Disclaimer: I don't own anything, except Zero, the infinity crystals, the Crystal Animals, and the monsters.
A/N: I might refer to the team as either "Sentai", "Super Sentai", "Crystalrangers", or even just "Rangers".
(Opening theme 2: "Butter-Fly" by Kouji Wada. OST Digimon Adventure)
*music*
As the music starts, each of the first five Infinity Crystals are seen falling through space (in order: red, blue, yellow, white, and black), before the title appears
Gokigen na chou ni natte kirameku kaze ni notte
The Infinity Crystals are seen falling like comets through space, as they break through the atmosphere
Ima sugu kimi ni ai ni yukou
The Infinity Crystals are shown landing in Little Tail Bronx, before the Demon Heart's eye is seen in the background, as the pupil focuses on the planet
Yokei na koto nante wasureta hou ga mashi sa
Red is seen catching the red Infinity Crystal, followed by a scene of Elh catching the blue Infinity Crystal, then Waffle catching the white Infinity Crystal, then Alicia catching the black Infinity, and finally Mamoru catching the yellow Infinity Crystal
Kore ijou shareteru jikan wa nai
The scene zooms out from Mamoru, to reveal the five Crystalrangers (in civilian form) together in what looks like a forest, as several random Shard Beast emerge, surrounding them
Naniga wow wow wow wow wow kono sora ni todoku no darou
The five Crystal Braces are seen, as the crystals begin to glow brightly, signaling their activation
Dakedo wow wow wow wow wow ashita no yotei mo wakaranai
Red, Elh, Mamoru, Waffle, and Alicia are seen being enveloped by the light of their respective crystals, before each of the Crystalrangers (in Sentai form) are seen one by one with their weapons ready and their respective Crystal Animals in the background (in this order: Red, Elh, Waffle, Alicia, Mamoru)
Mugendai na yume no ato no nanimo nai yo no naka ja
A mountain is seen exploding as Crystal Dragon breaks through it, before taking to the sky (Red is seen riding on its back). As Crystal Dragon ascends, Crystal Eagle flies past it and does some impressive aerial maneuvers (Elh is seen riding on its neck)
Sou sa itoshii omoi mo makesou ni naru kedo
A split screen shows Crystal Wolf and Crystal Lioness running through different sections of a forest, before both of them make it to a cliff and leap off, before the scene quickly freezes on the scene of them passing each other with the moon in the background (Waffle and Alicia are seen gazing at each other from their respective Crystal Animals' heads)
Stay shigachi na imeeji darake no tayorinai tsubasa demo
Crystal Rhino is seen bursting through a mountain (Mamoru is seen on its back), followed by a scene of Chocolat, Stare, Flare, Panta, and Matoi watching at a distance from atop the Wanderer
Kitto toberusa on my love
Zero is seen standing on a field with his arms crossed, as the shadowed forms of three large mechas (not Gattais) are seen in the background.
*music*
Each of the Crystalrangers are seen launching their individual attacks, followed by the Crystal Blaster. The final scene shows the five Crystalrangers together (from left to right: Waffle, Mamoru, Red, Elh, and Alicia) in their civilian forms, with Crystal Knight standing in the background.
(Opening song finish)
-JSCR-
Episode 7: Plan Revealed! Continuing the Journey!
Xiaolin Temple
Red yawned tiredly as he was leaning against a wall. "Man, we've been here for 2 weeks, and all we've had is Frags, Frags, and more Frags," the disguised Caninu sighed.
"That's a bad thing?" Mamoru asked as he walked out of the room the team shared during their stay.
"Yeah, shouldn't it be a good thing that we've only had to worry about Frags," Waffle nodded in agreement.
"Actually, I agree with Red," Elh said as she walked out of their room. "The last time our enemies had been laying low like this, they were preparing for something."
"I get it! Since they're laying low, it means they must be planning something!" Mamoru said.
"Yeah that's it. That's why I'd rather they fight us outright instead of leaving us hanging like this," Red stated.
"Well, if you put it that way, you have a point," Alicia commented, before all five of them sighed heavily. It was times like this when their job seemed so much harder.
Any more discussions were halted when a certain trio walked in. "You know, for heroes saving the world, you guys sure don't seem very optimistic," Tang commented.
"Easy for you to say. The bad guy you guys have to fight doesn't intend to take over the entire universe. No offence, but him against us based on what we've seen so far, we could take him any day," Red shot back in annoyance.
"Well, we can't argue on that last part," Tang relented.
"Yeah, I don't think I've ever seen the Black Foxes run like that," Hua laughed slightly.
"Yeah, like scared rabbits running from a bear," Cheng nodded, as they all shared a laugh.
-JSCR-
Meanwhile, Castle Abyss…
"Ah yessss, everything is going according to plan…" Fool mused as he looked through the viewing globe. "Just a little bit more, and the Root Gem will be ready."
"Excellent. I was almost afraid we'd be stuck on this pathetic world for the rest of our lives," Bruno nodded in agreement, as at this stage, they couldn't afford to make mistakes so early in the plan.
"Good. Soon this world shall be under my control! Once the Root Gem has matured, all we need is the perfect host for it, and then it will only be a matter of time before this world falls into my control!" The Demon Heart laughed, as in the viewing globe, the Root Gem they had planted began to pulsate.
-JSCR-
Meanwhile, unknown location…
"You fools!" Heihu roared as his Black Foxes cowered in fear. "I send you all to retrieve the mirror, and you all fail miserably!"
"B-b-but boss, it wasn't our fault. We had a trap for the Wuzangs, but those foreigners got in the way," one of the Black Foxes pleaded. It had been a couple of days ago when Heihu had ordered them to retrieve (steal) a mirror that was said to show the deepest desires of the person that looked into it. As Heihu's desire was to know the location of the second book of wisdom, he figured that the mirror would show him where the book was. When the Black Foxes went to steal the mirror, naturally the Wuzangs were there to stop them, so they had a plan ready. Too bad for them, they didn't expect that the Wuzangs would have some help in the form of the Crystalrangers (all in human form, as there was no need to transform to fight off the Black Foxes). Needless to say, the plan failed miserably as in the middle of the chaos, the mirror ended up getting smashed to pieces.
In response to the excuse, Heihu was seriously considering incinerating the Black Fox that had given the excuse, but stopped to consider. "Foreigners you say… Very well, who are these interlopers that dare to get in my way?"
"W-well…" The Black Fox stuttered, before explaining what they looked like. When he was finished, Heihu nodded.
"Very well, it would seem that I pay these meddlers a visit," Heihu said, chuckling evilly, before outright laughing to the sky.
-JSCR-
The next day, Kai Feng…
Red and Elh were busy searching through the crowds of people. Earlier, they had gotten a message from Zero that Beluga and Merveille were going to join them on the surface (while Merveille and Beluga had been going to the surface of the planet several times, they usually stayed off world), and as such, agreed to meet up in the town, so as to look more natural.
"He sure seems exited," Cheng commented, as he, Tang, and Hua had volunteered to escort Red and Elh.
