A/N: Fun fact - there's tons of Power Ranger easter eggs in this chapter! Can you gather them?
(Opening: Maki Ohguro – Anything Goes!)
Angel Grove: the hope of the planet Earth! In this humble Western city, the super fuel Morph-X, has helped all live happy healthy lives.
Sadly, forces that wish to harness this power for darkness are always on the horizon. That is why Earth has defenders willing to go beyond for its protection!
They are Kamen Rider Rangers!
Previously on Kamen Rider Ranger…
Phew! I thought he'd never leave!" The monkey looked over his shoulder... as a hand came from behind him, giving him another banana. The monkey squealed with delight as it took its treat, as a man wearing a red wool coat over a green tunic came from behind it, greeting Jack and Jill with a cheeky grin. "Hello, there~ Nice to meetcha!"
(Opening: END)
Level 1: Pecking Order
"Awww? The monkey wasn't talking?" Jill looked legitimately downtrodden, and not just because the two of them were chewed up and spat out by a six-foot roach.
"Thanks for the save," Jack nodded, genuinely grateful and still winded from their first fight. "We owe you 9,000!"
The man smiled mysteriously. "Well, at least you understand how this is supposed to go. I'm Basco, and this is Sally," he petted the giant monkey that had just polished off another banana in record time.
"I'm Jackson. It's a pleasure," the 'eldest' twin said.
Jill stayed silent, but was elbowed into remembering her manners. "Name's Jill. We coulda taken him, but... thanks for helping anyway."
Basco only laughed at the twins' greetings. "Indeed. Had Creepox continued, you would have had quite the short debut. Shame there are even stronger beings than him." Basco and Sally shared a knowing look, before addressing Jack and Jill again. "I bet if you had protection... something like today wouldn't have to happen again, no?"
Jill puffed out her chest. "You bet what happened today won't happen again! Once I get some training under my belt, I'll squash that bug! And all his friends! Just like ants!"
Jack shook his head at his sister's pride. "In all seriousness, we're thankful for the offer, but we're fine. We won't need protection-"
"Hold on. You misunderstand," Basco interrupted, still in his relaxed pose. "I'm sure you all can handle yourselves in a fight, today proved that. However, what if Creepox were to come back right now? Or he brings back his leader?" He spreads his arms out. "You guys face a serious power gap, you know! I'm just offering to... stagger the players, so you guys actually face enemies you can handle. No interference at all."
Jill looked ready to turn him down again, but Jackson raised a hand to stop her. He turns back to Basco. "Why are you offering this? What do you get out of it?"
Basco raised an eyebrow, his smirk not twitching a bit. "Asking the right questions, Mr. Jackson. But... that is a price you might not be prepared to pay. In order to gain something, you must give something up."
Jackson considers this for a moment, before nodding. "So, I owe you for the save earlier... and if you help us by keeping the freakishly powerful away, I'll keep owing you."
"Bingo!" Basco smiled. "Don't worry... I'm sure we can work something out later. Until then... welcome to the Jolokia Clan!" He takes off his hat and bows low. "I'm Basco ta Jolokia, aka the 'Red Menace.' Of course..." He straightens up, replacing his hat onto his head. "You two will be silent members."
With that, Basco walks away, Sally following, but stops for a moment. "Oh yeah... If you ever wanna talk... find Sally. You might like... what I have to say." With that, he continues to leave, not even giving the siblings a second thought…
"Welp," Jill clapped her hands for attention, "guess we'd better head back to the Juice bar, huh?"
Jackson nods. "Uncle Tommy's probably worried sick wondering where we are."
As the two begin the walk back, Jill adds. "Well, we have a hell of an alibi. I mean..." She gestured to her slightly scorched outfit.
Jackson nodded, as his face softened. "Sorry about that. About earlier... I should have consulted you..."
Jill blinks at her brother, before laughing. "Geez, so serious! We become superheroes, and you're all John Conner! Lighten up – I don't care about that crap!" She punches her brother's arm. "You can think about all that alliance crud. Meanwhile, I'll handle whipping the -!" She stops suddenly, causing Jackson to look over at her. "...Jack. Did we take our bikes here?"
Jackson blinked. "Of course not. We ran..." Jackson's voice faded as the siblings traded looks. They had run... to the other side of campus... three miles... that they now had to walk back while injured.
