Rift 9: The Parallel World
Regular text: Connected
Talking: "Connected"
Thoughts: Connected
Rift Closer and Narration: Connected
Finishers: "Connected"
A/N: For clarification, MasterRanger is not the sixth Ranger. She is the sixth RiftRanger to suit up, but she is not the sixth Ranger of the team. She is to the RiftRanger team what DekaMaster was to the DekaRangers or RyuCommander was to the KyuRangers
Master stared up at the machine with a grin forming on his face.
"It is done. It is finally done and ready."
Ruby Knight stood behind him, looking up at the machine with a mixed look of awe and hesitation.
"Start it up." Master ordered. "Let's begin the final phase of Project X."
It had been at least a month since Aqua Knight had been arrested and almost nothing had happened.
"…yup. This confirms it." Mrs. Venus said.
In the infirmary of the base, Mrs. Venus put a wand-like device on the table next to her.
Forrest was on the bed in front of her, his shirt having been taken off to expose his scarred but muscled chest. He was having trouble breathing and was sweating heavily.
Mars was behind Mrs. Venus while Horn stood at the other side of Forrest's bed.
"So what's wrong with him?" Horn asked.
"He has an abnormally high amount of Rift Energy. The only person with a higher amount is Emu." Mrs. Venus explained.
"Isn't that a good thing?" Horn asked.
"No. Not every species can handle Rift Energy. But even those that can have a limit to how much they can have. It recharges up to a certain point, like a battery. But they can't exceed this point, it's extremely dangerous to their health." Mars explained.
"What does this mean for me?" Forrest turned to Mrs. Venus.
"Unless we can drain you of the excess Rift Energy, this could lead to some severe health problems beyond the exhaustion and sweating. Potentially even death if it gets too agitated." She explained.
Before anyone could do anything, an alarm went off.
Mrs. Venus and Mars glanced at each other before going to check what the source of the alarm was. Forrest started to put his shirt back on, denying Horn's help. They followed soon after.
Emu was currently sitting at the table in the break room with Rina, the two talking as they normally did.
"Let me tell you, this Earth cuisine is fantastic." Rina said to Emu while digging her fork into a slice of cake. "What's it called again?"
"Cake." Emu said.
"…Earth has Queke?" Rina suddenly froze while raising the fork to her mouth.
"Yeah, cake. It's a dessert, of sorts. Not very healthy, but a lot of delicious flavors." Emu quickly explained.
"That's not like Queke at all." Rina frowned in confusion.
"I don't think you're understanding that it's a different food." Emu pointed out with a grin on his face and a raised eyebrow.
"Next time, clarify that." Rina said.
"Would you have preferred seafood? Like salmon or shrimp?"
"Oh! Seafood! That's like fish and stuff, right?" Rina got excited all of a sudden as she pointed at Emu. "Yeah, Seaians love that kind of stuff. It's basically a delicacy to us."
Emu gave Rina a questioning look, resulting in a short moment of embarrassment from Rina. "Uh, sorry. I did some research into Earth culture so we could relate more in our conversations."
Emu gave a brief nod. "I get it. Sorry for making you uncomfortable for a bit there. I like that you did that though. What about Mizuri? Is there anything you'd-"
Before Emu could finish, the alarm began blaring loudly, catching their attention. Emu and Rina stood up in confusion and glanced at each other, starting to run out to check out what was happening. However, the door to the room opened with Fea rushing in. She barely managed to stop before she slammed into the table.
"You two. We have a situation. Hard to explain. Come on." She urged them before running back out of the room.
Emu got up to leave but Rina quickly scooped two more bits of cake into her mouth before following after their winged teammate.
Rina and Emu entered the main room of the base to find everyone else already there and staring at the screen.
They followed everyone else's looks only to have looks of confusion form upon their faces.
"What is this? Some kind of radar or sensor?" Rina asked.
"Is this a movie?" Emu curiously asked.
No one responded immediately until Mars explained what was on the screen. "Um…no. This is a live feed of Earth. After a Rift Guardian has been officially inducted into the ranks, their planet is put under surveillance."
"Yeah. They made that not long after my world was destroyed. Even then it's a really shitty and poorly done surveillance." Forrest added.
"Anyways." Mars interrupted. "We are watching Earth from the moon. And as you can see, there is something of interest in the background."