"Well, he did say his mother was coming, so can you blame him?" Hua said.
"She's got a point there," Tang nodded.
Any further discussion was halted when Red and Elh spotted the people they were looking for. "Hey! Over here!" Red called out, catching their attention.
When the group got closer, they were able to see who Red and Elh had been calling.
The first was a woman with relatively long golden blonde hair which slightly covered her face, and was done up in an upward hairstyle at the back of her head with a hair band to hold it in place. She had fair skin, with deep blue eyes (much like Red's eyes) behind a pair of glasses. She wore a simple traveler's outfit consisting of a white tunic and pants.
The second member of the group was a young man who looked a lot like Elh. He had spiky white hair, which was mostly short, except for two braids one the two sides of his face, topped with an X-shaped scar on his face. He was dressed in a black shirt and pants, which were covered by a red cloak, topped with a red headband on his forehead.
"Glad you two could come," Elh said with a smile as she and Red greeted them.
"But of course. We've only had quick glimpses of this world, I simply couldn't resist seeing it more," Merveille smiled, as her scientist side was showing.
"Well, I don't blame you. This world is very nice, even with a few problems, but then again, our world isn't all that different," Red nodded with a grin.
"Naturally, I assume you decided to come along when Merveille said she wanted to come down here," Elh said with a chuckle, which Beluga simply turned away from in slight embarrassment.
"They're not the only ones who decided to come," came an unfamiliar voice.
Turning towards the source of the voice, Red and Elh saw a young man with bright blonde hair. He was dressed in a simple silver colored shirt and pants, with a black cloak covering his body. His features were relatively handsome with deep brown colored eyes, but the upper right side of his face was covered in bandages, which completely covered his right eye and the rest of the upper right side of his face.
"Huh? Who are you?" Red asked, not recognizing the person.
"I'm not surprised you don't recognize me. You've never seen me without my mask," The person responded, causing Red and Elh's eyes to widen in surprise.
"Zero? You're Zero?" they both asked in surprising synch.
Zero nodded in response. "I'd prefer to be wearing my mask, but I didn't want to draw any unnecessary attention."
"Well, looking like that I can't really blame you for wearing a mask," Red commented with a sweat drop, while Elh, Beluga, and Merveille all silently agreed.
Zero simply shrugged in response, before he noticed the three Wuzangs. "So you three are the protectors of this world? Not quite what I'd expect, but one must never judge a book by its cover."
"Uh… Yeah. Welcome to our world I guess…" Hua said, as the three of them weren't quite sure how to greet the newcomers.
-JSCR-
Later, Shaolin Temple
Master Sanzang was kneeling in the lower section of the temple, specifically the location where the ashes of the previous grandmasters of Shaolin were kept. Invisible to anyone else, were the spirits of the previous grandmasters, busy giving counsel and wisdom to Sanzang.
"Truly in all my years, I have never heard of such a thing. Demons made out of crystals that can grow to tower over mountains, a group of sorcerers that hunt down these demons and control a gigantic titan to defeat them. Even Heihu was never able to reach such feats," the spirit of the grandmaster from 1000 years ago said.
"Venerable spirits of my ancient masters, please enlighten me…" Sanzang pleaded. For the last few weeks he had been troubled by the events that had been happening, and hoped that his predecessors could give him the counsel and wisdom he needed.
The spirits seemed to discuss amongst themselves, before one of them stepped (floated?) forward. "Forgive us Sanzang…never in our long history have we encountered such things. We…"
"Have no idea on how to respond to the Shard Beasts," came a monotone voice.
"Who's there?"Sanzang demanded, as out of the shadows stepped a young man with short blonde hair, bandages covering a quarter of his face, and an odd device over his left eye (think Saiyan scouter).
"Not an enemy I can assure you," Zero stated, his face blank of emotion, before removing the device from his face.
"Who are you? How did you get in here?" Sanzang demanded, as he got into a fighting stance.
"My name is of no importance. However, if you must call me something, call me Zero. As for how I got in, I came here along with Red and Elh earlier," Zero stated. "Either way, I've come to discuss the current issue, which is the Shard Beast, and their master, The Demon Heart."
"Hm? How do you know of these demons, when no one else has even heard about them?" Sanzang asked, though still wary of Zero.
"I am not surprised. I do not expect you to know about a threat that has come from another world," Zero nodded.
"Another world?" Sanzang repeated in surprise.
"That is correct. Like my team and myself, this new threat has come from another world," Zero stated.
"Why are you telling me this? What do you have to gain from it?" Sanzang asked suspiciously. While normally he was a friendly and trusting old man, but Zero just seemed to rub him in a way that made him very suspicious.
"For starters, it is my mission to aid the chosen ones in defeating the Demon Heart, however if we start talking about what I gain out of it, I gain nothing personally, save for perhaps self-preservation, but I ensure that we don't lose anything to the Demon Heart. If the Demon Heart were to be allowed to run rampant, it would endanger the entire universe," Zero answered, before extending his hand to Sanzang. "As it is in all of our interest, I look forward to the cooperation of Shaolin. Don't worry, all I ask is that you give us temporary lodging here so that we may at least have a base of operation on this world. Nothing more, nothing less," Zero said, before bowing respectfully (he may be creepy at times, but he is definitely not a rude person) and exiting the chamber. "Come to think of it, I don't think anyone knows I'm down here. Maybe I should have told them... Not that it makes a difference. It's best I only call them when a Shard Beast acts up," he idly thought as he went up the stairs.
-JSCR-
Meanwhile…
Mamoru and Elh were busy helping the three Wuzangs with some of the chores around the temple, while Red, Beluga, Opera, Calua, and Gren were helping some of the monks unload supplies that had just come in from the city. They stopped for a moment when they noticed Waffle and Alicia walking towards the gates.
"Hey you two, going somewhere?" Opera asked, catching their attention.
"Huh? Oh! Me and Alicia were just going to go out for a bit," Waffle said.
"Y-Yeah, we just wanted to explore a little, since we've mostly stayed in the temple," Alicia nodded as they exited the temple, though the fact that they were holding hands sort of gave away what they really wanted to do.
"Must be nice to have someone special to spend your time with," Hua said sounding almost dreamy.
"You know Hua, if you want…" Cheng was about to say, but Tang beat him to it.
"If you'd like, I know a few places to spend some time," Tang said.
"Uh…thanks Tang, but maybe another time," Hua replied.
"Sometimes I think those three are just friends, but other times I think they're a love triangle," Elh whispered to her friends.
"Though you have to admit, this is almost better than a soap opera," Opera giggled.
"Seriously? That's what you think about this?" came Zero's voice from right behind them.
"Waugh!" they yelped in surprise, before turning towards Zero who had a sweat drop on his head.
"Are you trying to kill us with a heart attack or something?!" they angrily demanded as they were once again on the receiving end of Zero's habit of appearing right behind them.
"Does he do that often?" Cheng asked as he, Hua, and Tang were all clutching their chests from the shock.
