Super Sentai vs Super Sentai – Another
Author's note: Hey guys, I'm in for a quick update to make up for that writer block! At any rate, this chapter will contain lots of cameos, callback and probably a quick confirm on who will appear. So stay tuned!
CHAPTER 14: Hero Reborn
As days passed, Mele had been accepted to live in Bonds. For the moment, she spent most of her time training with Takeru, as both were martial artists. Takeru adapted well with Mele's fighting style and continued to improve his own karate as well. And at this point, they were training with their suits on.
"HYAA!"
"HAAA!"
As both launched their punches, both of them hit each other on their opponent's upper chests, causing them to fall.
"Ouch, that hurt…" Red Mask said, clutching his chest, "But it was a good match, so I guess it's worth it."
"Yeah. You're actually pretty good, Takeru." Mele said, also clutching her chest, "Though of course Rio-sama is stronger." Beneath the Red Mask suit, Takeru just put up a sly smile hearing that. He decided to just let Mele gush about Rio any time she liked.
"Look at the time, guys." Suddenly, Hoji entered the room along with Jiraiya, "Training is OK, but… learn to share the facility?"
"What, you guys are training too?" Mele said as she unmorphed to her human form, "You know, I can still go on. A boxer and a ninja, those would be interesting sparring partner."
"I'm a detective, not a boxer." Hoji corrected, but at that point, Takeru, already unmorphed, just held Mele on the hand and turned to the two.
"Ah yeah, we're done here. Let's have a bit of a break, Mele!" Takeru said cheerily as he eventually dragged Mele out with him, but not after he gave some final words to Hoji and Jiraiya, "Have fun sparring!"
Hoji sighed looking at the two. But when he looked at Jiraiya's former place, he was no longer in his place and instead was already in his ninja gi. "Any time you're ready, Hoji." Jiraiya beckoned, as he put his hands wrapped in front of him.
"Well, fine. Wait for me setting up." As Hoji said that, he approached Jiraiya as he started unbuttoning his uniform and get himself equipped with his boxing gear.
Meanwhile, in Bonds' kitchen, Mele once again tried eating on human foods, this time cooked by Mei. "Well, this is actually pretty good…" Mele said as she chewed down her food, "I think I'm going to enjoy human foods at this rate."
"Really? I was worried that my food wouldn't turn out good, but thanks for the compliment!" Mei happily said, although Mele got her face a little puzzled.
"Takeru… is her voice always this high-pitched?" Mele asked bluntly, "I feel like talking to a chipmunk…"
"Uh…" Takeru said, sweatdropping as he already saw Mei getting a bit annoyed. Somehow he had to defuse the situation a little, "You'll get used to it eventually. Once you do, you'll actually find it really cute." He then pulled a hand gesture to Mei, as if telling her to calm down. The Risha Tribe Princess eventually understood and nodded in agreement, still putting up a smile without flaunting anything.
"I'm home!" Chisato's voice was heard as she entered, "Today's lectures were pretty short, so I can go back early. And lucky me, I got these!" As she said that, she pulled a ticket. It seemed to be a ticket to enter an amusement park.
"Amusement park ticket, huh?" Takeru noted, looking at the ticket.
"Yep, it says this ticket can make two extra people enter the amusement park for free! Pay one for three! Great, huh?" Chisato said happily, "Mei, wanna come?"
"Amusement park? Oh, I'd love to!" Mei said as she clapped her hand together once, "I used to take some children there playing with them. It's been awhile. I wonder how they have evolved!"
"Great, you'll just see later!" Chisato answered, and eventually she looked at Mele, "Say… Mele, wanna come with us?"
"Huh?" Mele was confused, "Amusement park? What to do there?"
"It's for having fun, riding rides and such. You should give it a shot, Mele. It'll be your first time, right?" Takeru said, "Better use this chance about living like a normal human in modern days! Taking a break is also important in training." Mele then hung her head, thinking. Before she became a Rinshi, she lived in the ancient times when technology wasn't that modern, training in the arts of Jyuu Ken until branching out into Rin-Jyuu Ken. She never had her fun, and somehow, she started to have a longing to enjoy such thing like a normal girl.
"I guess I'll have to find out what kind of fun it is." Mele answered slowly, "Fine. I'll come with you."
"Wow! Awesome!" Chisato said with excitement in her voice. Then she held Mele's shoulder and pushed her somewhere. "Now come here. We got things to prepare!"
"Prepare? What for?" Mele didn't understand what Chisato meant, letting herself be dragged.
"Mei, you come with me too! It's that!" Chisato said, winking to Mei and when she understood what she meant, she nodded and followed Chisato inside.
"Girls sure know how to have their fun, huh." Takeru sighed, looking at the girls that just closed the door, "Guess it's a girl's day out for their breaks."
After awhile waiting, Mei and Chisato re-entered the kitchen, and they brought along Mele, who was now dressed more casually, wearing jeans and casual green clothes. However, her hairpin remained. "Takeru, how does Mele look this way? I bought the clothes myself!" Chisato asked.
"Wow, you actually look pretty good, even with the hairpin!" Takeru complimented, smiling.
"This is totally unnecessary…" Mele sighed, "And you're not even changing your clothes…"
"Oh, don't worry about us, especially me." Mei said as she spun around. Using her disguise power, she once again changed her clothing into another casual clothes, with skirt rather than jeans. "There we go! Now we all look casual!"
