A/N: The OP has been changed due to events in the previous Roar, so please take your time to look it over to see what's new.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.
The Super Sentai logo appears with its characteristic twinkle, then changes into ukiyo-e style as it's painted on a folding screen depicting dinosaurs and ninjas battling Youkai.
"For decades," an unseen narrator speaks as footage of the Zyurangers, Abarangers, Kyoryugers, and Ryusoulgers flashes across the screen. "The world has been protected by heroes with the power of dinosaurs."
"For decades," the narrator says again as footage of the Kakurangers, Hurricanegers, and Ninningers flashes across the screen. "The world has been protected by heroes with the power of ninjas."
"But now," the narrator says as all seven teams appear in a lineup, only to step aside and bow their heads in acknowledgment as the Diningers step forward, spotlights focusing on them. "The time has come for a team with the power of BOTH to save the day!"
The camera zooms through an exotic, prehistoric jungle before stopping at a towering stone ninja Castle which abruptly explodes in a volcanic eruption, the series logo smashing into the screen wreathed in flames.
DI-NIN-NIN, DI-NIN-DI-NINGER! DI-NIN-NIN, DI-NIN-DI-NINGER!
DI-NIN-NIN, DI-NIN-DI-NINGER! DI-NIN-NIN, DI-NIN-DI-NINGER!
The Diningers race across rooftops, leaping between buildings, and hopping over cars, civilians completely oblivious of their presence.
They remain oblivious even when the Shinobiryu follow in the footsteps of their disciples, the giant biomechanical ninja dinosaurs somehow going completely unnoticed by the people around them. The dinosaurs and ninjas reunite, smiling at each other as the sun shines on them.
First you see me now you don't, blending into shadow
Couldn't find me even if I was twenty stories tall
An unlikely connection between two worlds far apart
Sworn that any enemy of Earth shall fall
The Star Fortress Orochimecha lands atop Mount Fuji, and in a flash of light, Kyukogo, Nyajou, the princesses, Onimusha, and an army of Uchuhage appear. The heroes draw their swords and the dinosaurs ready for battle… Only to be confused when Kyukogo smiles and holds out a cookie platter.
The Shinobiryu clan exchanges puzzled looks, then shrug and accept the cookies, the screen immediately transitioning to them fighting Uchuhage.
The enemies we thought we'd face are not what they seem
Though it's still a fight we intend to win
But any challenge we slash and bite our ways through
With that said let the games begin
A six way split screen shows each of the Diningers, and they transform into their ranger forms one by one.
Tyrannoninja!
TriceraNinja!
PteraNinja!
AnkyloNinja!
RaptorNinja!
PlesioNinja!
One by one, we see each of the Diningers; with Akira practicing her roaring before the screen transitions to her slicing up foes with her twin swords in her ranger form, Kenji concentrating on manifesting his dinpo before transitioning to him drilling through his foes in his ranger form, Sora studying in the library before transitioning to him swooping down and shooting arrows at adversaries in his ranger form, Jiro smashing boulders with her bare hands before transitioning to her battering opponents apart with her shield in her ranger form, Mozu freaking out at the camera catching her with a stalker shrine of Akira before transitioning to her ripping apart monsters with her talons in her ranger form, and ending with Tetsu meditating beneath the waterfall before transitioning to him vanquishing foes without moving a muscle thanks to his flexible Plesiostick.
With the soul and fury of a dinosaur
Thunderous rampage, charge up and hear me roar
Hide in shadows, then storm out and slash the light
Brace the steel blade and shuriken, go and fight
Silent and deadly but with the force of a hurricane
Let the Dinpo inside burst out and break your chains
Let the magma of the earth erupt beneath our feet
Shinobiryu, rise up and don't accept defeat
The team does a group pose as colorful explosions go off behind them.
SHINOBIRYU SENTAI DIN-NIN-GER!
We see Kurohonema riding away from a burning village on Akabuto, the smoke rising up to form a ghastly Gashadokuro, which is then overlaid by a close-up shot of his face, a black skull with burning red eyes.