After his, Mrs. Venus pointed at the screen, referring to a large and slowly growing object in the background.
"What the hell is that thing?" Emu said aloud. "Can we zoom in?"
"No, but we can enhance the recording and get a closer look." Horn explained, getting a weird look from Emu. "We were just waiting for everyone else to get here."
When prompted, Mrs. Venus tapped a couple buttons on her Rift Closer, the feed focusing and enlarging the object in the background.
The group all froze and gained differing looks of confusion, worry, panic, and wonder.
On the screen, what vaguely resembled a planet was approaching Earth. It appeared to be entirely made of metal and mechanical. Across the front of it were two deep trenches that were cut in the shape of an X. The trenches were emitting a strange black light.
"No…Planet X." Mrs. Venus said, her voice and expression filled with panic.
Narration: The Rift Guardians, a group that uses the power of the Rifts that connect the worlds. Five beings of different worlds form an elite squad of the Rift Guardians. Together, these five have formed an unbreakable connection and will fight to protect the universe!
Insert Theme: BRAVING! By KANAN
(Chikazuite te o nobashite) The RiftRangers run through a Rift.
(Ashita e to tsuzuku hikari) Each of them are shown one by one, but particular notice is taken with MasterRanger's tail, MinotaurRanger's horns, PegasusRanger's wings, WerewolfRanger's wolf ears, fur, and fangs, KrakenRanger's gills and suction cups, and GarudaRanger's helmet.
(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no yume o mita) The screen zooms back out to show all six as they jump out of the Rift and into a new world.
(Music) The title is shown. Emu can be heard shouting: "Sekai Sentai!" before all five shout: "RiftRanger!"
(Yume to kibou wa doko ni aru nante shiranai yo) Emu walked down the middle of the street as lightning struck behind him in the distance. Next, Rina was seen walking on water as a whirlpool formed near her.
(Hashiri mawatte sagashitemo mistukaranai) Forrest grasped the coin in his hand tightly. Then, Fea was seen on top of a skyscraper while stretching her arms outwards, her wings stretching out as well.
(Shinjitsu to uso no hazama ni ochita iru no ka na) Horn was seen climbing a cliff at a fast rate. Lastly, Mrs. Venus was seen biting down on her thumb nail in the base as Mars stood patiently next to her, his arms behind his back.
(Bokura no monogatari nara hajimattemo inai) The three Rift Rulers were seen inside of their base alongside Maid and Hand. The group got into different positions as Rifts opened up all over the place.
(Ashita e tsuzuku kuzureochi sou na machi mo) The six RiftRangers pulled out their Rift Closers and got them ready. They performed their Henshin pose.
(Yowaki naru mae ni tobadashite ikou) In unison they threw their arms into the air with the Rifts opening above their head. Their suits formed and they got into their respective poses.
(Chikazuite too no ite iku) GarudaRanger swung his Shock Lance around to strike at the Peasants around him, lightning surging from the weapon.
(Shinjitsu o tsukamu tame ni) KrakenRanger blasted at a Peasant with her Wave Gun then blasted at three more.
(Mienai mirai kara kibou o sagashidasu) WerewolfRanger struck at multiple Peasants with the Zero Sabers.
(Dare yori mo katai kokoro) PegasusRanger ducked back from a slash then fired an arrow from her Wing Bow into the head of a Peasant.
(Mi ni tsukete kakeagaru yo) MinotaurRanger slammed his fist into the chest of a Peasant to knock it over then slashed at another one with his Rock Drill.
(Yowasa to tatakatte kachiagaru tsuyosa o) MasterRanger stabbed at a Peasant with her Master Staff before converting it to burst mode and firing at several more.
(Mitsukeru tame ni) The five Rift Legends were seen before the next shot was their combined form of Rift Master.
(Kakagae no nai nakama to) The Rift Legends flew away from a Rift then combined into Rift Master once again. The RiftRangers jumped out of Rift Master and joined MasterRanger on the ground.
(Ashimoto ni hirogaru kono sekai no asu o mita) They landed on the ground then performed their signature group pose as the song ended.
Mrs. Venus paced back and forth while biting down on her thumbnail.