"Right, guess I can call that fair…" Mele replied, still feeling rather awkward.
"Okay, what are waiting for, then? Let's have some fun!" As Chisato said, she led the girls to exit the Bonds and immediately headed to the amusement park.
"Ah! It's Mei and Chisato!" As they just entered the amusement park, several kids approached the ladies.
"Hello, everyone! You've been good kids, right?" Mei greeted them, "So, what would you like to ride?"
"That ride! That ride!" The kids said as they pointed to a merry-go-round. As Mele looked at it, she didn't look too amused.
'I have to ride such childish thing? !'
"Hey, look happy! This is where the fun starts!" Chisato reminded Mele, but eventually this caused a girl to realize Mele was there.
"Sis! Are you a friend of Chisato?" The girl asked.
"Uh… yeah. My name is Mele." Mele gave a short answer. In a sudden, she formed a smile, something she couldn't believe either, 'What am I doing?'
"Ah! Sister Mele!" The girl cheerily said, "My name is Kasumi! Let's ride that together!" Suddenly Mele felt weird. Just recently, she used the name 'Kasumi' as her guise, and then there came a girl with the same name.
"O… kay." Mele answered, and eventually they rode the merry-go-round.
Mei and Chisato were having fun riding together, but Mele just sat on her seat, looking at the other kids who seemed to be having fun. Especially Kasumi, who as sitting on her lap, with one of Mele's hand hugging her. She was having fun, and looking at her, Mele felt completely at peace and couldn't help but smile. 'This again? Why am I suddenly smile-happy now? This is so not like you, Mele!'
"Um… Sister Mele?" Kasumi suddenly said, looking at Mele, "You're beautiful."
"Oh, really?" Mele said, surprised.
"I want to grow up like you one day…" Kasumi said innocently, "Being able to hug this warmly, having a beautiful face, big boobs…" The last part surprised Mele. Someone, especially that young, commenting about her boobs? ! Even Rio wouldn't do that! She was speechless hearing such words. However, Kasumi wasn't done. "… and of course a kind heart like yours."
"Kind… heart…" Mele muttered. It's what everyone was doing these days, calling her 'kind'. She never got what that meant. She did have a heart, but that was only for Rio, not for every kid in the world!
Regardless as the ride was over, Mei, Chisato and Mele walked together once more along with other children. When they passed over the lake, they saw a rowing boat ride. "Boats?" Mele said.
"Ah that! It's a rowing boat ride!" Chisato explained to Mele, "You know, usually there will be bonus for lovers who took the boat. Riding that could add up the romantic feel, you know!" As she formed a sly smile as she looked at Mei, "Hey, Mei. Next time, I'll reserve a ride just for you and Hoji. How about it?"
"Oh, what was that supposed to mean, Chisato!" Mei, flustered and blushing, half-shouted, "We're not an item together! And I'm sure he'll refuse if you asked as well!"
"Just kidding, just kidding! I know he's got his issues… but… gee, loosen up a bit, will you?" Chisato said, also recalling the last incident with Hoji and his previous lover. When they looked at Mele, however, they saw her spacing out while walking. "Uh… Mele…?"
"Ah… me… and Rio-sama… on a boat together…" Mele was daydreaming exactly what she was saying, her taking a boat ride with Rio rowing the boat, just the two of them. And she agreed it looked so romantic. She put her hands together, imagining how blissful it would be.
She was so into the daydream that suddenly a flyer flew straight to her face, bringing her back to reality and she had to put the flyer away from her face. "What is this? !"
"Oh, seems like a flyer. Let me see…" Chisato said as she read the flyer. And by herself, she became ecstatic on her own, "They're planning for an 'Igrec the Galaxian' movie? ! Awesome!"
"Igrec… the Galaxian?" Mei was puzzled a little. She seemed to recall the name a little.
"Ah, it's a superhero film series. About a gigantic alien man fighting to defend humanity from other evil aliens! It was pretty old school, but man, this is one awesome show!" Chisato started, "I mean, back when I was with the Megarangers, I knew my allies were also fans of the show! Oh boy, this is gonna be awesome. They even got that famous director to do the directing!"
"Ah, yes. I remember that some children I protected also spoke about this Igrec a lot!" Mei said as she looked at the children, "Isn't it great, you guys? Your hero was about to get a new movie! Let's watch together when it's out!" However, Mei's cheerful invitation was met with sour faces. "Huh? You guys?"
"What's wrong?" Chisato asked out, "Don't you love Igrec?"
"Well so much for being a 'hero'. It looks like it has no supporters." Mele remarked. But at that point, she felt like someone was hugging her. When she looked behind, she saw Kasumi crying with her.
"I… I hate Igrec! He hospitalized my father!" Kasumi cried out.
"A fictional character attacking real people? !" Mele was shocked hearing it, "I never heard such plot from Long! Something must be amiss… Anyway, Kasumi, stop crying." But Kasumi wouldn't stop crying. She seemed to look up to Mele a lot. Mei then whispered something to Mele and she decided to give it a shot. She hugged Kasumi and tried striking her hair, as soft as she could. "There, there…" It was like how Mei calmed her down. And for some reason, Mele didn't feel too bad.
"Kids, hating Igrec? !" After they returned to Bonds, the girls told the story to the boys. Jiraiya was shocked as he exclaimed, "That's impossible! When I went around fighting the Youkai with the Kakurangers, I haven't seen any kids that didn't love Igrec!"