"All…the…time…!" Red said in a long suffering tone.
Zero just shrugged before saying "A warrior must always be aware of his or her surroundings. Had any of you been my enemy, I'd have either shot or stabbed you by now."
That shut them up, as they realized just how right Zero was. "Ehehehe, you…got a point there," Mamoru nervously said, as all of them (Sentai and non-Sentai) silently vowed to train themselves in that aspect, even if just to get back at Zero later for all the time he nearly gave them heart attacks.
"Either way, keep on guard. I have a feeling something big is about to happen today," Zero cautioned, before turning to leave.
"...dude, that guy gives me the creeps sometimes," Calua said with a shudder.
"I agree. His presence seems…disturbing at times," Gren agreed.
"Who is he actually? I know you said his name is Zero, and that he's human, but…I feel like those things tell us only the bare basics about him," Hua asked.
"Honestly…we don't know. He just came to our world one day, brought the five of us to his ship before warning us about the Demon Heart and telling us about the Infinity Crystals. He then gave us our Crystal Braces, and since then, he's been alerting us when Shard Beast appear, and more or less guide us along the way," Elh said with a frown.
"I think he might have had a tragic past. He may seem distant, but I think he's a good person at heart," Red commented with a frown.
"What makes you say that?" Mamoru asked, not remembering Zero saying anything that might have pointed to that conclusion.
"You didn't hear him back when we were at Basset. You were playing with Arzy and the others back then," Red said with a small smile, before continuing. "Back then, he said that we should keep our distance from anyone not involved."
"Right. 'I lost someone who was very important to me because I was too close to them, and my enemies took advantage of that' is what he said. He tried to hide it, but he seemed so…sad when he said that," Elh said remembering the hidden sorrow in Zero's voice.
"Yeah, that's why I think he's a good person at heart. He may seem cold, but he looks out for us," Red finished with a frown, leaving them all with some food for thought. Nobody was willing to continue this discussion.
-JSCR-
Later, forest surrounding an unnamed village…
Waffle and Alicia were comfortable leaning against each other under the shade of a tree, both of them sleeping peacefully as they enjoyed the breeze and the sound of a nearby river flowing through, both of them going to enjoy the time together peacefully…
Yeah right!
The two of them were quickly awakened by the sound of hooves galloping across the ground.
"What is that?" Alicia irritably demanded, not appreciating the rude awakening.
"Sounds like horses," Waffle said, before checking over the nearby hill. When he saw what it was, his eyes widened. "Oh no! It's the Black Foxes! They're attacking that village!"
"What?" Alicia said in surprise, before seeing it for herself. "Those creeps. Attacking a defenseless village. That's just like them!" she growled angrily.
Looking at each other the two of them nodded, before jumping down the hill and running towards the village. At the same time, Waffle pulled out his communicator.
-JSCR-
Back at the Shaolin temple, the teams' communicators went off, before they quickly responded. "Waffle? What's going on?" Red asked.
"Guys! It's the Black Foxes. They're attacking a nearby village where we are. Me and Alicia should be able to handle it, but just in case…" Waffle said.
"Right. We'll be there to back you up!" Elh nodded, as they put away their communicators.
"Alright, let's go!" Mamoru said enthusiastically.
They were about to run off, when Opera's voice cut in. "Now where do you think you three are going?" she said as she, Calua, and Gren walked into the room.
"Yeah dude, don't forget about us!" Calua grinned.
"Sure, we could use any help we can get," Mamoru said.
"Then we're coming too!" Hua suddenly said, as she poked her head through the window.
"Heh, go ahead, we sure don't mind sharing the chance to send those Black Foxes running again," Red grinned.
With that in agreement, the group of 9 immediately left the temple. Once they got enough distance, Red, Elh, and Mamoru activated their Crystal Braces. "D-Cycles!" they declared, as their bikes materialized in front of them.
"Get on! We'll cover more ground this way!" Red shouted.
"Uh…Right!" the Wuzangs said, before jumping on the bikes, as Red, Elh, and Mamoru hit the accelerators, causing the bikes to race off.
"Hey, wait for us!" Calua called out, as he, Opera, and Gren pulled out three cards, and tossed them forward, materializing 3 bikes.
"Huh? Since when did you have those?" Mamoru asked in surprise.
"Zero sent these for us so we wouldn't have to keep calling out our robots every time. A wise choice if you ask me," Gren answered.
"Leave it to Zero to plan for everything," Elh chuckled as they sped up towards their destination.
Unknown to the heroes, their exit was not as undetected as they thought.
"What in the world? Metal horses?" Master Fong said in surprise, as he and master Sanzang had been nearby when the heroes exited Shaolin.
"I don't know. However, I'm certain we know someone who knows. You can come out now," Sanzang said, as Zero, Merveille, and Beluga stepped out from behind a nearby wall.
"As expected from someone of your caliber, you knew I was watching the whole time," Zero nodded in acknowledgement. "It seems there is something urgent happening, otherwise those three would never have summoned the D-Cycles. Oh well, we might as well find out what," Zero said, sounding almost dismissive, before he pulled out 2 card.
"Hm? What are you-?" Sanzang never got a chance to finish, as Zero simply tossed the cards, which glowed before two bikes materialized. The first bike looked like a standard bike, only with streamline armor which had blue lines running along the frame. The second bike had bulkier armor, with a side-car attached to it.
"We'll go after them on this Strider MK-4, and this Carrier MK-2," Zero said, as Beluga and Merveille mounted the first bike (Strider MK-4), while he mounted the second bike. "Get in."
"I'll follow Zero. You keep an eye on Shaolin. We need to be ready for anything," Sanzang said, which Fong nodded in response.
"Make yourself comfortable in that side-car, and hold on tight. Also, just to warn you Beluga, the Strider series emphasizes on speed, so watch yourself," Zero instructed as Sanzang got in, before revving up the engine.
"I'll keep that in mind. However, I'm used to high speeds, since Salamander's speed isn't anything to sneeze at either," Beluga answered.
"Well, either way, I'm certainly interested to see more of your peoples' technology at work, Zero," Merveille chuckled, as she was already taking a closer look at the bikes, fascinated by the technology.
"Well, let's go!" Zero said, as they raced off.
"This certainly is an interesting device. It's faster than any horse I've ever seen," Sanzang commented, as he was forced to grab on to the sides of the side-car.
"It certainly is. I just hope your students don't get thrown off, since the D-cycles at top speed are at least 3 times faster than the Carrier series," Zero nodded.
-JSCR-
Interestingly enough…
The trip had been anything but pleasant for the three Wuzangs, as they were not used to the speeds available to the D-Cycles. So much so, that by the time they had reached the outskirts of the village and stopped, the first thing they did was throw themselves at the ground.
"Land! Sweet land!" the three of them cried (tears included), as they were all but kissing the ground in relief.
"…Are they gonna be okay?" Mamoru asked as he watched the three Wuzangs recover from something unheard of in their world: technology induced motion sickness.
"That's it, we are never getting on one of those things again," Cheng said, which Hua and Tang agreed with wholeheartedly.