Our opponents came from beyond the stars
But like us just fight for what they truly believe in
I don't want to call them our enemies
But out there still exists a true demon
Bae flits around various television screens and newspapers bearing footage and pictures of angry mobs, furious talking heads, clips from battles, and headlines such as, "HEROES OR MENACE?", "WHOSE SIDE ARE THEY ON?", or, "CAN THE DININGERS BE TRUSTED?"
We fight to protect our world from harm
But whom fights to change the world for the better
Mother Earth still needs our help even when the fight is done
So we best keep going so we won't upset her
We then see a series of rapid cuts of Akira and Tyrajonin leaping off a volcano just as it explodes, Kenji riding on top of Tricerajonin, Sora gliding beside Pterajonin and Petra, Jiro meditating next to Ankylojonin, Mozu having an epic duel with Raptorjonin at sunset, and Tetsu standing on top of Plesiojonin's head as she swims to the ocean.
Tyrannoninja!
TriceraNinja!
PteraNinja!
AnkyloNinja!
RaptorNinja!
PlesioNinja!
As silhouettes of the team battling wave after wave of monsters plays out in the foreground, behind them still images of Bix, the Shinobiryu, Petra, Tetsu, Bae, the little princesses and Usatan, Chief Magistrate Shinza, Kyukogo, Nyajou, Onimusha, several of Akira's girlfriends, Kiba, and the Golden Dragon cycle past.
With the soul and fury of a dinosaur
Thunderous rampage, charge up and hear me roar
Hide in shadows, then storm out and slash the light
Brace the steel blade and shuriken, go and fight
Silent and deadly but with the force of a hurricane
Let the Dinpo inside burst out and break your chains
Let the magma of the earth erupt beneath our feet
Shinobiryu, rise up and don't accept defeat
The Diningers strike a pose, transforming into their Dragon forms as an Yggdragon shaped explosion bursts behind them.
SHINOBIRYU SENTAI DIN-NIN-GER!
Suddenly, we see Akira and Kyukogo warily facing off in a dark space, a spotlight focusing on either of them.
(musical riff)
The duo start singing, the camera switching back between them as each cries out their line. They sound increasingly anguished the longer it goes on, their voices quaking with emotion as they shoot each other desperate, pleading looks.
"I wish we didn't have to fight!"
"I must do what I think is right."
"You know it sounds a bit insane."
"I can make things better with my reign."
"You're not like those whom came before."
"And I think to you is also something more."
"I suddenly don't feel quite so sound."
"I wish we could reach that middle ground."
An exterior shot of the Orochimecha zooms into the throne room, where we see the Youkalien court, slaves and magistrates hard at work as Onimusha stands at attention, the girls play, and Kyukogo stares admiringly at a picture of Akira while Nyajou teases her.
The camera then shoots down into a dark place where the disembodied spirit of Bakano flails around frantically until a massive skeletal claw reaches out and grabs him, the camera zooming out again to reveal the boulder covering the Pit of Disgrace, dark power emanating from it and catching the attention of the Deathbringer on his steed, who turns to look at it in interest.
With the soul and fury of a dinosaur
Thunderous rampage, charge up and hear me roar
Hide in shadows, then storm out and slash the light
Brace the steel blade and shuriken, go and fight
Silent and deadly but with the force of a hurricane
Let the Dinpou inside burst out and break your chains
Let the magma of the earth erupt beneath our feet
Shinobiryu, rise up and don't accept defeat
In a series of rapid cuts, we see Akira staring at a wall painting of her mother and Kiba, Kenji angrily defacing a poster with Bakano's face on it, Sora watching the sunset with Petra, Mozu solemnly standing over a pair of graves, and Tetsu gazing at the ruins of Kuroyuri from the edge of the Valley of the Shadow of Death with Jiro at his side.
SHINOBIRYU SENTAI DIN-NIN-GER!
Stock footage plays as the Shinobiryu leap into action and combine to form Dinin-Ōhi, and we then see them battling giant Youkaliens like Asteroibotchi, Onimusha, and other adversaries that may or may not have been on the show yet.