The others were staring at her and watching her do this from various positions throughout the room. Emu, Rina, and Horn were at the table while Fea was sitting on the couch. Mars was standing next to the couch. Forrest was leaning against the wall.
"…she's been like this for about ten minutes now." Emu pointed out.
"What?! There's no way it's been that long!" Horn cried out.
"Ten Earth minutes, Horn." Rina quickly explained.
"Oh. Yeah. I think that's a fair guess."
Mrs. Venus paused after a bit then turned to stare at Emu. After a second, she moved her hand away from her mouth.
"Emu, in your interview, you mentioned you have family on Earth, correct?"
Emu blinked in confusion at this.
"Uh…yeah. I think I did. Why?"
"Emu. Go home. Talk to your family. That is an order." Mrs. Venus ordered. "Rina. Horn. Go with him. See if Earth has reacted to Planet X appearing. Or done…anything."
"Mrs. Venus, are you okay?" Fea asked, but was ignored.
"Fea. Forrest. You two are with me and Mars. We need to look into Planet X. Immediately."
"What is Planet X?" Horn asked.
"It's…don't worry about it right now. Just do it."
"But…my family? How do they tie into-"
"Just fucking do it!" Mrs. Venus yelled.
The collected group was surprised by this.
Emu didn't respond verbally, instead giving a nod and standing up from his chair. He then left the room. Rina and Horn quickly followed after him.
Emu, Rina, and Horn fell out of a Rift on the side of a street. The streets were empty, though it was obvious to Rina it was due to the fights between the Rift Guardians and the Knights across the world. It would make sense that no one felt safe enough to go outside if this kind of stuff happened.
Emu looked around briefly. After taking a second to orient himself, he looked to the right.
"I haven't been here in a while. I remember this place specifically, but I don't know if things have changed too much. Come on, it's a bit of a walk from here." He explained briefly then led the two down the street for a good distance.
It had taken a while and a lot of stairs, but the three had eventually reached a large complex of sorts. Rina was distracted due to being impressed, thus she missed that Emu had stopped until she ran into him. They were right in front of an arch of sorts, though it was more rectangular then circular.
"Oh. Sorry." He apologized. "Just…do you guys really want to come in with me? It could get a bit…dramatic, I guess."
"Ooh, I love drama" Horn gave a dumb grin.
Rina immediately smacked him on his arm and shut him up with a glare. She then turned back to Emu and comfortingly put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm here for you. You don't have to do anything you don't want to and we can leave right away if you want us to."
Emu contemplated what she said for a second but didn't say anything. He didn't take a step when he heard and saw a familiar line open in the middle of the air in front of him.
"A Rift? Here?" Horn gasped.
The Rift wasn't open for too long when a distinctly Knight-shaped figure fell and landed in a crouch in front of the three. Very slowly, it rose to its feet while looking up.
"I am Ruby Knight. I am here to complete Master's mission of destroying you three." Ruby Knight called out to them in a distinctly female voice.
Emu and Rina had no idea how to respond, simply looking at each other in shock.
Horn on the other hand had no qualms speaking up.
"Wait, so the red of your guys' team is a woman? That is awesome!"
Back at the base, Mrs. Venus anxiously bit her thumbnail as she watched Pegasus Legend fly towards Planet X through Werewolf Legend's eyes.
"Drink." Mars calmly handed her a cup, to which she practically snatched the object out of his hand and started chugging it down.
"…what do you think Planet X's return means?" Mars asked.
Mrs. Venus pulled the cup away from her lips soon enough.
"I don't know" was the muffled answer that was given as she wiped her lips. "But…nothing good considering what it did before it was destroyed it last time."
"Who knows?" Mars said. "Maybe it'll be different this time around."
Mrs. Venus didn't respond.
Forrest's voice suddenly came out of Mrs. Venus's Rift Closer. "We're approaching Planet X now, but there's been no reaction from it so far."
Mrs. Venus was quick to respond. "Keep going. If it reacts, get out of there immediately. Otherwise, keep approaching slowly and stealthily and land if you get close enough."
The two Rift Legends continued with their approach.
Mrs. Venus and her assistant watched in silence for a good bit of time until Mars turned to glance at Mrs. Venus. He seemed to be thinking deeply as he looked back.
"Are you sure that this is a good idea?"