"Shit," they both sigh.
By the time they had trudged all the way over to Ernie's, their uncle was talking to AGU's very own security police ('Silver Guardians? Lame name!' Jill thought.). When he saw them arrive, he hugged the bruised life out of them, before chewing them out for not following closer. Only when the usual parental figure anger faded did he wonder how they had gotten out of the Juice Bar. Jackson had apparently already come up with a lie – someone locked them out of the shelter, so they went to find somewhere else to hide. On the way there, some robotic monsters attacked them but ultimately left them alone.
Did it make sense? Mostly. Was it believable? Not really. Tommy already looked skeptical but seemed to take the lie as it was: bold-faced. Deciding everyone had had enough action for a bit, he led them to Chambers Building, their home for the foreseeable future, after securing parking passes for the bikes. As the campus had male and female dorms, Jackson and Jill would be in different wings. While the Olivers helped each other unpack, news reports of the destruction were on every digital device with a screen. Some parents were already turning, dragging their kids away from the school.
Tommy was tempted to join them, removing the twins altogether from Angel Grove; one look at their adamant faces though, and Tommy knew they would just dig their heels in. He stood down for now but left them with the knowledge that the minute they wanted to go, he'd be okay with that. Once alone, they smiled at each other; the whole school was unaware of what exactly happened. Everyone only thought it was some freak earthquake! The thrilling feel of their first henshin carried them through the afternoon, and right into slumber. Sure, they had their butts handed to them, and they might have made a deal with a devil – but still! Kamen Riders! How cool was that! Totally made up for getting stomped on by a bug.
Jackson sat up in bed, cracking and groaning a bit. Getting blown up by a bug sure hurt like a mother the next day. As he gets up, his Driver beeps. He groggily picks up his Driver. "Yello?"
"Jackson, as much as I don't want to interrupt your sleep," the Professor began, "Yesterday's events warrant... some more information. Come to my office immediately. Please bring Jillian as well."
Jackson nods, remembers Prof. Cranston can't see him over this comm, and responds, "Okay." He swings one foot out of bed...
Squish.
...and right into a half-eaten egg salad sandwich. He glares at his roommate, who snores unaware in his sleep. 'Note to self: look before I step.'
Meanwhile...
The minute something shrill rang on Jill's dresser, she swatted it crashing to the floor. She was having a fantastic dream – she was a superhero in blue, beating up walking tin cans... wait… "THAT HERO WAS NO DREAM!" Jill cheered as she got up, proceeding to ignore her soreness and jump around the room, doing high kicks and shadowboxing an invisible Creepox. "That! Was! So! Awesome!"
The feeling of two tired eyes glaring at her back, caused Jill to turn... and look right at her very exhausted-looking roommate, an iron jaw set like she was about to launch into a tirade… Jill chuckles, still on her happiness high. "Wow, you look awful!"
"That. Was because. I was asleep," the girl hissed. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"
Jill looks at the clock – 10 am!? It's that late!? "Geez, you're right! I'm gonna miss my morning jog!"
The girl just blinks at Jill, then just lays back down, muttering something like, "freshmen," as a knock came from their doom door. "I'll get it!" Jill sprang for the door and opened it to greet Jackson. "Brother, ol' buddy, ol' pal! Guess what!?"
Jackson smiled smugly. "Missed your jog?"
"Yes!" Jill crowed, eliciting a groan from the pile of sheets and frustrated upperclassman. "Get your sweatpants on, cause it's motor time!"
Jackson pales at the idea of... physical activity. Thank goodness he has a way to distract her. "Actually, Professor Cranston wants to see us this morning. About that 'assignment' he gave us? Looks like there's more to the story."
Jill hummed at that. "Assignment? Story?" She crossed her arms, looking up in thought. She sucked her lips in thinking, until... "Ah! You mean... that assignment." She winked in the most unsubtle manner.
"What?" the blonde girl sat up again, still carrying bags under her eyes, but those eyes held curiosity... and hunger. "I'm still a little tired, but it sounded like you said Professor Cranston wanted to talk to... you two?" She looked back and forth between the twins, like the answer would appear if she swiveled her head quickly enough.
Jill, easily offended as ever, sticks her tongue out at her roommate. "Jealous, grumpy?"