"Don't worry, if this world is anything like ours, you've still got centuries before humans even think to invent one of these, so I'm pretty sure you three would be dust by that time," Red commented.
"Well good riddance!" the three of them yelled in relief.
"Hey, I think we should hurry. Waffle and Alicia might need our help," Elh said, catching their attention.
"Before you do that, wait up!" came Opera's voice, as they turned to see Calua, Opera, and Gren who had finally managed to catch up to them.
"Yes, it certainly won't do you any good to leave us when we want to help," Gren nodded in agreement, while Calua also nodded.
"Alright then, since we're all here, let's go!" Red said, as they all headed straight for the village.
-JSCR-
Meanwhile…
The village that the Black Foxes had attacked was not in good shape. While the fires that had started earlier were already out, the village was currently in Heihu's hands, with the villagers all captured, and at the center of the village was a statue that currently had a couple of new accessories in the form of Waffle and Alicia who were currently chained to the statue. How did they end up in this position? It certainly wasn't the Black Foxes, as Waffle and Alicia had easily dealt with a majority of the Black Foxes that had invaded the village. No, it was rather the fact that they had been caught off guard by Heihu who had suddenly appeared in the village, and before they could react, he had used his telekinesis to pick them up, before slamming them against several houses, effectively knocking them out.
"Well…at least we can't say our date was boring," Waffle laughed nervously. Nearby, their weapons, and their communicators were in a pile, though thankfully the Black Foxes didn't bother to take their cards, so at least they didn't need to worry about their cover being blown, nor did they have to worry about their Crystals, since both the braces and the crystals would only appear when they willed them to appear.
"Yeah…All things considered, this could have been worse," Alicia nodded, realizing that her boyfriend was trying to lighten the mood, which made her smile slightly. "So, are we going to bust out or what?"
"Not yet. As far as they're concerned, we're helpless hostages right now, so we might learn something from them," Waffle said.
"Right. They might lower their guard in this situation," Alicia nodded.
Any further conversation was stopped when Heihu suddenly levitated down in front of them.
"So you are the foreigners who dare get in my way," Heihu sneered as he took a closer look. Close enough that Waffle and Alicia could feel his breath. "I must say, I'm not impressed."
"Oh yeah? If we're not impressive, then your followers must be downright disappointing considering they couldn't even beat the two of us," Alicia smirked.
"You dare mock the great Heihu?!" Heihu roared in anger, as his face turned into a more grotesque form.
"Yeah, we dare. So what does an 'oh so great' demon like you want with this village?" Waffle said in defiance.
"I doubt some foreigners would know anything, so I'll explain. First of all, do you even know who you are talking too?" Heihu sneered.
A vein mark appeared on Alicia's head, and surprisingly, on Waffle's head as well. However, Waffle managed to maintain his composure. "You're Heihu, right? The demon that Shaolin sealed 1000 years ago," Waffle answered calmly, knowing that in this position, it would be better to avoid angering Heihu.
"Interesting, so you do know of me. Then you must know what I seek," Heihu said, his tone still condescending.
"Something about a book. Why don't you go raid a library? I'll bet they've got plenty of books your age," Alicia retorted.
"You dare mock me girl?!" Heihu roared, before calming down. "The book I seek, the second book of wisdom was hidden somewhere in these lands. I have found many books, yet none of them were the book I seek. However, I learned something interesting recently," Heihu sneered. "The hermit was craftier than I imagined. He purposely hid the fake books in the places one would expect to find the book of wisdom, places filled with great peril, while he hid the real book in a place where nobody would try to look. Within the mountain near this pitiful, unassuming village."
Just as he finished saying this, one of the Black Foxes brought the village head with him, before throwing him at Heihu's feet.
"Now then, tell me where the book of wisdom is hidden," Heihu ordered.
"I don't know what you are talking about, and even if I did, I would never tell the likes of you," the man said, trying to sound like he didn't know anything, and actually doing a pretty good job of doing so. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to fool Hiehu.
"I see. In that case…" he started, before turning to the barn where the other villagers were kept. "Tell me where the book is hidden, or they'll pay for it with their lives," he said, as his hand ignited with fire, clearly showing the threat.
At this point, Waffle and Alicia had seen enough. Mentally willing their Crystal Braces to appear, they were about to blow their cover when the cavalry arrived.
"Hold it right there!" Red's voice called out, as said disguised Caninu landed a flying kick to Heihu's face, sending him flying back. As Red landed on the ground, Elh and Mamoru quickly jumped down next to him, while the Wuzangs, Opera, Calua, and Gren readied their weapons.
"Sorry we're late, you two. Looks like you had a rough time," Opera said with a slight chuckle, much to Alicia's annoyance.
Sensing the impending argument, Waffle quickly decided to nip it in the bud. "Nah, we could take them. Heihu just caught us by surprise. What took you guys so long?" he joked.
"Well, we're her now, so that's all that matters," Elh said almost dismissively, while Red quickly cut the chains that were binding them.
"Hey dude, you guys planning on talking, or are you gonna help us clear out these Black Foxes?" Calua said, catching their attention.
"Indeed, we mustn't leave them to their own devices, not when they could cause more harm later," Gren nodded in agreement.
"Right!" the five Cyrstalrangers nodded in unison.
The ensuing battle didn't last long, as the Black Foxes were quickly beaten by the combined efforts of both the Wuzangs as well as their other-worldly friends. As a result, it wasn't long before most of the Black Foxes were successfully captured. It was at this point that Heihu managed to recover from Red's surprise attack and rejoin the battle.
"Who dares strike the mighty Heihu?!" Heihu demanded as his hands ignited in blue flames.
"Hey lady, if you want a piece of this tail, you've gotta catch me first!" Red taunted, before blowing a raspberry.
"You dare?! You will die for this, boy!" Heihu roared.
"You'll have to get through us first!" Mamoru said, as he, Elh, Waffle, and Alicia quickly jumped in the way with their weapons at the ready.
"The same goes for us too!" Cheng, Tang, and Hua said in unison, while Calua, Opera, and Gren stood by their side.
"Very well, I shall eliminate all of you as well!" Heihu roared as he was about to fling more fireballs at them. However, he was interrupted when a gunshot rang through the air, and hit his right hand. "Raaargh!" he roared in pain as he grabbed his now bleeding right hand.
"Not on my watch…" came Zero's voice, as they all turned to see him holding a smoking gun, with Beluga (who also had his gun ready), Merveille, and Master Sanzang by his side.
"End of the line, Heihu. Make any sudden moves, and the next shot goes through your head," Beluga stated, making sure Heihu knew what his position was.
Heihu's eyes narrowed, but he knew he was at a disadvantage, so deciding to cut his losses; he vanished in a puff of smoke.
"Coward," Alicia commented, as they regrouped and freed the villagers.
"Oh, thank you very much. How can we ever repay you?" the village chief said.
"Well, you can start by telling us why Heihu was so intent on taking this village," Sanzang answered.