With the soul and fury of a dinosaur
Thunderous rampage, charge up and hear me roar
Hide in shadows, then storm out and slash the light
Brace the steel blade and shuriken, go and fight
Silent and deadly but with the force of a hurricane
Let the Dinpo inside burst out and go insane
Let the magma of the earth erupt beneath our feet
Shinobiryu, rise up and don't accept defeat
Six colorful blurs move past a large rock again and again, the rock shattering to reveal the series logo carved into it as the Diningers pose dramatically in front of it.
SHINOBIRYU SENTAI DIN-NIN-GER!
The Shinobiryu emerge from behind the rock and start roaring.
Roar 20: The Festival of Chains and the Dinosaur Queen's Splendid Ninja Scroll
"I hope this is to your satisfaction, Master Sora," Kofi said, handing Sora a steaming mug of coffee. "It's not your usual, but I think you'll like this new blend I've come up with."
Sora closed his eyes as he inhaled the heavenly aroma wafting from his mug, shuddering in ecstasy. "I think you might be right, Kofi. Thank you very much. And also, you don't need to call me Master."
"I know, Master," Kofi said with a smile, causing him to wince slightly. She glanced at Akira. "Will there be anything else, Mistress?"
Akira, already sipping her own mug and moaning with almost orgasmic pleasure, shook her head. "No thank you. You can return to the others now."
Kofi hurried from the room with perhaps a little more haste then decorum demanded.
"Do you ever feel hypocritical, keeping her?" Sora wondered as he took a careful sip of his coffee, wanting to make it last for as long as possible. "I mean, here we are, fighting to stop the Youkaliens from enslaving the planet, and here she is, a slave given to you personally by Hegemon Kyukogo herself…"
"In my defense, I didn't ask Kyukogo to conquer her planet and give her to me as a present just because I liked the coffee she made me in the dream world," Akira said defensively. "And it's against Tyrannosaurus tribe custom to refuse a gift, it's impolite. And given its currently impossible to free her anyway what with the magic involved, I might as well keep her and let Bae spin it as me 'saving' her and any other 'gifts' from our enemy."
She shrugged. "And yes, we are fighting for freedom… Which means that people should have the freedom to choose not to be free, and she's made it very clear she is perfectly happy to stay right where she is. Her species have a long tradition of service to others, anyway."
"And she makes absurdly good coffee," Sora pointed out.
"And she makes absurdly good coffee," Akira agreed.
They both took another sip.
"So. What do you have for me?" Akira asked.
Sora pushed his glasses, the sheen making them seem opaque for a moment. "Well, I was up late researching with Petra, and I discovered an interesting piece of information in one of the accounts of the adventures of the Shuriken Sentai Ninningers-"
"Get out."
Sora blinked. "What?"
"Get out," Akira repeated, face cold. "I will not have that name spoken under my roof."
"It's not actually your roof, it's your mother's-"
"And she would back me up on this. Get out."
Sora groaned. "Akira, look, I despise the Igasaki clan is much as the next ninja-"
"Then you will understand why I am quite angry that you dragged me away from an enjoyable evening because of something the fucking Ninningers once did," Akira snarled. "Sora, at this moment my wonderful adorable ridiculously submissive girlfriend is being railed by my other future concubines and I'm missing it because you somehow thought I would be interested in hearing about something involving that Gaimdamn disgrace to ninjas everywhere Takaharu Igasaki-"
"Look, Akira, I understand why you're upset-"
"Do you, Sora? Do you really?"
"But this is the most promising lead we've had so far! Are you really going to let your pride and totally justifiable contempt for the Ninningers let you pass up what might be our best chance so far to become dinosaurs?" Sora pleaded.
She didn't answer him.
He goggled. "Are you… Are you actually thinking about it?!"
"Shut up," she snapped. She drank more of her coffee then slammed it down on her kitchen table hard enough to crack it. "Fuck. Fine. Lay it on me. And be quick before I realize how terrible an idea this is and change my mind. Wait, we won't actually have to interact with the Ninningers for this, will we?"
"Probably not."
"Good. You may proceed."