Jackson taps her shoulder to move her aside. "Get dressed. We need to go." As Jill runs around, grabbing her clothes and rushing to the bathroom, the calmer of the pair fields the question. "He's an old family friend. He and my uncle go way back." A clever lie, but there's no way she'll figure out a way to verify it.
The girl wrinkled her nose at that. "You expect me to believe that the world's most prominent archaeologist and cutting-edge robotics expert are friends? What's next, aliens from space? Maybe the dinosaurs have come back to life!"
Jackson glared at her see-through attempt at information gathering. "You aren't going to get any dirt out of us, miss. This is personal stuff, not school stuff."
The girl just glares back. "That's just it – I have a nose for lying freshmen. I might not know why you're lying, but I'm on the trail now. And I always learn…" Jackson and the girl locked eyes for what felt like an eternity. It only broke when another ringing came from the floor. The nosy woman looked down just as quickly as Jackson squatted to cover it up by fake-tying his shoes. "What was-"
"I am here!" Jill stated, in a mock-baritone voice "and fully dressed! Hm? What's going…" She looked between the oddly heated scene between her new roomie and her old roomie (well, not since they were five...)
"Let's go," Jackson replied simply, as he grabbed Jill's bicep, and swept out of the door, leaving behind a rather potentially bad situation…
After a quick, brisk, walk to the Science Dept building, the pair found themselves back at Cranston's office. While Jackson was for knocking (how'd they manage to fix the door so quickly from yesterday?), Jill came right in. "Morning, Prof! What did you... huh?" Once more, entering the messy office... Cranston was nowhere to be found. Jill looks around and shrugs. "Again? How do we keep missing him? There's one hallway!"
Jackson smirked as an amusing idea surfaced. "Maybe he's hiding in another bad costume?" He laughs at it, and Jill joins in with the ribbing. Neither notices a figure with yellow eyes... staring and sniffing at Jackson's feet.
"Hehe, yeah!" Jill chimes in. "After we fling him around again, maybe he'll show us his secret base, eh?" That starts another round of laughter...
CHOMP!
Which pauses as the two of them look down... at the tiny metal creature gnawing on Jackson's shoes.
"WHAT THE SHIT!" Jackson screams as he kicks out his leg, shooting the little booger clear into a wall-
Click!
...that depresses inward. As the mini-monster slides down the wall unaffected, the wall on the far side of the room springs sideways, revealing two firemen poles leading into down. The tin toy walks over to the secret tunnel and shakes off being kicked before roaring like a baby lion at the stunned twins. It then turned around, walked with its nose in the air, and stepped right into the nothingness of the doorway, basically falling down the hole.
Jack and Jill stand there, their minds trying to understand what the hell just happened, for at least five minutes... maybe an hour? Finally, Jackson turns to his sister. "Jill, are you psychic? You can be honest with me..."
Jill looks at her brother... eyes gleaming with mischief. Uh-oh. "Jill," Jack began. "I know that look in your eye – this is the Ice Cream Factory Incident all over again – Jill, don't - STO-!"
Ignoring everything her brother said, the bombastic brunette rushed to the poles and was barely on them when she called out, "LAST ONE DOWNS A ROTTEN EEEEEEEEEEEEGG!" as she slid all the way down...
Jackson's hands grasped at the air as if trying to strangle his sister's poor impulse control. "I swear Mom stood too close to the microwave..." he grumbled a bit more, but finally walked over quickly to grab a pole and slide down. After about 10 seconds of sliding, his feet hit the ground and he nearly fell over if he hadn't been holding onto the pole. As he stabilized himself, he opened his eyes... and was met with a sight he was only slightly better prepared to take in after the robo-beast bit him.
The doorway opened to a large futuristic chamber, pylons in glass tubes acting as pillars. In the center of the room was a circular console where their benefactor was sitting on a chair connected to a desk-like setup in the center. On the walls were helmets like the one on the workstation in the office above them, but so many more... and all different colors. Most eye-catching though was the glowing crystal star sitting in the back, rotating slowly in a rhythm like a heartbeat.
As for Cranston, he was typing away while looking at a glass globe that showed images of the pair's fight from yesterday. It was only when the metal thing crawled over to him that he looked up. "Oh, good. You're here." He reaches down and picks up the robot, that nuzzles into his sweater. "Welcome to the Command Center. Please come in – we have so much more to talk about."
