidence flowing through him once more. He breathed in and let out a powerful roar into his microphone, "YEAH!~" The scream ripped through the crowd, blowing many of them away from him in a blind flurry. Meteo Yellow's whole body was twisted under the power, his arms and legs burning as his passion flared louder. Daemla's own voice was totally drowned out, pushing her back. She ground her heels into the stage to keep her balance, singing more forcibly as the cracks on her face intensified, deepening until clearly visible at a distance as Yellow started into his own declarations, the music in his own head backing his courage, "You ready to rock?!~"
The shaken, egotistical teen noticed the multiple figures around them caught up in his own sound, paralysed in place. Daemla tried to push through, both of their bodies starting to shake as the sound physically battered their bodies. Meteo Red dragged himself to his feet, overpowering his captors as he pushed himself towards the stage. It felt like gravity was pushing down onto his form, each step seeming to crack the bones in his feet. He approached the steps but felt like he couldn't move. Everyone started to get driven down, both musicians power blending together and causing them to multiply against one another with resonance. It was suffocating to be in the presence of the music, neither one really capable of getting the better of the other.
Yellow dropped to one knee as he continued to sing into his microphone, his ego alone keeping him fighting as Daemla's face continued to crack. The spiderweb pattern deepened and spread up the white mask, going deeper into the eyes and mouth. Her grin widened as both let out another roar of pride, their voices giving out momentarily, Daemla coughing horribly as Yellow fell to his side, unable to breathe properly. He tried to get up to continue his assault but the Daemla was laughing hoarsely as she held the microphone stand closer to herself. She glanced at her adoring crowd, dying with anticipation for her final song, to carry out her will for the last time. She sucked air greedily into her lungs… and went completely silent as a sharp tearing sound ripped through her body. Daemla's head turned slightly to see Meteo Red standing tall, sword hanging loosely at his side. He flicked his wrist as if to clean away blood before sheathing the blade, Daemal quietly whispering in an uncharacteristically meek voice, "… no…" before she fell to the ground. Her face shattered in midair, her red body vanishing into nothing as the shards of her face bounced off the stage uselessly.
The crowd let out a simultaneous shriek before collapsing onto the ground throughout the city. Meteo Yellow rushed through the crowd, picking up his unconscious little sisters and making sure they were okay. Blue took his older sister's body from him gently, nodding in his direction. Ambulances were starting to show up as the crowd showed signs of stirring. "Time to go," he commented gruffly. Yellow was about to complain before wobbling on his feet. He fell into Meteo Pink, who put his arm over her shoulder to Yellow's surprise. "Gotta take care of our hero," Meteo Pink said in a jokingly flirty way, choking any response Yellow could have. Red made to take off, being followed by his compatriots without really noticing.
The group soon came to a stop further into the city as Meteo Red disappeared somewhere along the way. The other three were less interested in him than the unconsciousness Ayame. The dark haired girl was starting to slowly stir, her thin frame looking even smaller against Blue's armour. Her eyes slowly opening as Blue came to rest against the forest tree. Meteo Blue fell back in the shade into a sitting position, staring up into the shadows. Meteo Pink came to a halt, breathing out uncomfortably before throwing off Yellow's arm. She rubbed her back, "You weigh a lot for such a skinny guy…" Meteo Yellow snapped back, "I'm not skinny! I'm stylish!"
Meteo Pink sighed, "Your personality isn't as bad as I thought but still." Meteo Yellow grumbled to himself, "I thought you were supposed to be the nice one at school." A few seconds later, both exclaimed in shock, "You know who I am?!" The Yellow and Pink suits dissolved to reveal Shuuji and Haru respectively in their plain school uniforms. Both stared at one another in shock, Shuuji's mouth gaping open while Haru just blinked. "How did you know who I was?" she asked. "Because I saw you transform yesterday," Shuuji explained dumbly. "How-?" "I recognised your voice earlier. You have a distinctive voice. I like it." Shuuji's face reddened while Blue laughed, his armour dissolving to reveal Kenta's delinquent features. "Man, you are way too easy to embarrass, kid." He smiled in a friendly way after the comment, Shuuji throwing up his arms in response. "I saved the day! That's all that matters…"
"You saved the day?" Ayame's voice quietly asked, her head tilting in Meteo Blue's arms as she snuggled slightly into his warmth. Shuuji couldn't formulate a response as Haru jumped into the pair, hugging Ayame tightly. "I'm so glad you're okay!" Kenta just sighed, "Ya gotta worry me, don't ya." He then bopped her lightly on the head, causing Ayame to shyly apologise, only for both to cut her off, "Leave it, you're fine." "We're both just glad you're okay," Haru settled for as she gently knuckled Ayame's face. "Um, hello?" Shuuji interrupted. Ayame glanced up at him in confusion, "Why did you say you saved the day?" "I did… I have…" he trailed off. He couldn't justify bringing his sister into this world. They argued but he did care about her, he couldn't put her in danger like- "Your little brother is the Yellow Ranger," Haru explained with a blasé tone. Shuuji stuttered out objections that only grew louder when Ayame interjected, "Eh, him? Are you sure? He's a bit… er, awful sometimes…" "Hey, I saved the day!" he repeated, holding up the yellow gem. "And why do you know about that stuff anyway?!" Ayame wordlessly held up her own gem and Shuuji instinctively responded, "But you suck!"
The two started to bicker as Ayame got to her feet. Both Haru and Kenta shrugged and grinned as the two siblings bickered. Meanwhile, Lucifer sat lazily in the branches of a nearby tree, head shielded under the green leaves. He smiled gently at the sounds behind, "I knew I chose well. He's rough around the edges… but all the best humans are, kehe."
Author's Notes: No excuses for the delays. Sorry it took so long. This is kind of a rare passion project at this point. I do have plans for this story still. If anyone is interested in seeing it keep going, please let me know in the reviews.