"Not necessary. He blabbed his whole plan to us earlier," Waffle quickly said, before turning to his teammates (minus Alicia). "What? You think we were just sitting around waiting for a rescue?"
"So what did Heihu want this village for, anyway?" Hua asked.
"Apparently, this village knows where that book you're looking for is," Waffle said.
"What? Is this true?" Sanzang asked the village chief.
"Yes, it is true. The hermit entrusted the location of the second book to the chief of this village 1000 years ago, and that secret has been passed down from father to son for generations," the village chief sighed.
"Can you tell us? We need to find the book before Heihu does, and now that he knows the book is here, he will surely return," Tang said.
The village chief seemed torn, but finally conceded. "Very well, I will take you there," he sighed, before he led them to the spot where the book was hidden.
-JSCR-
It wasn't long before the village chief led them to a cavern hidden behind a nearby waterfall.
"It's always behind the waterfall isn't it?" Zero muttered as he face-palmed at the cliché hiding spot. It seemed the Hermit they had been hearing so much about had a sense of humor.
"Here is the book," the village chief said, as he pressed what looked like a regular rock, revealing a hidden compartment with a book inside it.
Taking the book, Sanzang flipped through it for a moment, before his eyes widened. "This is…This is the real book! We've finally found it!"
"That's great news!" Mamoru said happily, knowing just how important it was for their new friends to find the book.
"Yeah, that's one more win for us!" Hua cheered.
"…and now she just jinxed us," Zero face-palmed again, having seen this many times.
"Lighten up will ya. They've been searching for so long, they deserve to celebrate a little," Red chided.
"I'm all for celebrating success. What I don't agree on is counting chickens before they hatch. We're not home free yet, so for all we know something could happen…" Zero started, but was interrupted when a fireball flew at them, forcing them to dodge. "Now…"
Turning towards the source of the fireball, they saw Heihu looming towards them. "I ought to thank you for finding the book for me. Therefore, I shall repay you with a swift end!"
"I knew this would happen…" Zero muttered, before whipping out his gun. "Hey! Over here you old relic!" he taunted, before firing several rounds, which Heihu managed to block.
"Insolent worm! Once I get the book, you shall die a slow and painful death!" Heihu roared.
"Been there, done that! Didn't even get the damn T-shirt!" Zero shouted, as underneath the bandages that covered his face, a glow could be seen, before he pulled out a sword handle from under his cloak, and triggering his sword to unfold from it. "Kurai! Phantasm Blade!" Zero called out, as before the eyes of everyone watching, he seemed to shimmer and split into several copies of himself, all of which encircled Heihu.
"What trick is this?!" Heihu demanded as he started throwing fireballs in random directions.
"One that you'll never figure out!" Zero shot back, before slicing Heihu's back, causing him to get flung forward. "Run! I'll hold him off!"
"But Zero…!" Waffle started in alarm.
"I'll be fine. A mere demon like Hiehu doesn't have what it takes to put me down for good," Zero quickly said, much to their confusion, but they obeyed anyway.
"What do you think he meant by what he just said?" Elh asked as they ran out of the cavern.
"I am uncertain. However, he talks like he's already died before, judging by how casually he talks about death," Merveille observed.
"That's impossible. The dead stay dead, not come back to life," Beluga said.
"As much as I'd like to agree, that's not always true. Look at Bruno. He's been dead for a year, and now the Demon Heart revived him," Red reminded.
Before any further discussions could happen, a gang of Black Foxes suddenly jumped out from behind the trees, surrounding them.
"Don't look now, but we've got company," Tang said, as all of them (minus the village chief who had already fled) pulled out their weapons, ready to fight.
"You shall not get the book!" Sanzang declared, as the fight began.
However, during the fight the book which had ended up in Merveille's hands (the book had been tossed around in the fight), got knocked away.
"The book!" all the combatants shouted.
The book fell, before landing in someone's hand. Specifically a hand covered in purple fur.
"Well well well, what do we have here?" Fool smirked.
"Fool!" the rangers called out.
"How convenient. I was just looking for a perfect vessel, and you give me just what I'm looking for," he smirked again, as the mountain began trembling and a dark aura seeped out.
"What the furballs is going on?!" Red demanded, as they pointed their weapons at them.
"Why, it's just our plan coming into motion," Fool sneered, before lifting up the book. "By my master's evil power, I offer this book to be the vessel of this world! Drag this world down to its eternal end! Awaken! Gem Sentinel: Akashia!" Fool called out, as the dark aura entered the book, and from within the mountain, a gemstone the size of a boulder emerged, glowing with an ominous purple light. Tendrils of evil energy emerged from the gemstone, before attaching to the book, as the two were enveloped in the purple light. When the light dissipated, what emerged was something they had not expected. The being that emerged was humanoid and dressed in what could be best described as a monk's robe. The figure was male, with stark white hair that was cropped in a short fashion. He had piercing yellow eyes, and most distinguishing was the purple gemstone embedded on his forehead.
"What the furballs is that?!" Red demanded in surprise.
"Damn it! It's a Gem Sentinel!" Zero cursed, remembering the part of the legend.
"A what?" was the general question.
"A Gem Sentinel! I never said anything about them, since the legends were always very unclear about them, but the gist is that they're essentially the 'roots' that allow the Demon Heart to take over a world," Zero answered before they were forced to dodge an attack.
"Interesting. So there are those who know what I am. However, knowing is just half the battle! Now, come to me, brother!" Akashia roared, as a ball of light came down to him, before parting and revealing the first Book of Wisdom.
"My book of wisdom!" Heihu roared in rage, before charging at Akashia. A big mistake.
"Hmph! You've had my brother for so long, yet you have truly learned nothing from him," Akashia snorted as he began chanting, before a barrier formed around him, stopping Heihu cold, followed by the sky darkening and a lightning bolt coming down to strike the demon, who fled immediately after the attack.
"What the furballs was that?!" Red demanded, a sentiment that all his teammates shared.
"Impossible! Only one who possesses both books should have been able to command forces like that!" Sanzang said in disbelief.
"Technically he does posses both books, since he IS one of the books!" Zero said, as they all narrowly avoided another attack that the Gem Sentinel had launched.
"Doesn't make a difference! Let's go everyone!" Alicia shouted, earning nods in response as they summoned their Crystal Braces.
"Crystal Access!"
(Insert henshin sequence)
Each of them was encased in a larger version of their respective Infinity Crystal, before the crystals broke apart to reveal each of them in matching uniforms that were colored red (Red), blue (Elh), yellow (Mamoru), white (Waffle), and black (Alicia) respectively (in Mamoru's case, he had actually gone through a growth spurt, resulting in him becoming only slightly shorter than Red). The suits they were wearing looked like basic ranger suits, with an emblem that looked like a seven pointed star, with each point being a different color (clockwise from the top: red, blue, yellow, white, black, silver, and gold) on their chest. Gold lines ran down their shoulders, and around their collars. On their arms and legs, they wore white gloves and boots with silver lines around the wrist and ankles. The finishing touch was their helmets that appeared on their heads. Each helmet was shaped accordingly to their species, with a black visor over their eyes, with the boys getting dog themed helmets, and the girls getting cat themed helmets.