Sora quickly put a scroll on the table and unfurled it to reveal a woodcut drawing of the Ninningers battling members of the Kibaoni Army Corps in an unfamiliar classical Japanese town while a horned dinosaur raged in the background. "According to this, in the summer of 2015, a secret ninja village which only ninjas can find was besieged by the Kibaoni Army Corps, led by the samurai Lord Juza Yumihari-"
"Wait, if it's a village only ninjas can find, how did he find it?" Akira interrupted.
"I think Kyuemon Izayoi helped him? He was technically a ninja once. Wait, should I be calling Kyuemon as she now? They transitioned recently, right?" Sora wondered.
Akira nodded. "You should." She frowned. "It's weird. She looks exactly the same as she did before the shift, but while before I was completely unattracted to her, now I think she's hot."
"Your sexuality is indeed a mystery," Sora agreed. "Anyway, Yumihari was besieging the village to try and claim the power of the 'Wicked Dragon' said to be found in the village's castle. The Ninningers were dispatched by Yoshitaka Igasaki-"
Akira rolled her eyes. "Ugh, that guy. Where does he and the rest of that lineage get off, calling themselves the 'Last Ninjas?' What are the rest of us, chopped liver? And so what if he beat some big powerful world ending Youkai warlord once? Big whoop, we've all done that! I killed like half a dozen of those before I hit puberty!"
"They were dispatched by Yoshitaka Igasaki," Sora said loudly. "To rescue the Lord of the castle. Once they did so, they discovered that he was, in fact, the Wicked Dragon Yumihari was looking for. Except he wasn't a Dragon at all…"
Sora unrolled the scroll further, revealing the image of a short, squat, miserable looking red dinosaur in regal robes. "But a dinosaur."
Akira's eyes lit up. "Go on."
"Apparently, the Lord, Tatsunosuke Hakkaku, used to be human, before a curse turned him into a dinosaur," Sora explained. He unrolled the scroll further, showing a samurai Youkai shooting an arrow at a human in robes similar to the dinosaur from before, causing him to transform into a giant biomechanical beast. "Yumihari attempted to seize control of him and unleash the full power of his curse upon the world in the form of a destructive rampage. However, the Ninningers were able to break the curse, freeing him, and used the new power they obtained to vanquish Yumihari and save the village."
The scroll was now completely unfurled, revealing Shurikenjin Dino standing triumphantly over the village, with cheering people gathered at its feet.
"They then proceeded to use this amazing new Otomonin a grand total of two other times, once in their team up with the ToQgers and again in the rather pointless competition where the male and female Ninningers were pitted against each other because of that horrible woman Sakurako Igarashi, and never again after that," Sora concluded, rolling the scroll back up.
"Again demonstrating that the Ninningers are the worst," Akira said with a disgusted snort. "So, let me guess. You're suggesting that we go visit the village, talk to this Lord, and see how he got cursed in the first place?"
Sora nodded in agreement. "Details are strangely sparse about how it happened. Apparently he was a very diligent and hard-working Lord beloved by his people, but then his family left him because he didn't pay enough attention to them, and he turned into a dinosaur."
Akira waited for further details. When she realized there weren't any, she asked, "That's… That's it? Guy works too hard, family leaves, he turns into a dinosaur?"
"Basically."
"That makes absolutely no sense. And, I mean, okay, our folklore has tons of stories of people turning into animals or monsters or spirits for some weird reason, but… This seems kind of random," Akira complained.
"Agreed. However, if we can figure out how it happened…" Sora said slowly.
"And learn how to replicate it…" Akira continued.
"Then we can finally become dinosaurs."
Akira grinned excitement… Then frowned and glanced back at the scroll. "Guy didn't look like much of a dinosaur, though. Well, before he turned into a giant biomechanical monster, anyway. If we're going to turn into dinosaurs, wouldn't it be better if it's ones that can actually fight?"
"Once we understand how the curse works, we might be able to figure out how to alter it to help us achieve forms that better suit us," Sora assured her. "Your Golden power will probably help with that. And anyway, the curse is very easy to break, you just have to destroy the horn of the afflicted individual, so if we run into any problems, it'll be fairly simple for us to fix it."