"Something must've happened between my time into Hoji's original time…" Chisato tried guessing.
"I knew this would happen." Hoji said as he got up, "Igrec has fallen from the eyes of public."
"You know what happened, Hoji?" Mei asked, curiously.
"Well… I got this info from the Super Sentai before my team… the Bakuryuu Sentai Abaranger." Hoji said, recalling his past.
It was only a short time after the incident involving Alienizer Kazak, where the Dekarangers had to team up with the Abarangers in order to defeat him. Hoji was on a patrol, like usual, but this time at solo. However while riding through the road and passing through a store, he found an angry kid crying after throwing a toy to the ground.
"I don't want that figure! I hate that phony hero!"
"There there, it's okay. We'll get you a new toy, a hero that you liked…" The kid's mother came and comforted him as she took him away.
'Phony hero?' Hoji thought as he got off his motorcycle. As he picked up the toy… it was actually an Igrec action figure. 'This is Igrec! But I thought he's a popular TV show hero?'
"What are you doing here?" A familiar voice was heard. It wasn't from the Dekarangers, but from one of the Abarangers. His fellow Blue Warrior, Sanjou Yukito, otherwise known as Abare Blue.
"Nothing, really. I just found a kid throwing temper tantrum and calling this hero a phony hero." Hoji said, showing the Igrec action figure, "I guess that happens between kids too."
"No, actually… this is kind of inevitable, after that day." Yukito said, also remembering his own past.
"That day?" This piqued Hoji's interest. He would like to know how such a mighty, fan favorite hero fell.
"We were fighting against Evolian's Giganoid named Hero. It took form of Igrec." Yukito recalled, "He summoned children to show off his strength, which then instead of doing something heroic, he did a lot of destructions to various places and laughed off when the children begged to stop, he continued to cause chaos. The children were in despair that their hero was a phony one, and that was exactly what the Evolians planned. We managed to stop the Evolian's plan and destroyed Hero. But one thing we know is that there was one thing we could not save… Igrec's reputation."
"I… see." Hoji nodded, hearing the story and understanding the children. "So… there's nothing we can do?"
"Nothing." Yukito said regretfully, "You're a cop, I'm a chiropractor. This is a job for film producers."
"And that's how it is." Hoji concluded his tale, "Probably the children you met were also friends with those present in the incident. Information sure runs fast in this universe."
"Those creeps…!" Takeru was clenching his fist hearing the tale. "How dare they do this to Igrec! My… my childhood hero!"
"You're an Igrec fan too, Takeru?" Mei asked.
"Oh yeah, it ran from a really long time ago." Jiraiya added, "Takeru should be on the right age to watch and enjoy Igrec when it was on its first run."
"How big was a fan are you back then?" Chisato asked.
"Really a big one, as much as a not-so-rich fan could afford!" Takeru answered, "I even sometimes tried emulating him flying, by jumping off the roof as a kid!"
"Jumping off the roof as a kid… like a moron…" Mele gave a snarky comment, "You're not a bright child back then, huh?"
"I… well, ah…" Takeru bit his lip. He accidentally let out parts of his embarrassing past that he swore to overcome, all because he was too hyped on defending his childhood hero. "A-anyway! I have a plan! Next time we have to fight, let's make it that it looks like Igrec saves the day!"
"Huh? What kind of plan is that?" Hoji asked, not sure if he understood.
"We'll just make an Igrec suit and wear it!" Takeru said, "If I have to create something to modify our voice to make it sound like Igrec's, I'll do it! I… I want to ease the despair of those children who lost their faith to Igrec… It's not just for myself. It's also for fellow fans of Igrec who were thrown to despair."
"That… actually sounds like a good idea, Takeru." Chisato nodded, "I don't know how much I can do with that, nor if I'm as good as Shun in computers… but I'll do my best to help you."
"Me too." Hoji said, "The despair that the Abarangers couldn't soothe… we'll wrap it up for them as well."
"Thank you, guys…" Takeru said slowly, but happily, "For catering to my selfish request…"
And so for the time being, the Super Sentai was instead building up a project, using old footages of Igrec that they could get from the internet, building up the costumes themselves, although human-sized.
Meanwhile, back on the enemy base, Lamie was once again sightseeing on Earth, and she also witnessed how the children reacted to Igrec. "Boy, this is truly ecstatic…" Lamie commented, "If Bandora-sama was here…" The mere mention of Bandora was enough to make Lamie silent, and was reminded of her child. She was fond enough to her baby, and if she wanted to make the children despair, it seemed that she was completely OK with her baby despairing later. 'No, no no!' Lamie shook her head, 'My baby is not a human baby! It's OK if it's targeted on humans…' As she thought that, she smiled as she continued watching…
"Enjoying sightseeing, I suppose… Lamie." Long suddenly arrived behind her, bringing along a black monster with two horns, two red circular skin color on its chest and one in its head, as it was faceless, along with rubber-like hands.
"Long… is that the monster you discussed with Kiros?" Lamie asked, not with a very pleasant tone unlike with her other allies.
"Yes, actually I'm surprised this monster existed. I suppose it was such a terrible evil that even Emperor Zeba of the Underground Empire wouldn't even revive it." Long answered, looking at the monster, "Behold. This is… Zeta Doggler."