(Henshin sequence end)
"What? It was you! You five were the ones from that time!" Sanzang said in surprise.
"Sorry, but we had to keep it a secret," Crystal White said in apology.
"Apologies can wait. For now, you five have to defeat the Gem Sentinel before it starts to take root," Zero said, as he quickly motioned for the others to follow him, leaving the Rangers to deal with Akashia.
"Well then, you heard him. Let's deal with this guy first!" Crystal Yellow said, earning nods, before the five of them charged at Akashia.
"I see you five still need more proof of my power! Try this!" Akashia roared as he chanted another spell. This time ice shards appeared in the air, before forming blades which were sent flying towards the Rangers.
"Not gonna happen! Mamoru, let's go!" Crystal Black said, as she and Crystal Yellow got their weapons out, before she started lashing out with her whip, breaking as many of the blades as she could, while Crystal Yellow used his shield to block the remaining blades that got through.
"Not bad… Try this!" Akashia sneered as he chanted another spell, this time firing fireballs that caused explosions around them before several of them seemingly engulfed them. However, when the smoke cleared, the five Crystalrangers were still running towards him, as all the fireballs had been blocked by Crystal Blue who had casted a barrier spell using her staff.
"Now!" Crystal Blue shouted as she dispelled the barrier.
"Right!" Crystal Red and Crystal White nodded before they opened fire with their weapons, only for the shots to be blocked by Akashia raising a barrier of his own, before casting another spell which caused stone spikes to jut out of the ground, smashing into them and causing sparks to fly from their suits.
"Almost had me there. Not bad, but not good enough," Akashia laughed.
"Heh! Did you really think this was all we had?" Crystal Red smirked with a knowing grin under his helmet.
"What?!" Akashia demanded, just as Crystal White suddenly got up, having managed to avoid most of the spikes, before Crystal Red threw his sword at him, which he caught and loaded on his bow.
"Take this! Pierce shot!" Crystal White called out, as he launched the Courage Sword at Akashia, who quickly erected another barrier. However, this time instead of bouncing off, the sword embedded itself in the barrier, and before Akashia could react, Crystal Red had already jumped forward and grabbed his sword, before switching it to gun mode and opening fire. The shots caused an explosion and threw him back, but the result was a sizeable crack in the barrier.
"Now!" Crystal Red shouted, as his teammates launched their attacks at the barrier.
Akashia grunted against the strain as the ranged attacks pelted his barrier, making the cracks grow bigger, but he ultimately managed to hold the barrier. Feeling smug, he was about to gloat, just as he saw the five Crystalrangers jump up and bring their weapons to bear down on his barrier.
"Hyaaah!" the five of them roared as their weapons simultaneously smashed against the barrier, this time breaking through the weakened barrier and striking Akashia with their weapons, causing sparks to fly as the Gem Sentinel was thrown back.
"I-Impossible! I should be invincible! Who…Who the hell are you?!" Akashia demanded as he staggered to his feet.
"You really want to know?" Crystal Yellow asked almost innocently.
"Then we'll tell you!" Crystal Red said, before they began their role call.
"Blazing Courage!" Crystal Red called out, before striking a pose with his sword (he lifts his sword up, like a triumphant warrior). "Crystal Red!"
"Ancient Wisdom!" Crystal Blue called out; as she too went into a pose with her staff (she holds her staff in a straight up position, with her right hand grasping the staff, while her left hand placed behind the crystal end of the staff, as though she were preparing to fire a spell). "Crystal Blue!"
"Endless Hope!" Crystal Yellow called out; as he went into a pose with his shield (he holds his shield forward, like a defender ready to charge into his enemies). "Crystal Yellow!"
"Shining Light!" Crystal White called out, before going into a pose with his bow (he holds his bow horizontally in his right fist, with the fist facing downward, with his left hand stretched behind it, as though he was about to fire an arrow). "Crystal White!"
"Protecting Darkness!" Crystal Black called out, before going into a pose with her whip (she holds the handle of her whip in her right hand, while stretching out the whip with her left hand, as though she is about to give her opponents the whipping of their lives). "Crystal Black!"
The five of them then stood together, before pointing at Akashia.
"Shattering the false power of evil! United, we shine!" they called out as they jumped down in front of the Gem Sentinel. "Jigen Sentai Crystalranger!" they called out together, as they spun around so that their backs were facing Akashia, just as a multi-colored explosion went off behind them, which damaged Akashia, throwing him back a few feet, as well as signaling the end of their roll call.
"Your romp in this world is over!" Crystal Blue declared.
"So now it's time for you to hit the road!" Crystal Red added as they immediately began combining their weapons.
"Assemble!" they called out as they put their weapons together. The Light Bow was attached on top of the Courage Sword's barrel, followed by the Wisdom Staff, which was split into two halves, before being attached to the two edges of The Light Bow. Following this, the Hope Shield was attached on top of the Light Bow, locking it into place. The finishing touch was the Dark Whip, which was placed under the Courage Sword's barrel.
"Crystal Blaster!" they declared as they leveled the weapon at Akashia.
"I-I won't be defeated!" Akashia proclaimed as he raised another barrier, which seemed several times stronger than the one they had broken.
"You can raise as many barriers as you like, but we'll still break through!" Crystal Black shouted, as they fired their attack.
"Prism Wave!" they declared as the beam of energy was fired, before it impacted against the barrier.
Akashia grunted as the beam tried to break through his barrier. "Give it up! I command the powers of Heaven and Earth! You can't win!"
"Oh yeah?" Crystal Red said. "Well screw that! We don't care if you hold the power of Heaven and Earth, or even the entire galaxy! We won't let the Demon Heart win!" he roared out.
"That's right!" Crystal Blue nodded in agreement.
"We…" Crystal White started.
"Will never…" Crystal Black continued.
"Give up!" Crystal Yellow finished, as the five of them began subconsciously tapping into more power from their crystals as for a split second, their suits changed as they gained somewhat tribal looking markings, followed by their helmets gaining more human-like appearances, before quickly reverting back to normal as the extra energy flowed into the Crystal Blaster as the beam intensified.
Cracks started appearing on Akashia's barrier, before it broke apart like fragile glass and Akashia was engulfed in the energy.
"No! No no no!" Akashia roared as he was engulfed by the beam before sparks flew from his body thanks to the immense damage he sustained, before his body crystallized and broke apart.
With the Gem Sentinel defeated, the five of them turned their faces skyward, before Crystal Red shouted. "I hope you saw that, Fool, Bruno! We don't care what you send at us! We'll never give up until we send your master back where it belongs!"
-JSCR-
At the same time…
"Graaaaah! Damn those insolent meddlers!" Bruno roared in anger as he smashed his fist against the viewing globe, while Fool seemed just as displeased despite not showing it.
Just as the two of them were about try to figure out what to do next, the Demon Heart's eye appeared over the viewing globe.