"Not in the slightest. But I need to see…"
"See what?" Mars raised an eyebrow at this.
He didn't get an answer back.
Werewolf Legend 'ran' towards Planet X with Pegasus Legend in front of it, leading the way.
The two were quickly approaching Planet X, though there was nothing that seemed to be happening.
WerewolfRanger, from inside Werewolf Legend, stared ahead at the target as he ran at it.
He briefly paused to pound at his chest while coughing in pain. Thought that lasted a good bit of time before he continued after Pegasus Legend.
Eventually, the two were close enough to Planet X.
This was where things got serious. If Planet X hadn't reacted yet it would certainly do so after the two Rift Legends landed on it.
Pegasus Legend and Werewolf Legend reached the surface of the planet and hovered over it briefly before they landed.
They didn't land though. Instead, they fell right through the surface as if was not there at all.
"Gah!" WerewolfRanger cried out in surprise, briefly losing his balance while noticing Pegasus Legend spiral out of control for a bit longer than he had.
"Wait, what?!" PegasusRanger's voice came from over WerewolfRanger's Rift Closer.
They were inside of Planet X. But they saw nothing from inside except for a reflected view of the outside from the inside.
Pegasus Legend flew back through the surface then came right back, repeating this process repeatedly.
WerewolfRanger immediately went to call Mrs. Venus to report.
Emu stared at Ruby Knight, who simply stared back at him.
"…are you three simply going to stare at me all day or are we going to fight?" Ruby Knight demanded.
"…normally one of the others would've attacked by now. We can't really do anything unless you do something illegal." Horn pointed out.
Ruby Knight didn't have a response to that. She paused for a second then turned and gestured wildly at the air behind her.
"I opened an illegal Rift, does that count?"
"Not really. We can arrest you at maximum or give you a warning at minimum. Unless you physically attack us or do anything to warrant self defense we can't fight you." Rina informed the Knight.
"Can we at least take her in for questioning? She's one of the Knights." Emu pointed out to his teammates.
"Yeah, but we can't fight her." Horn shrugged.
"Hmm…he does raise a good point though." Rina nodded. "Ruby Knight. We're taking you into custody for questioning related to attacks from Gold, Silver, Dark, and Aqua Knights."
"You remember all of their names?" Horn blinked in surprise before Rina smacked him on the arm.
Ruby Knight sighed. "Do whatever you must."
The three RiftRangers were taken by surprise.
"Okay. That was a lot easier than I was expecting." Emu fished his Rift Closer out of his pocket and started walking towards Ruby Knight.
"I do not attack without provocation." Ruby Knight simply explained.
Just as Emu got relatively closer to Ruby Knight than his own teammates, the ground behind said teammates exploded.
Rina and Horn both cried out in pain as they fell flat on their faces.
Emu spun around only to find an unfamiliar alien being standing a few feet behind his friends with a gun pointed at the ground behind where they were standing.
"Master!" Ruby Knight called out to the being in surprise.
"Honestly, your honor is going to end up hindering you and causing more harm than good, Ruby Knight." Master lightly laughed.
"Master…I guess you're supposed to be someone important, right?" Emu asked.
"That would be a correct assumption. I assume that because I don't know who you are that you are unimportant, correct?" Master asked.
"…probably." Emu nodded.
"I suppose that doesn't really matter. Even the littlest death can cause a large revolution. And the smaller the death the easier it is to cover it up."
"If you honestly knew who I was on this planet your opinion might change." Emu called out.
"Really? And who might you be?" Master tilted his head.
"Well, my name is Shinji Mirai. But I go by Emu. Pleasure to meet you…sir." Emu awkwardly bowed.
"And who are you to this planet, 'Shinji Mirai'"
"To be honest, not anyone important anymore. I was famous, and probably still am, just not as much as I used to be."
"I see. And how might my opinion change based off that?"
"Oh. It won't. But you see, the friends of mine that you just attacked, Rina Ailan and Horn Beauts? Yeah, they're still conscious and I was stalling for time." Emu nonchalantly admitted.
"What?" Master said.
Emu looked down to see Rina and Horn had turned over and had pulled out their Rift Strikers to aim it at Master. Master didn't even look down when they pulled the triggers.
He stumbled backwards in response and surprise as the two got off the ground.