'A monster that surprised even Long? Interesting. I never thought Tube would hide such monster.' Lamie thought. But as she saw Long, the Infinite Dragon didn't seem to show any fear in his face. 'Again with that smug face…'
"It is said amongst the Tube lore, which was also in my knowledge during my life as an immortal that…" Long started, "This Zeta Doggler was a distant offspring of another alien lifeform, but instead it was of a human-size. Their normal size would be as big as my true form or worse. But regardless, this will be enough. You'll see its power soon."
Long then turned back and commanded the monster, "Go forth, Zeta Doggler. Wreak as much chaos as you can… and crush the Super Sentai beneath your feet." The monster roared as he ran forth, getting into Earth. "Enjoy the show, but I think you'll be pleased with what I have in tow later."
"Whatever you mean, Long?" Lamie asked, slightly curious as Long just grinned.
"You'll meet someone you know and she'll be staying here... for awhile."
"So that's how it is." Takeru concluded as they looked at the Igrec suit, "We'll just say Igrec was being punished in his home planet for his insubordination and endangering humanity, so he got shrunk down. Now, he wants to make it up and apologize…"
In a sudden, however, the alarm rang once more. "Takeru, probably we should delay this a bit." Jiraiya noted, "We're gonna have to assess the strength of our enemy first."
"You're right. We can't underestimate them and just do it for the sake of show, we gotta gauge it first." Takeru nodded as he stood up, "Let's get moving."
Within town, once again the city was in chaos thanks to the arrival of Zeta Doggler. Using the circular red skin from his body, he unleashed three beams which hit many people and making them vanish.
"HAAA!" Fortunately, however, the Super Sentai arrived just in time. It began with Ptera Ranger, Mega Yellow and a morphed Mele delivering a flying kick consecutively to the monster, and eventually followed with Deka Blue and Ninja Black leaping with their D-Knuckle and Shinobi Knuckle forward and simultaneously punched Zeta Doggler from the back, followed by a leaping slice by Red Mask.
"You'll go no further, monster!" Red Mask said, pointing to the monster, until he realized something. "Whoa…"
"What of him, Takeru? You look surprised." Ninja Black asked.
"He looks a bit like the archnemesis of Igrec…" Red Mask commented, "What kind of evil empire sought inspiration from such TV show?"
"What species is it?" Mele asked, hoping to know that it's a similar one with what she fought or not.
"From what I can gather… it's like an Underground Imperial Beast…" Red Mask stated, trying to feel how it was like slashing the monster, "Oh, whatever. Let's go!"
Thus the team began fighting against the monster. Zeta Doggler, however, did not bother to summon any Ungler soldiers. Instead, its body was very tough that normal attacks weren't able to dent it.
"Maybe the three red orbs were the weakness!" Ptera Ranger said as she prepared her Ptera Arrow, in which she prepared not just one, but three arrows to shoot. "I'll shoot them all at once! Please hit, Ptera Arrow!" With one release, she shot down the three arrows, all accurately to Zeta Doggler's red skins. It did a good damage on it as it stepped back. However…
"Zettaaa…" Suddenly the monster spoke in an ominous tone. The next time, however, it yelled with a high-volume but extremely ominous voice, "ZETTAAAAA!" As it screamed, it unleashed three red beams all headed to Ptera Ranger, who was too late to dodge.
"AAAHH!" As Ptera Ranger screamed, she suddenly vanished from the sight.
"Mei!" Deka Blue yelled, until he eventually turned towards Zeta Doggler, "How dare you! What have you done to her!" Instinctively he formed his D-Sniper and shot three times to the exact spots that Ptera Ranger shot.
"ZEEEETTTTAAAAA!" It was still standing and unleashed yet another triple beam that hit Deka Blue, which caused him to vanish as well.
"Hoji!" Red Mask also called out, and he came to a conclusion, "Don't attack those red skins! It looks like it will just cause this monster to unleash that vanishing beam!"
"Then where do we attack it instead? !" Mega Yellow asked, "His other parts were pretty tough!"
"How about the horns!" Ninja Black exclaimed as he prepared his Kakuremaru, leapt and tried slashing the horns. It did push the Zeta Doggler back, signifying success.
"Great idea, I'll cut it too!" Mega Yellow said as she ran forward, "Blade Arm!" Sharpening her arm, she leapt and also tried chopping the horn. The combination of the two started to overwhelm the Zeta Doggler as it tried to block the two's assault.
However, as they were avoiding to attack the red skins, eventually their attacks faltered and they end up being knocked away. "ZETTAAAA!" With yet another ominous scream, the Zeta Doggler unleashed the beams once again to the unsuspecting, downed Ninja Black and Mega Yellow.
"What? !" Mega Yellow yelled in disbelief as she started vanishing.
"But we didn't…!" Ninja Black said as he also vanished.
"Guys!" Red Mask exclaimed, "I guess this enemy is not to be underestimated. This doesn't seem to be the time to do that Igrec show!"
"Good to know that you're not bringing that ridiculous concept here." Mele answered as she took her stance, "There are no room for mistakes. We have to risk hitting the red skin too."
"I see. It looks like a gamble was needed." Red Mask said as he moved forward with his sword ready. "Here I go!" As he exclaimed, he ran forward as he started attacking, explicitly aiming for the red skins. 'This is the only way to damage this monster! As of that beam…'
"ZETTAAA!" The monster yelled again as Red Mask immediately jumped away from the beam.