"Master!" the two of them said in alarm, slightly worried what might happen to them thanks to this failure.
"So these meddlers who have barely begun to use the powers of the Infinity Crystals think they can defeat me? Interesting… I shall test them!" the Demon Heart said, before sending a blast of energy towards the sight of the battle.
-JSCR-
Back on the battlefield, the sky began to darken.
"What in the world? This isn't like how Fool or Bruno did last time!" Crystal Yellow said in surprise.
"Well, whatever is happening, it can't be good," Crystal Blue said, as they got their answer.
Several bolts of energy shot down and struck the shards that remained from Akashia's defeat, before they suddenly came together and reformed Akashia.
"Okay, that's different," Crystal Black commented as they all got into their stances, prepared to fight the Gem Sentinel again, but were surprised when cracks started to appear on his head, before he was seemingly split down the middle by the cracks.
From those cracks, a familiar eye (the eye of the Demon Heart) appeared, followed by a blinding flash of light. When the light subsided, a gigantic version of Akashia stood where the original had been.
"I live!" Akashia cackled almost madly.
Wasting no time, the five of them immediately pulled out their weapons.
"Jigen Shokan! Crystal Animals!"
The lights from the weapons formed the portals, allowing the Crystal Animals to emerge, and the Crystalrangers wasted no time in boarding, before immediately initiating their fusion.
"Crystal Animals! Crystal Gattai!"
(Insert gattai sequence)
Crystal Dragon's legs folded together, before the upper body did a 180 degree twist, as the wings folded together to form a sort of chest plate, while the neck, head, and lower body remained the same, followed by the neck pulling back into the torso, leaving only the head, which bent down, completing the head and torso. Following this, Crystal Rhino unfolded to form the legs and waist, with the Rhino's head becoming the right foot, while the left foot had a blunt shaped foot. The legs of the Crystal Wolf and Crystal Lioness folded into their bodies, before the heads bent downward into a 90 degree position, as their tails folded upward, revealing hands, completing the arms, with the heads of the two Crystal Animals becoming the shoulders. Crystal Eagle straightened out, before all the Crystal Animals came together, with Crystal Eagle's talons locked between the torso and the waist, as Crystal Eagle attached to the back of the torso, and the wings folded in, while the legs and arms were securely locked in place (Wolf used as right arm, and Lioness used as left arm). To finish off, a golden helmet appeared and fitted itself on to Crystal Dragon's head, as the horns grew longer, giving it the appearance of a (literal) Dragon Knight. Inside, the Crystalrangers now found themselves together in a much larger chamber, with their individual consoles right in front of them.
(Gattai sequence end)
"Crystal Knight! Shine-On!" the five of them called out, as they inserted their weapons into their individual consoles, powering up the Gattai.
"I see you're back for more!" Akashia roared as he chanted the spell that sent exploding fireballs at the Gattai, causing sparks to fly on contact.
"Guh! Is it just me, or does he seem tougher now?" Crystal Red grunted as they maintained the balance of the Gattai.
"It's not just you. I think it really has gotten stronger, and it doesn't help that Crystal Knight isn't exactly built for speed," Crystal Blue grimaced.
"Doesn't matter! We'll just have to plough through!" Crystal Black said with determination.
"Right!" was the unanimous reply, as they started steering Crystal Knight straight at Akashia.
"Haven't you learned your lesson? You should just give it up!" Akashia laughed as he fired more fireballs at the Gattai, yet it still kept moving towards him.
"We already told you! We will never give up!" Crystal Red shouted, as Crystal Knight sent a strong punch right at Akashia's face, making him stagger back.
"Crystal Saber!" the five of them called out, as Crystal Knight began striking at Akashia repeatedly with its sword, causing Akashia to stagger back.
"Not bad. Try this!" Akashia said, before he suddenly took off into the sky, before summoning lightning that struck the Gattai.
"Uwaaaah!" the five of them cried out as their control chamber shook violently from the damage.
"How are we supposed to hit him if he's flying?!" Crystal White almost demanded, as Akashia was now effectively outside of their attack range.
"Don't worry, we'll find a way!" Crystal Yellow encouraged.
"That's right! One way or another, we'll get him even if we have to drag him down!" Crystal Red nodded enthusiastically.
"You fools should just give up! As I am now, I truly am the master of Heaven and Earth!" Akashia goaded.
"How many times do we have to tell you?!" Crystal Black growled in annoyance.
"We will…" Crystal Blue started.
"Never give up!" the five of them finished in unison, just as their Crystals began to glow brightly, before the entire control chamber began to glow.
"What's happening?" Crystal Blue asked in awe, before the five of them noticed their crystals glowing.
"Is this…? I think we're tapping into more of the Infinity Crystals' powers," Crystal White observed, before new information entered their minds.
"Alright! This power boost couldn't have come at a better time!" Crystal Red grinned, before they all re-gripped their weapons. "Let's go wild!"
Outside, Crystal Knight was suddenly enveloped in the energy, before Crystal Eagle's wings unfolded and grew bigger. Kicking off the ground, Crystal Knight took to the sky.
"What?! You can fly!" Akashia gasped, before Crystal Knight struck him with the Crystal Saber.
"Graargh! Not bad!" Akashia grimaced, before sending more bolts of lightning and fire at the Gattai.
"Not this time!" Crystal Blue grinned, as Crystal Knight easily avoided all of the attacks before charging at Akashia.
"Time to end this!" Crystal Red said as the five of them pulled out their weapons from the consoles, before the weapons transformed into copies of the Crystal Saber, while their respective Infinity Crystals glowed brightly.
Outside, five copies of the Infinity Crystals appeared, before growing larger and encircled Akashia, immobilizing him, as five more copies appeared in Crystal Knight's flight path.
"Crystal Saber! Infinity Slash!" the five of them called out as they struck downward with their respective weapons, while Crystal Knight flew through all five of the images, and when it got close to Akashia, it unleashed a devastating side-way strike as it passed him.
Crystal Knight flipped in mid-air, before landing gently on the ground, as the crystals that encircled Akashia seemed to glow brightly as sparks flew from the Gem Sentinel before they lifted him up higher.
"You may have defeated me…but my master will prevail!" Akashia managed to roar out, before he exploded in a blaze of glory up in the sky.
Inside Crystal Knight, the five Crystalranger were cheering for their victory, as Zero confirmed it for them.
"Signals negative. Gem Sentinel eliminated. Mission accomplished," Zero confirmed over the cheers from their allies, as this world was now safe.
-JSCR-
"Interesting. They actually managed to defeat a Gem Sentinel," The Demon Heart mused, before turning towards his generals. "We are leaving. While the loss of this world is disappointing, it is ultimately of little value," it ordered.
"At once, Master!" Fool said as he and Bruno bowed their heads.
-JSCR-
Zero lowered his communicator, just as he noticed something coming down from the sky, before catching it. That something revealed to be the two Books of Wisdom.