Emu nearly moved towards them but found himself jerking backwards when a jagged blade suddenly appeared where his neck was about to be.
"That was a dirty move." Ruby Knight growled from behind him.
"And you threatening me isn't?" Emu commented.
"You lost the right to judge me for whatever tricky move I make after what you just pulled." Ruby Knight pulled her blade away then shoved Emu to the side. "Draw your weapon." She ordered.
"Emu!" Rina called out and tried to run in to help.
"Don't worry about me, just take care of Master." Emu ordered.
"Just these two? You put too much faith in your friends." Master fixed his collar.
Rina and Horn pulled out their Rift Closers.
Emu readied his own.
"Open the Rift! Connect the Worlds!"
Rift Opened!
Garuda!
Kraken!
Minotaur!
World Connected!
"The Thunder World. GarudaRanger."
Shock Lance!
"The Water World! KrakenRanger!"
Wave Gun!
"The Rock World! MinotaurRanger!"
Rock Drill!
"Sekai Sentai!" KrakenRanger and MinotaurRanger called out in unison while GarudaRanger just kept quiet.
"RiftRanger!" the blue and yellow RiftRangers called as they posed together. GarudaRanger simply readied his lance.
KrakenRanger and MinotaurRanger attacked Master, leaving GarudaRanger and Ruby Knight to stare at each other.
"Now. Let's change the world. That's what you were gonna say, correct?" Ruby Knight tilted her head.
GarudaRanger paused, not expecting that.
"I know who you are, Shinji Mirai. I have studied you in case we fought. I am bound by my honor to ensure that I know who my opponent is and that they are not only worth fighting but that they deserve my honor to begin with." Ruby Knight calmly explained.
GarudaRanger paused as he thought of something.
"Alright, let's make a deal. Since you talk of honor, I challenge you to a duel. If I win, you have to tell me everything I want to know related to the Knights. If I lose, you do whatever you want to me." GarudaRanger said to Ruby Knight.
Ruby Knight seemed to be thinking hard on this for a few seconds. After a short while, she raised her head up higher and then leveled her weapon at GarudaRanger.
"What are the terms of victory and defeat?" she wanted to know.
GarudaRanger seemed to almost deflate in relief, as if he had been hoping for her to accept. "Yielding or death…though yielding seems more likely to have either of us get what we want."
"And what if I want death?" Ruby Knight asked.
"…you got me there." GarudaRanger nervously laughed.
"Very well. I do wish to inform you though, I don't kill those undeserving of it. You seem to be one of those fellows. So no worries. I'll make you yield soon enough."
Ruby Knight got into a ready stance.
GarudaRanger responded by getting in his own ready stance and drawing his Rift Striker in knife form.
Ruby Knight and GarudaRanger charged at one another.
MinotaurRanger charged at Master, who drew his sword calmly.
The Rock Drill found itself being driven towards Master's chest, though it was deflected by Master's sword. Master's gun was then aimed at MinotaurRanger's head and then fired, striking the taller and physically stronger RiftRanger across the forehead.
As MinotaurRanger stumbled backwards, KrakenRanger slid across the ground nearby, firing upwards to strike Master. One attack did hit and caught hum by surprise, but his guard was put up immediately. This allowed him to strike at the bullet and knock it aside, though he didn't miss KrakenRanger's swinging her legs around to sweep his legs out from under him.
KrakenRanger got to her knees and aimed her Wave Gun downwards at Master, who in turn aimed his gun right down the barrel of the Wave Gun. The two blasts made contact and a slight raising of the Master's gun upwards along with a quick tug of the trigger allowed Master to shoot KrakenRanger right in her face.
"GAH!" KrakenRanger fell backwards.
Master quickly got to his feet and dragged his gun along his sword.
MinotaurRanger rushed at Master to tackle him.
Master quickly stepped out of the way and jabbed his sword forward towards MinotaurRanger's stomach. He narrowly ducked his head out of the way of a blast from KrakenRanger, who herself had aimed so that the blast missed MinotaurRanger just narrowly.
MinotaurRanger ended up coming to a grinding halt as the blade met his side and caused a surprising amount of damage. Master then kicked MinotaurRanger and sent him towards KrakenRanger.