"That is easy," Akira agreed. She frowned. "Wait, then why didn't Hakkaku or anyone in the village break it themselves?"
Sora shrugged. "No idea."
"I'm just going to blame Takaharu and his idiocy which transcends time and space," Akira decided. "Even if he had nothing to do with it."
"That's reasonable," Sora agreed.
"So, I guess our next step is going to the village and talking to this Lord," Akira continued, standing up. "We'll leave first thing in the morning."
"Don't you think we should let the others know?" Sora inquired.
Akira snorted. "Of course we will. We're ninjas. Since when are we up after dawn?"
"Good point." Sora finished his mug and stood up as well. "I'll leave you to the rest of your evening entertainment, then. I'll go back to the archives and see if I can dig up anything else that might be useful."
"Good man. Do you want to take some coffee to go to share with Petra? I mean, it'd mean dragging Kofi away again but she's totally fine with it," Akira offered.
Sora shook his head. "No, she's probably taken advantage of my stepping away to get ahead of me in our studies. By coming back empty-handed I'll get to rub in the fact that I got to have some of Kofi's excellent coffee and she didn't."
Akira laughed. "Your relationship is so competitive I might be concerned if you weren't such adorable nerds about it. Go on, back to your books. While I…" She grinned and ran a hand through her luxurious mane. "Have some queenly duties to attend to in my bedroom."
Sora chuckled and rolled his eyes. "Never change, Akira."
She grinned at him mischievously. "Sorry, but that's not a promise I can keep, since I fully intend to change…Into a DINOSAUR!"
The denizens of Taitō Ward were still celebrating their perceived victory.
They'd actually done it! Through protests, refusal to work, and being completely obstinate and stubborn, they had managed to convince their new Youkalien masters to give up and leave them alone!
They hadn't even needed help from heroes to do it, they'd managed all on their own!
There were parades. Parties. Fireworks and drunken revels.
Justine was waiting for the other shoe to drop.
A scowl on her face, the Caucasian redhead gazed down at a drunken procession going down the street from the balcony of the lavish apartment that had once belonged to her 'master,' and was now being shared by herself and said master's other slaves. Did they really think it was that easy? That this was some great victory? She knew that as an American she probably wasn't as used to this sort of thing as the Japanese, but surely they couldn't be this deep in denial!
Yes, the Youkaliens had left… And also blockaded the ward, so nobody could go in and out. Yes, they could still contact the outside world, but the Japanese government seemed to have made it very clear they had no intention of risking angering their potential new overlords by trying to launch any kind of a rescue mission, and the so-called 'heroes' seemed to be willing to follow their lead.
Honestly, Justine didn't understand why everyone seemed to be putting so much faith in them. It was their fault they were in this mess to begin with! They had turned a battle for the fate of the world into a game! What kind of person did that?!
(For some reason, a faint memory of getting nearly run through by a monster with a head vaguely resembling a pawn chess piece while armored individuals resembling a buffalo and a panda argued over who would get to save her only to be rescued instead by a surprisingly charming figure resembling a fox who immediately started flirting with her flickered through her head, and was quickly forgotten.)
There was no way a bunch of alien invaders who had openly stated, multiple times, that they intended to conquer the world and enslave humanity would give up so easily. They had to be up to something. She didn't trust their nice guy act for a minute, they were clearly just trying to make themselves look good so people would let their guard down and think they weren't as bad as past invaders.
After all, all the politicians back in the states did the exact same thing, when they weren't open in their blatant corruption. Why should these 'friendly' colonizers be any different?
She snorted as she remembered how much her "master" had tried to convince her he was on her side and just wanted her to be happy. Yeah right. If that were really the case, why wouldn't he let her go? Why couldn't she go home?!
She sagged for a moment, wishing for a cigarette. She never really smoked, but this felt like this situation where she should do so.
Dammit, she wasn't even supposed to be here. It was supposed to be a quick trip. Come to Japan, see the sights, indulge her inner otaku, scatter her best friend's ashes, then go home.
And then the Youkaliens had invaded, and she had the terrible luck to be caught up and enslaved in the initial attack.