'Dodged!' Red Mask said as he realized that he didn't get hit. But when he looked behind, he saw that the building behind him vanished. "Huh? ! It makes buildings vanish too? !"
"Takeru, watch out!" Mele reminded him and Red Mask ended up dodging yet another beam, making a lamp post vanish.
"Damn it, at this rate…" Red Mask said as he prepared to fight once more. But when he looked behind, he saw children walking around. And when he looked at Zeta Doggler, the monster was preparing to blast the children again. "WATCH OUT!" Red Mask ended up covering the children as the beam hit him instead, causing him to vanish.
"Takeru!" Mele yelled as she looked at the monster, "All right, you fool. Now it's just you and me…!" Mele then leapt and began attacking the monster.
As the children were still watching, horrified of what happened, they began to scream in fear. 'Ugh, this is distracting! Better do something…' Mele thought as she leapt to the air and prepared something, "Rin-Jyuu Chameleon Fist Ringi! Karen Toppa!" Immediately drawing her sai, she spun and charged through the Zeta Doggler, hitting and tearing through its left horn.
"What are you doing there? ! Get the hell outta here, do you wanna get hurt? !" Mele screamed to the children.
"That voice… is that you, Sister Mele?" One of the children said, in a familiar tone that Mele recognized.
"Huh…? Kasumi?" Mele muttered, but it was interrupted when there was yet another ominous scream.
"ZEETTTAAAA!" It was Zeta Doggler unleashing something, but this time from the horn. Instead of the red beam, though, it was a blue lightning. It hit Mele right on her stomach and knocked her away with mighty force.
"AAAAHHH!" As Mele was thrown to a very far away place, the children screamed as they run off. Surprisingly, Zeta Doggler did not chase them. Instead, it continued to walk around in circles, unleashing some red beams to make things vanish for no apparent reason.
"Takeru…" Takeru felt like he was being called. When he opened his eyes, he saw his allies surrounding him.
"Hoji… Mei… Jiraiya… Chisato… you guys are OK?" Takeru said as he got up.
"We're fine. But… we got another problem." Chisato said as eventually the ground quaked. "Quick, scram!"
Helping Takeru get up, the four immediately ran. As they looked around, they saw people running in chaos. "What in the world…!" Takeru said, confused, "What just happened here? !"
"Well, look behind." Hoji said as they continued to run. As Takeru did so, he saw what happened… Zeta Doggler has turned huge.
"It's now giant? ! Damn, where is Great Five or Galaxy Robo when I need it!" Takeru exclaimed as he kept running.
"Wish I could say the same to Daizyujin…" Mei said as eventually they found an alley between two buildings, which they used to hide, "But this doesn't seem to be the case."
"I know what it is. It must be that beam. It's not making people vanish." Jiraiya concluded, "It instead shrunk the victims."
"Whoa, that's bad…" Takeru noted. However, he wasn't just gonna stand there. "But even as a tiny guy, I'm not gonna just sit here and watch! AURA MASK!" He then attempted to transform, but nothing happened. "Can't change? !"
"Oh great, now we're stuck here, like sitting ducks." Hoji said, dejected, "It's like we're the civilians when a gigantic enemy of Igrec is on a rampage."
"Damn…" Takeru said as he hit the wall near him, "What do we do now…!"
As Kasumi and her friends ran forth, they saw Mele lying on a wall, battered. She eventually de-morphed into her more normal attire, still unconscious. "Sister… Mele…!" Kasumi innocently ran to her and hugged her.
"Kasumi… what are you doing?" Mele weakly said as she opened her eyes. "Run… this is not your place."
"I'm scared…" The girl began to sob again, hugging her even tighter, "I'm scared, sister… help me…"
"Ugh…" Mele groaned as she looked at the other children. They were looking at her too, with a look that was filled with fear…
"Please, help us from that monster…! We're scared…!" The children closed in to her, putting their hopes at her.
At this point, Mele realized something. Usually, when human despaired like this, the Rin-Jyuu Ken users would be able to become more powerful by drawing from the negative energy. This time, Mele felt completely empty. She did nothing as the children also tried tending to her wounds with whatever they had. They seem to look at her like a big sister. This touched something on Mele… something aside of Rio. Her heart was moved by these children's innocence as a single tear genuinely dropped from her eyes. But this time, she wasn't excusing it. She felt depended and appreciated. Deep down, something arose within her mind… a genuine desire to protect these children.
Until suddenly Mele saw something, a stray red beam heading straight to one of the male children tending to her. "WATCH OUT!" Mele yelled, but it was too late. The child was hit by the beam… but it didn't vanish. Instead, the beam went to the floor and fizzled. "… Huh? You, what happened?"
"I… I don't know, Sister!" The boy said.
"Must be something in your bag." Mele suggested.
"I'm not carrying anything…! Except maybe this…" The boy said as he pulled out a bar of gold, "It's a present from my grandfather…"
"Ah, of course!" Kasumi said, "Kosuke is a rich boy, no wonder his family can afford that!"
"Gold…!" Mele then realized something. The Igrec costume that the team made was majorly gold-colored. If she wore that, she'll be protected from Zeta Doggler's shrinking beam and could fight with ease.