KrakenRanger quickly got up and jumped out of the way but failed to dodge the bullet Master had sent to her stomach. In the pause that had caused, Master was suddenly in front of her and slashing across her chest harshly.
Master spun around and slammed his foot into MinotaurRanger's gut to send him falling to the ground.
After this, the warrior got to his feet and held down the trigger of his gun while dragging his blade across the front, the energy that was supposed to be shooting out instead coating the blade.
He held up his arm as Kraken and MinotaurRanger got to their feet.
Master then slashed, a wave of energy shooting out to strike the two.
They exploded very soon afterwards.
Ruby Knight stabbed forward with her blade only for GarudaRanger to hold out his dagger so Ruby Knight's blade was deflected to run along that instead of running through him. The Shock Lance was then driven towards her stomach.
Ruby Knight was quick to pivot on her foot, spinning her body around to avoid getting hit.
Using this momentum, the female of the two lashed her left leg out with a kick to her opponents head, though she missed when he ducked. She didn't miss when her sword swung downwards to hit him across his shoulder.
However, he used this attack to his own advantage, recovering from his fall backwards by transitioning into a flip backwards where he harshly slammed his foot into her chin.
Ruby Knight's head snapped upwards as a result, sending her stumbling backwards. GarudaRanger landed on his feet and widely swung his lance around. Ruby Knight got her bearings back in time to dive forward so she rolled under the swing. She came back up to drive her knee into his stomach.
As GarudaRanger practically crumpled around the attack, Ruby Knight slammed the hilt of her sword into his helmet then swung her sword around in the opposite direction to strike him across the chest and stomach.
GarudaRanger fell backwards but used his wings to get some distance between himself and his opponent.
After a second, he thrust his lance forward and pulled the trigger, lightning shooting out of it and towards Ruby Knight. Ruby Knight attempted to dodge, but she did get hit, resulting in an electrocution that caused her to drop her weapon.
However, for a brief second, there was a flash of silver from where Emu's eyes were underneath the GarudaRanger helmet. No one noticed.
GarudaRanger quickly flapped his wings and sent himself flying towards Ruby Knight while readying his Shock Lance.
Ruby Knight saw this and forced herself to fall backwards onto her back.
GarudaRanger stabbed downwards with his weapon, though it was halted before it could reach his opponents head as she brought her legs up around the lance and clamped her hands around the blade. GarudaRanger seemed to freeze as if realizing where he was or what just happened.
He was distracted enough for Ruby Knight to push the lance to the side so it missed her and then kick GarudaRanger in the stomach to get him off of her. Her hand picked up her sword as she stood up, the blade of the weapon quickly finding itself buried in GarudaRanger's neck and then dragged downwards harshly.
GarudaRanger grunted in pain as he fell backwards. However, he brought his hand up to reveal he was still clutching his Rift Striker, though it was converted to gun mode. The energy bullets that fired from it before GarudaRanger hit the ground struck Ruby Knight all across her front and sent her falling to the ground while being electrocuted by each shot.
Upon hitting the ground, GarudaRanger pulled out his Rift Closer and pressed the button, intent on calling for backup.
"Mrs. Venus-" he started, only to notice Ruby Knight was getting up, albeit having a bit of trouble. "…help." He simply said before hanging up to prepare for more fighting.
GarudaRanger used his wings to get away as Ruby Knight dove at him. He didn't manage to get out of the way in time as she reached him, landing on top of him and wrapping her arms around him so he couldn't get away.
Unused to the extra weight involved in something he already wasn't too good at, GarudaRanger struggled to adjust and the two quickly fell to the ground with Ruby Knight on top. She straddled his stomach and ripped his Rift Striker from his hand, changing it to knife form and holding it over his neck.
"Yield." Was all she ordered.
GarudaRanger froze, unsure of what he could do. He didn't know if it was possible for the Rift Striker to cut through his suit and also his throat, and while he wasn't afraid of risking it, Rina and everyone else wouldn't be too happy if he didn't at least try to survive. And he couldn't really die on family property.
So he did what he could. Stall.
"…Wow. You're really impressive." He said.
"That's not yielding." Ruby Knight replied.
"Well, I'm just saying."
"Yield." Ruby Knight repeated.