Months later, she was still here, millions of miles from home. Her family was worried sick about her, her boyfriend had broken up with her, her boss had fired her, and she was going to lose her scholarship because for some reason the University didn't seem to think being captured and enslaved by aliens was a good enough excuse to miss classes.
(Apparently, Japanese schools were exactly the same. After all, alien and monster attacks happened at least once a week, so they didn't really consider it an excuse to slack off. She didn't know whether to laugh or cry about that.)
Fuck.
She just wanted to go home.
Yes, her family could sometimes be a pain.
Yes, she knew her boyfriend was cheating on her.
Yes, her boss was a cheap sexist piece of shit.
Yes, she knew that given the current job market and political climate even if she managed to graduate with full honors her useless degree wouldn't qualify her to do anything but work in fast food or become a teacher.
Yes, her life had kind of sucked.
But it had still been her life, dammit! What right did a bunch of alien slavers have to come in, take it away from her, and then claim they were doing her a favor?!
(The fact that her master had been genuinely nicer than her boss or her teachers or pretty much every authority figure she'd ever known didn't change anything. She didn't belong here, and neither did they.)
(Once again, she wished Yuko were still alive. She'd always found a way to make her smile…)
There was a knock on the door.
Justine groaned. It was probably one of her roommates, back from the festivities drunk or high or both, with a good-looking piece of ass on one or both arms. Just like back home.
And, just like back home, said roommate was currently in no state to remember how to open the door, though in her defense, it was a little difficult to figure out how the doors worked. Stupid alien Magitek. It was supposed to be easy and intuitive to use, but for some reason after the Youkaliens left everyone was having trouble getting it to work right. Had they sabotaged it on their way out? So that everyone would eventually get desperate and everything would collapse into anarchy when they realized they didn't know how to get the food synthesizers working properly, so they could swoop in and save them and everyone would fall in line out of relief-
The knocking continued, snapping her out of that worrying train of thought. "I'm coming, I'm coming!" She snapped as she walked across the floor to the door, grumbling to herself about how unfair was that a Youkalien who'd been the equivalent of a blue-collar worker still had an apartment almost bigger than her childhood home, and much fancier at that. "Hold on, dammit, how I work the door again…"
A few frustrated minutes later, she managed to find the right combination of buttons, and the door slid open. "Okay, look, I'm not having the best night, so while you can bring in whoever you're sleeping with tonight please stay out of my way-"
She froze.
There was an Uchuhage standing in front of her.
Oh.
There was the other shoe.
"Justine Mitchell?" The goon asked.
"Please don't hurt me!" She blurted, terrified. "The strike wasn't my idea, I just went along with it because-"
"I'm not going to hurt you," the Uchuhage interrupted, sounding confused and offended. "Why do you people keep assuming I'm going to hurt you? We don't hurt our slaves."
Right. Of course they didn't.
"What. What do you want with me?" She asked, trembling, wishing she could slam the door in his face and pretend this never happened. "I thought. I thought you were going to leave us alone-"
"I am here to take you for a personal audience with Hegemon Kyukogo."
She stared at him for a moment. "I'm sorry?"
"Hegemon Kyukogo wishes to meet with you," the Uchuhage repeated.
"Your… Your sovereign wants to meet… Me?!" Justine squeaked, flush with terror. "But I, but I didn't do anything, I'm nobody important, I told you I didn't help start the strike or even participate in any meaningful way-"
"This isn't about the strike," the Uchuhage assured her. "Or at least, not because of any part you had to play in it. You have been selected for a great honor, and the Hegemon must speak with you to discuss your role in the days to come."
She nearly collapsed, her suddenly iron hard grip on the doorframe the only thing keeping her standing.
Great honor?!
That was never a good thing!
Swallowing, her voice trembling, she timorously asked, "And…wh-what is this great honor?"
"The Kusarikokan Festival is upon us," Uchuhage explained, telling her absolutely nothing. "Which means… Her Divinity needs someone to take her place on the Celestial Throne."
Justine stared blankly.
"I'm sorry, WHAT?!"