"Er… you guys wait here, okay?" Mele said she got up, "I'm calling one of my friends." As she said that, she ran off to get away from the children's sight.
'I can't believe I'm running along with this stupid plan…'
Meanwhile, Takeru was powerless to stop the Zeta Doggler with him shrunk. The best he and the rest could do were to help people hide as Zeta Doggler continued to shrink many things as well as crushing down any properties shrunk down.
Until eventually, a huge shadow of a man was flying, crushing through the Zeta Doggler.
"Takeru! That…" Mei, who was trying to evacuate some children, pointed upwards and looked at the one facing the Zeta Doggler.
"Oh My God." Hoji and Jiraiya said in unison, realizing what it is.
"That's Igrec! He's come to save us!" Chisato exclaimed, raising the spirits up.
'No, that can't be Igrec, he's a fictional character!' Takeru thought, knowing the border of reality and fiction, 'But only we made an Igrec suit. Which means… is that Mele wearing the suit? !'
Thus 'Igrec' started fighting the Zeta Doggler. While it was using just martial arts moves rather than typical Igrec moves, it was faring better. The red beams did not affect 'Igrec' and even with the lightning, the 'Igrec' did not falter and kept fighting. Even though it's Mele behind the suit, the suit was given voice synthesizer, making it sound like the real Igrec voicing those grunting.
"Go, go, get'im Igrec!" Chisato cheered. But, the children's reaction was still sour, "Come on, you guys cheer too! Do you want him to be beaten and we're not saved?"
"It seems that they're still down with that event." Hoji said, noticing the face of the children that Mei brought.
"Okay, everyone please listen!" Takeru then stepped forward as he began a speech, "You may remember last time Igrec went berserk and was driven away. Yes, truly, it was Igrec. But, I, as his friend, vouch that he's sorry! He told me that the Galaxian court punished him for being mean to you guys back then and now he's making up for it! This is his way to apologize! So come on, do you accept his apology? ! Won't you let him protect your dreams and fight against evil once more, with your cheers backing him up? ! Then let's do it! Let's cheer for him!"
"Igrec! Igrec!" Takeru then began cheering alone, followed by Chisato. As the children saw, 'Igrec' was fighting with all his might, never once 'he' gave up. Slowly, one of the children cheered for Igrec once more, followed by the rest of the children, and even adults, along with Mei, Hoji and Jiraiya, all of them cheered for Igrec.
And fortunately for 'Igrec', the cheers of children recovering from despair were bad news for Zeta Doggler. Their cheering drained him of his power, such was its nature, thriving further when humans were in despair, and as the humans, especially children, were regaining hope, he felt like he's being pushed back. 'Now's my chance! Ringi: Kisshou Kigan!' Behind the Igrec costume, Mele whispered as she spread her hands. Combining her Rinki with the flames of a Phoenix, she unleashed a purple phoenix flame to cut through Zeta Doggler's stomach, catching it on explosion.
"Wow! Is that a new move? !" The crowd became ecstatic, thinking that it was a new move by Igrec.
'Ugh, fine… just so I don't catch any suspicion…' As Mele thought, she tried recalling how she watched the Igrec footages with the team, on how he made an exit after defeating his opponents. Thus she leapt upwards while raising her hand, as if flying back to space, while in truth she was just leaping very high and very far.
"Yay! Bravo Igrec!" As the crowd cheers, the effect of Zeta Doggler's shrinking beam was lifted away as things returned to normal size.
"All right! She did it!" Takeru exclaimed, knowing that this fiasco was over. Unfortunately, he looked to the side and saw some Ungler soldiers running. "What…! They… all right, everyone run!" He told the crowd as he saw the Ungler soldier surround the 'corpse' of Zeta Doggler and fed it with the Megagestrine X. It brought the monster back to life.
"It seems that 'Igrec' wasn't enough." Hoji said as he prepared his SP License, "That means it's our turn now."
"Yes. It's our turn, Takeru!" Jiraiya said, "We'll show them that Super Sentai is also strong and protecting this world, just like Igrec!"
"Indeed! Everyone, let's go!" Takeru signaled as the team prepared to transform.
"AURA MASK!"
"EMERGENCY! DEKARANGER! FACE ON!"
"DINO BUCKLER!"
"SUPER HENGE! DORON CHANGER!"
"INSTALL! MEGARANGER!"
The five transformed and stood ready with the Ungler soldiers covering for Zeta Doggler.
"Red Mask!"
"Pursue mysterious cases! Deka Blue!"
"Ptera Ranger! Mei!"
"Ninja Black! Jiraiya!"
"Mega Yellow!"
"We are… SUPER SENTAI!"
With that, the five warriors fought against the waves of Ungler soldiers, one by one taking them down before eventually facing the Zeta Doggler itself.
While the Megagestrine X revived it, Zeta Doggler was bereft of his red skin, completely destroyed by Mele in Igrec's suit. His other body parts became not-so-invulnerable either.
"Now the finishing, from long range!" Red Mask said as he prepared something. "Here we go! Laser Arrow!"
"Black Bow!"
"Mega Sling!"
"Ptera Arrow… triple shot!" For this time, Ptera Ranger shot three arrows at once, all of them hitting the Zeta Doggler. "Now! Hoji!"
"OK! Set! D-Sniper! Set… Charge! STRIKE OUT!" Deka Blue finally unleashed the finishing shot straight onto Zeta Doggler's body, destroying it into pieces.