"I can't make small talk? I move, you slit my suit's throat, and potentially my own throat. Like you said, you don't attack without provocation and I'm not gonna provoke you. So we're at a stalemate because I really don't feel like yielding."
"And if I just knock you unconscious?" Ruby Knight asked.
"Technically, that's not yielding. You need verbal confirmation to know I yielded. Which isn't happening."
"You think you can stall for time until I grow bored, do you?" Ruby Knight tilted her head downwards in a manner that seemed to be indicating disbelief.
"Not much else I can really do." GarudaRanger shrugged, only for the blade to dig deeper into his throat.
The two remained in this stalemate for a few seconds of silence.
"…you know, it's kind of hard to breathe when you sit on my stomach like that." GarudaRanger pointed out.
"Would you prefer I move back and sit on your…reproductive organs?" Ruby Knight incredulously asked.
"No-NO!" GarudaRanger quickly realized what she was insinuating. "I'm just saying that it's not exactly honorable to suffocate your opponent."
"You won't suffocate."
"How do you know?"
"Do you ever stop talking, aside from when you're in combat?"
"Not this much. I only do this much when I'm trying to flirt or stalling for time. Have fun finding out which one this instance is."
Ruby Knight didn't respond to that, instead moving on.
"Perhaps I should go ahead and slit your throat right now."
GarudaRanger didn't get a chance to respond when a third voice cut in.
"Please do. I can't stand him either." What sounded like WerewolfRanger said from behind Ruby Knight a second before a familiar white figure wrapped their arms around Ruby Knight. Ruby Knight was gone a second later, carried into the air by what appeared to be PegasusRanger.
GarudaRanger was dragged to his feet by WerewolfRanger.
"It astounds me just how absurd a situation you found yourself in." the older Rift Guardian commented.
"I've been in weirder." GarudaRanger simply shrugged. "How long were you watching for?"
"Mrs. Venus told us to come help and we came here immediately. We've been here since you called her impressive."
"That long, huh? You could've helped."
Ruby Knight crashed to the ground nearby. PegasusRanger gently landed next to her friends.
"Not as funny." She commented as she pulled her Rift Closer off her belt. However, she was struck in the chest not too long after.
Master walked in from the side with his gun held up, having shot her. "Newcomers. Eh, I'm growing a bit bored of this." He went over to Ruby Knight and lifted her up by the back of her collar.
GarudaRanger paused and turned towards KrakenRanger and MinotaurRanger, finding them on the ground.
"Rina! Horn!" he ran towards them.
WerewolfRanger pulled out his Rift Striker and ran at Master.
"Oh. Okay." Master set Ruby Knight down then readied himself for a fight.
WerewolfRanger jumped up to pounce on Master, stabbing downwards with his dagger.
Master ducked back to dodge while lashing out with a punch to strike WerewolfRanger in his stomach.
WerewolfRanger fell to the ground when Master stepped aside. Master kicked WerewolfRanger in the stomach to send him rolling across the ground.
Master stepped aside as an arrow flew past him courtesy of PegasusRanger. He aimed his gun at her then shot her in the chest, stomach, then head.
WerewolfRanger got to his feet then ran at Master again.
Master proceeded to move out of the way of every one of WerewolfRanger's attacks, occasionally blocking some attacks but not once attacking him back.
Eventually, Master used his hand to block a punch. Master slammed his palm into WerewolfRanger's chest.
"Goodbye." A wave of energy shot out of Master's hand and into the RiftRanger's body.
Master retrieved his hand, WerewolfRanger gripping where Master had pumped energy into him. The suit faded away a second later to reveal Forrest, who grunted in pain as he fell down to his knees.
"Forrest!" PegasusRanger yelled out before trying to run towards him.
Master picked Ruby Knight back up and opened a Rift, falling into it to leave the group behind.
PegasusRanger moved to her friends side as her suit dissolved.
"Forrest, what's wrong?!" She yelled.
Emu helped Rina walk towards their injured friend, Horn groaning as he walked beside them.
"What happened?" Emu demanded as he and Rina dropped to their knees next to Forrest.
"I don't know! He did something that hurt Forrest!" Fea explained.
Rina held her Rift Closer over Forrest's body to scan him.
"There's…there's excess Rift Energy in his body? What?"
"Mrs. Venus said something about excess energy in his body" Horn explained.