"The books!" Hua said, as she, Tang, Cheng, and Master Sanzang ran towards Zero.
They didn't get far, as suddenly a fire appeared around Zero and Heihu appeared from a puff of smoke. "Why thank you. I'll be taking those!"
"Not going to happen…" Zero said quietly as the air around him seemed to change before a wind kicked up and dispelled the flames.
With the flames gone, everyone could see a golden glow coming from Zero's head, specifically from underneath his bandages.
"I will not be denied!" Heihu roared, heedless of the golden light, as he charged at Zero, intent on taking the books by force.
"Begone!" Zero stated, before Heihu flew smack into a wall of golden energy, before he was thrown away into the distance, much to everyone's shock.
"Hey, was Zero always this strong?" Red asked, as he and the others had just gotten to the scene after the battle.
"Dunno. He's never really fought before," Waffle said. Any further conversation was halted when Zero undid his bandages, revealing his face from underneath the bandages. It was at this point that everyone could see what Zero had been hiding from them. His face was horribly scarred, as the upper right side of his face was covered by a horrible burn mark that looked like something had either exploded in front of his face, or someone stuck something that was still fresh from the flames on his face. Despite the gruesome sight, one thing that drew everyone's attention was the strange crown shaped mark that was on top of his right eye, which was glowing with the same golden light they had seen earlier.
"The Master has spoken…" Zero suddenly said, sounding like he was in a trance. "The two books have been found, yet this is not the intended time. The chosen ones are not yet ready."
"What?" Sanzang asked in surprise, as he knew that Zero was referring to Tang, Cheng, and Hua.
"As things are now, these books will only bring ruin to this world," Zero continued.
"Then what must be done? Heihu will surely return, and we have no place to hide the books," Sanzang said.
"I shall hide them… In the one place neither Heihu or anyone will be able to find," Zero said, as the two books were encased within an orb of light, before Zero flung them into the sky and before long, beyond what anyone could see. "The books shall return one day. The day of destiny is approaching this world…" Zero continued, still in his trance-like state. "7 years. That is how long before the books return to this very spot. If the chosen ones are not ready by then, then this world shall have no future. That is how it shall be…" Zero finished as the crown mark stopped glowing, before he slumped to his knee. "Damn it. I hate it when that happens," he panted, as he got back to his feet.
-JSCR-
One day later…
"So you guys are leaving?" Hua asked, as their visitors had just finished packing their things.
"That's correct. Zero told us that he couldn't pick up anymore signals from the Shard Beast or the Demon Heart, so it looks like they've moved on to another world," Elh nodded.
"It's too bad you all couldn't stay. Heihu and his Black Foxes wouldn't stand a chance with you guys at our side," Cheng said.
"It can't be helped. We've got our responsibilities just as you three have yours," said Waffle.
"Well, if you guys ever are in the neighborhood, don't be strangers. Also, you still owe me a rematch, Red," Tang smiled challengingly.
"Heh, I might just take up your offer someday," Red grinned.
"Farewell. May the Gods be with you on your journey," Sanzang said with a grandfatherly smile.
"Thanks. We'll take care, and just you wait, once we're done the Demon Heart will be a thing of the past!" Mamoru said with a big grin as the five of them walked into the small ship that Zero had used to enter the world with Merveille and Beluga.
As the ship began to take off, the five Crystalrangers took one last look at the world they were going to leave, just in time to see the entire Shaolin Temple bowing in respect.
The five of them smiled, before they bowed as well to show their respect for the friends and comrades they had made, just as the hatch closed up.
-JSCR-
(Ending theme: "MiraiIro" by Plastic Trees. OST Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's)
*music*
As the music starts, we see shots of Red, Elh, Waffle, Alicia, and Mamoru (in this order), before the scene changes to show silhouettes of the five of them in Sentai form, with the shadow of Crystal Knight in the background.
Hatenaki Sekai naraba kono Muneniwa Akashi o
We see a scene zooming out, revealing Red holding the Courage Sword, pointing it at the screen. He has his usual cocky expression on his face. Along his arm, a faded picture of Crystal Dragon is seen.
Onaji Namidanuretara BokuraWaraiaou
The scene then changes to another zoom out scene, with this one showing Elh with her back turned, as though walking away. On her skirt, a faded picture of Crystal Eagle is seen.
Toki Hanattetta Genjitsu de kizamu Kodouni Fureezu o
The scene changes to show a zoom out scene of Waffle who is seemingly doing a backward flip with a grin on his face, while pointing his Light Bow at the screen. On his leg, a faded picture of Crystal Wolf is seen.
Kyoumei shiteku Kokoroni Oto o tatete Saku Namae no nai Hana
The scene changes to show a zoom out scene of Alicia, who is seemingly doing a cart wheel, while pointing her Dark Whip at the screen, as though lashing out with it. On her pants, a faded picture of Crystal Lioness is seen.
Osoroi no Ibasho Bokura Mitsukeru
Another zoom out scene is shown, with this one showing Mamoru, who looks like he is about to leap out of the screen. On his uniform, a faded picture of Crystal Rhino is seen.
Yume miruyou ni Mezamete Mirai madette Nobashita Te
The scene changes to show Alicia who is holding her hand up, as though she is falling. Around her, many crystals float around, with each of them having faded close up pictures of Stare (with her usual calm appearance), Flare (with her usual cheerful expression), Panta (looking determined as always), Matoi (with a happy smile on her face), Princess Terria (with a gentle smile on her face), Cyan (with his usual confident smile), and Fool (looking like he is planning something). Most noticeable of all is a silver colored crystal with a faded picture of Beluga (with a stoic look on his face).
Tsukamu hanasu Kurikaeshi Sagashite
The scene slowly shifts up to show Waffle who is holding out his hand, as though trying to catch Alicia before she falls. Around him, many crystals float around, with each of them having faded close up pictures of Opera (in her usual pose with her fan), Gren (dutifully standing with his arms crossed), Calua (with his usual big grin on his face), Merveille (smiling slightly), Chocolat (with her usual cheerful appearance), and Bruno (laughing insanely). Most noticeable of all is a gold colored crystal with a faded picture of Zero with his mask on.
Omoi tsuiteku Iro de Kurayami date nurikaenagara
The five Infinity Crystals are seen circling each other, before a hand reaches out for them, causing them to scatter
Kioku KIZUNA Kibou to Kasanetara
The scene zooms out to reveal two figures standing in a forest bathed with golden light.
Mirai Iro zutto Bokura wa egaiteku
The two figures reveal to be Red and Elh, as both stand side by side, watching the source of the golden light with their hands intertwined. The scene then shifts to reveal the light to be coming from the shining silhouette of an unknown Gattai, as the Infinity Crystals are seen revolving around it.
(Ending theme end)
-JSCR-
A/N: After a long wait, I have finally finished this chapter. Sorry for the wait, as I have been very preoccupied (not to mention the writer's block) with a many things, so I just had a hard time finishing this chapter, but I'd like to think that I'm happy with how I ended it this time. Well, stay tuned for the next chapter whenever that is.