"All right, it's done…" Red Mask said as the rest de-morphed. Shortly after, they saw Mele running to them.
"Hey… what just happened?" Mele looked at the surrounding, slightly confused.
"Oh, that monster came back for Round Two." Jiraiya said, "But the round's over and we won. Nice performance, by the way."
"Yeah. With things like this, I'm sure Igrec's reputation will be restored!" Chisato added.
"You guys are really idiots, getting so worked up on that." Mele added, "But still, if this was sent by Long, then I guess it's worth it."
Several days passed. As Takeru, Jiraiya and Mele were resting after another day of training, Chisato once again entered after returning from college. "Hey, guys! Great news!"
"What, Chisato?" Takeru asked.
"They gave green light on the Igrec movie! If it's successful, a sequel series may also be given a chance too!" Chisato said excitedly.
"What? !" Jiraiya said in the same enthusiasm, "Great, that means those kids will be able to enjoy Igrec again!"
"Looks like our efforts did restore his reputation." Takeru said, satisfied, "Thanks guys. Especially you, Mele."
"Huh?" Mele said, not really enthusiastic or something, "But I…"
"Oh, you came in, posing as Igrec to fight the monster that terrorizes those people, redeeming him in the eyes of many!" Takeru said.
"You got it wrong! I only wore that to be protected by its red beam!" Mele tried to excuse her actions, "I-I really don't care about that stupid show anyway. I… I don't know what possessed me to be THAT generous! So you better be grateful this time, OK? !"
"But thanks to you, children are happy too!" Chisato said, "I met that little Kasumi too. She said she's thankful for you."
"You told her it was me behind that suit? !" Mele exclaimed, slightly embarrassed.
"Yep. And you know what she said? She said you're so cool." Chisato assured her, which left Mele a little speechless. Remembering how she cared for Kasumi back then, she felt that somehow, despite all that, she felt happy for her, also happy that for a change, she's doing good, as much as she's denying it. Thus a small smile was formed on her mouth.
"I see… thank you."
"Speaking of which, where are Hoji and Mei?" Jiraiya asked, in which Chisato gave a super quick answer.
"Dating."
"What? ! That was quick!" Takeru said, surprised.
"Actually, no. They're just… witnessing the signing for the new Igrec movie's promotion." Chisato explained, "I… want to respect their decisions about relationship."
"We should. We can't force things up." Takeru also said, sternly. He became reminded with the relationship he had with Iyal. It was taken naturally, unlike Kiros who tried to force things out. He didn't know if the two would be an item, but so far, they're like best friends, brother and sister, and they seem fine with it.
Meanwhile, Hoji and Mei were already out of the sign-in stadium. They were heading home to the teleportation spot to get back into Bonds, walking through a shore.
"I'm glad that the children's smiles returned." Mei muttered, "The last time I mentioned about Igrec, they were pretty sour. Now, it's all like 'I want to be like Igrec! Strong and kind!'."
"They're looking forward for the movie too." Hoji said, "Even adults are excited on it too. Looks like it will have to try on how to capture both sides of audience, adults and children. Though probably because they were grateful from that event."
"That's great! Which means, everyone can smile together!" Mei added, smiling, "Say, Hoji… when the movie's out, what do you think if we watch it together? With Takeru and the rest of course."
"Good idea. Jiraiya is a movie nut, he'll be looking forward to this." Hoji nodded, thinking back on how he learnt this incident in the first place. 'If Yukito and the rest of the Abarangers learn about this, I'm sure they'd be happy.'
However, their walk was interrupted with a strange gust of wind. "Huh? This wind seems unnaturally strong." Hoji commented. As the wind got stronger and stronger, it became a little harder for them to walk.
"What is this…!" Mei said as she tried her best to hold her ground. Then she heard a sound of a creature from the sky. "Eh?" As Mei looked above, she saw a gigantic creature flying to her. "Is that… Guardian Beast Pteranodon?"
However, the creature quickly dove in and knocked Hoji to the ground, and using its beaks, it grabbed Mei and flew off. "AAAH!" Mei's scream realized Hoji what's going on.
"Mei? ! MEI!" Hoji screamed, trying to chase her, but the creature already took flight. Pulling his SP Shooter, he tried shooting the creature, but to no avail.
"HOJI!" Mei called out his name, but the creature got farther and farther until it vanished from his sight.
'That white creature… I think I saw it somewhere…' Hoji thought as he tried to recall the creature. However, one thing he knew was that he was unable to stop the creature from kidnapping Mei. 'Mei...!' Hoji then fell to his knees and slammed the ground with his fist, and as he lamented his weakness, he yelled while looking upwards.
"GOD DAAAAMMNN!"
The creature took Mei straight onto the new Bandora Palace, using force field to prevent her getting out of air during flight, dropping her right into the entrance. "Isn't this Bandora's Castle…? !" She felt that she could breathe, perhaps by the oxygen brought by the base's surrounding. She then looked at the creature, "What are you doing with me? !"
"Be silent, human." The creature spoke, surprising Mei, "I'm only doing my part for him… gera."
'Huh? It spoke?' Mei was shocked at how the creature spoke, in a more casual way rather than how majestic the Daizyujin spoke. However, her moment was interrupted by several bolts trying to strike at her. Mei looked behind and saw Shibolena walking onto her. "You…!"