Rina thought about it for a moment. "It looks like the excess Rift Energy has been tampered with. That explains it. He must have done something to the excess energy in Forrest's body."
"What can we do to help him?" Emu asked. "Can I drain him or something?"
Fea shook her head. "No, I don't think that's how it works!"
"We have to do something!" Horn shouted.
"His heart rate is slowing!" Rina revealed.
Forrest's breathing appeared to slow to a stop.
Emu quickly placed his hands over Forrest's chest and started pushing downwards repeatedly. After a while of this, he tilted Forrest's head back, pinched his nose, then covered Forrest's mouth with his own while blowing.
"Emu, what are you doing?!" Rina pushed him off.
"CPR! I don't know if it'll work but I have to try!" he pushed her away then went back to chest compressions and breathing into Forrest's mouth.
"Forrest! Forrest! Hey! Stay with me! Forrest!" Emu yelled.
Insert Theme: Unbreakable Heart By Hideaki Takatori
(Ima hajimaru no sa) Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars sat underneath a tree while looking at the sunrise, Emu sitting down with his knees close to his chest and his arms wrapped around them, Rina on her knees, Forrest leaning up against the tree, Fea sitting with her legs crossed, Horn crouching down, Mrs. Venus laying on her back on the ground, and Mars kneeling down on one knee.
(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori) The five RiftRangers could be seen in the tree branches, GarudaRanger calmly perched on a branch, KrakenRanger looking to be a bit too cautious, WerewolfRanger standing on a branch, PegasusRanger hanging upside down from a branch by the back of her knees, and MinotaurRanger hanging from another branch.
(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!) Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars all stood up as the sun shone on them then started to take off while their RiftRanger counterparts dissolved.
(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH-OH!) The seven ran together through the field.
(Tatakau junbi wa dekiteiru) Emu grinned as he ran through the city, the streetlights flickering as he approached and random items sparking.
(Furueru mune mimi wo sumashite) Rina ran down the beach, the water reacting and becoming restless as she moved near it.
(Zutto sono toki o matteiru) Forrest jogged through the forest, the leaves and trees either dying or seeming to grow more as he got near.
(Makeru koto mo atta kedo) Fea flew through the air with her wings, laughing as other flying creatures appeared around her.
(Sono tabi ni mata tachiagerate) Horn ran through the desert at a fast pace, kicking up a dust cloud.
(Mata tsuyokunareta) Mrs. Venus and Mars ran on treadmills in a gym, Mars looking tired but going at a constant pace while Mrs. Venus looked relaxed and running at a much higher speed.
(Shinjireba ii sa) It cut to a shot of all seven of them running in a multi-split screen.
(Ima made yori mo "ima" o) Emu glowed red with lightning around him.
(Genkai nantemon) Rina and Fea glowed pale blue and white with water and feathers around them.
(Yu ni koero) Forrest and Horn glowed violet and yellow with leaves and rocks around them.
(Ima hajimaru no sa) The five RiftRangers ran through the Rift together.
(Zutto mune ni egaki tsudzuketeta sutori) In a flash, the five were replaced by the seven regular formed members of the team running down a shore together.
(Kono omoi TA-GI-RE!) They ran together with their RiftRanger forms appearing next to them.
(Kono te ni aru) They ran down the shore, Garuda Legend and Pegasus Legend flying above them and Kraken Legend swimming with them while Minotaur Legend and Werewolf Legend chased after them, Minotaur Legend on two feet while Werewolf Legend was on all fours.
(Kirifuda o tsuyoku nigirishimete) GarudaRanger flicked his wrist, KrakenRanger snapped her fingers, WerewolfRanger cracked his neck, PegasusRanger gave a thumbs up, and MinotaurRanger slammed his right fist into his left palm.
(Orenai hato de yume ni mukanda!) Emu, Rina, Forrest, Fea, Horn, Mrs. Venus, and Mars continued running as the RiftRangers and Rift Legends stopped behind them.
(WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH! WHOA-OH-OH!) The seven jumped into the air, Emu throwing his right arm into the air, Rina laughing, Forrest crossing his arms with a slight smirk, Fea giving a peace sign, Horn kicking outwards, Mrs. Venus biting down on her thumbnail with a light grin, and Mars staring blankly at the camera.