"So there you are, the one who Long wanted to see. Come quietly." Shibolena said, and behind her Gasha Dokuro was also walking.
"I won't submit to you!" Mei declared, pulling her bow, "I'm not going down with a fight."
"That's… useless, I'm afraid." Shibolena said, "You can go ahead and try to rebel, but nobody would be here to get you back to Earth. If you would like, you can face me, Gasha Dokuro, Lamie, Kiros and Abrellar, not to mention Long, in the same time, and you will only come out as a corpse." Hearing that, Mei was shocked. There was no way she could engage the six of them at once and winning.
"But if you just cooperate with us, then you may have a shot in surviving." Gasha Dokuro added, "So… what will it be?"
"I won't help you, no matter what." Mei said firmly.
"Oh, it's not cooperating as in helping us completely." Shibolena said, "We meant… become our prisoner."
"You…!" Mei gritted her teeth, "What are you planning to do with me? !"
"You'll see later. But remember, if you ever shoot that arrow, that means you chose to fight to the death and you'll never see any of your friends again." Gasha Dokuro said menacingly and it shocked Mei. He's right, if she died now, it's all over. Right now she had no choice. Dejected, she threw her bow and arrow to the ground.
"All right, you do as you please… for now."
"Very good." Gasha Dokuro said as he moved forward, "Now face behind! And put your hands behind!" Mei did so as eventually, Gasha Dokuro and Shibolena unleashed several ropes and proceeded to tie Mei on her wrists as well as her body in two places and tying her arms and body together. However, Gasha Dokuro still let out one whisper, "You're lucky the order is to keep you alive. I would love nothing more than to kill you right on the spot."
"Good job, you two." A voice was heard behind them and from there, Long approached them. "Ah, so you must be one of those Super Sentai that has been bothering me. Mei of the Risha Tribe, one of those… Zyurangers, aren't you?"
Mei was silent. Just by her first encounter with Long alone made her realize what kind of evil man he was. Long continued by getting close to her, "Hmph, you're quite the beauty. But it will do no good against me. Although I do appreciate your look. Heh heh…"
"Keep your praises somewhere else, I don't need it." Mei sternly answered.
"Your guts are admirable. But you shouldn't keep that." Long continued, "You'll start enjoying your stay here. Take her away… to the prison." As Long commanded, both Gasha Dokuro and Shibolena grabbed Mei on her arm and walked together inside the base. However, Mei looked back and gave Long one last reply.
"I won't be here for long. My friends… they'll come and get me."
"Heh. The last time I heard someone saying that, it was actually the reverse. 'My love won't come for me' or stuffs like that. It's getting ironic." Long said, recalling the previous moment he did a similar thing to Mele. He then turned to the creature. "Well… a good job well done. Now keep on stand by until I call you again."
"Infinite Dragon… don't get so cozy." The creature still gave a daunty voice even to Long, "I am not your servant, and never will be. I am on my own, gera." Even the creature also thought his next plan, 'I hope putting up with this… creature would bring me closer to that goal… your return… I don't have much time.'
"Heh, as expected from you. I can't control you after all." Long smiled, "In that case, may as well enjoy our alliance while it lasts… Top Galer."
As Hoji continued to kneel down, unable to get up, suddenly a female voice called him. "You're Tomasu Hoji, am I correct?"
"Huh?" Hoji looked behind and saw a woman dressed in pink, "You're… how do you know me?"
"I heard that you're a friend of Aira Tekkan." The woman answered, "I never thought I'd meet you here."
"Tetsu? How do you know him?" Hoji asked once more as he finally got back on his feet.
"We fought together once." The woman continued.
"Who're you? I don't really know you. You look a little suspicious, knowing my name and all." Hoji still refused to let out more secrets. Finally, however, the woman stated her identity.
"Member of the SGS Foundation. My name is Nishihori Sakura."
'Nishihori… Sakura…? !' Hoji recalled that name while reading that name through the History of Super Sentai book. She was in fact, one of the Super Sentai members, part of GoGo Sentai Boukenger, as Bouken Pink.
What was Sakura doing here? And what would happen to Mei, imprisoned by the enemy? And what was the deal that Long made with the Bakuryuu Top Galer? And by that means, how did Top Galer himself came back from the dead? The mystery deepened for the next chapter of the Super Sentai…
To be continued…
Author's note: And that's the end of the chapter, and probably a beginning of a multi-chapter arc. And yes, these are some sort of a sequel to the 8th episode of Abaranger with that Ultraman lookalike monster. I feel kinda sad that the episode kinda ends on a sad note that the Ultraman lookalike that the monster impersonated seemed to be lost in the heart of the children, fallen as a phony, so I decided to make up for it and restore it to its glory. I never follow the Ultra Series that much, but Ultraman is awesome!
Also if you do follow Ultraman, you'll see that today's monster is heavily based on one of Ultraman's most famous enemy, the Zetton/Z-Ton.
At any rate, the seemingly happy-go-lucky episode seems subverted at the end when Mei ends up kidnapped, don't hold it against her (or me), please. And the kidnapper turns out to be Top Galer, so I guess you now know who's the last guy. He's not gonna make an appearance soon, but he will.
And aside of that, there's also the appearance of Boukenger's Sakura. She probably will take the similar role of Yuusuke from the first team, but I think she's going to be more active. At any rate, I hope you'll come and review this chapter well! Thanks!