"Command... Center?" Jackson mumbled as his sister ran around looking at everything. "Is this place... a spaceship or something?"
Cranston laughed lightly and shook his head. "I can see your confusion, but I assure you that this is no interplanetary craft. Just a little workshop that I was able to create off the record using municipal laws and... some very fond memories."
The glass globe beeped, catching his attention. "Oh! Excuse me, just finishing up something. Please, look around, we can talk in a minute or two." With that, he put down the toy lizard, that made its way to a bay of the round pads, like the ones seen yesterday.
Jackson wandered over to the weird glowing star, as Jill seemed to be staring into its depths. "Hey, Prof," the boisterous ravenette called over, "what's with this rock? It's seriously cool!"
"That is the key to your arsenal. I call it the Power Prism," Cranston answered, not looking up from what he was doing.
Jill hummed, then said back, "Kinda looks like a ninja star..."
Cranston's typing stopped as he sighed; clearly, this had come up before. "It only resembles a ninja star. It has no connection to ninja of any kind."
"Still looks like a ninja star~" Jill sang. Jackson elbows her, and she responds with a raspberry before she wanders over to the charging pads, where the tin lizard was now resting.
Jackson looked at the wall of helmets. "What are these? Ranger Helmets?"
Cranston looked up for a moment, glancing at the wall. Finally, he went back to work. "They are. Those are all the ones I could find from my home universe after the final battle. I use each one as a reminder, and as inspiration for whatever new addition to your arsenal. At least, when I can." Jackson did not miss his annoyed glance at the Power Prism as he continued to work.
Jackson walks over to look at the globe the Professor was watching. It was the fight yesterday, but in a smaller window on the all-around screen, Cranston was typing away on some notes... that made Jackson feel very dumb. Nothing he was typing made any sense! Was it English? Japanese? Portuguese?
Pushing past it, he voiced his question. "So, what is this globe... thing?"
"The Viewing Globe is just a computer and monitor in one," Cranston answered causally, "that is connected to intergalactic cyberspace, giving us access to servers across the universe, including Galactic Outerpol. Plus, it has the memory to save files on all your enemies and still have room for streaming services." Cranston never looks up to see the kid's stupidly impressed face. Cranston went on, "Right now, I can only access information up to Citywide Threats, but-!" At Jill's shriek, both males' heads shoot up to see her... hugging a tiny bright blue metal tiger.
"What is this guy!? Please tell me I can keep him! I won't take no for an answer!" The energized girl spoke quickly like Cranston would turn her down if she stopped talking!
"Easy, Jill," Cranston smiled, "of course, you two can keep them. They are your Zords after all."
"Our what?" both teens questioned, the toy tiger nipping lightly as Jill's top.
"Fully autonomous bio-mechanical defense platforms," Cranston explained like it was nothing. "You both might be strong, but with your Zords, limitless potential is possible."
All things considered, Jackson had been handling the whole 'fate of the world' bit very well. But this!? This was... simply impossible! "How... did you make... how could you even...?"
Despite not being able to finish his sentence, Cranston nodded as if he understood. He began to talk while cleaning his glasses. "A method taught to me by an old ally, I mixed Morph-X and animal DNA to create the Lightning Liger Zord," he gestured to the feline mech curled in Jill's arms, "and the Croco-Cruncher Zord."
"Croco-Cruncher?" Jackson muttered. "You mean that – AH!" He yelps as pain shot up his leg. Looking at his foot, once more the little Zord was nibbling on his shoe. How he was able to bite through the shoe with ripping it up was just one more mystery to look into...
"This is all... very cool. Also, kinda confusing. Also, doesn't 'platform' usually mean we'd be standing on them? Unless these guys can grow, I can't see myself riding into battle on... this." He raised his foot a bit, which dislodges his hitchhiker. The Croc Zord bounces on the ground, shakes his head, then waddles off in a random direction.
Jill, just cluing into the conversation, caught on the words 'riding into battle.' "Oh. My. Gosh! Can we ride them!? Do they transform!? Will I be able to drive 10,000 tons of awesomely adorable badass!?"
Replacing his glasses, Cranston laughed at the kids' enthusiasm. "I assure you when the time comes, your Zords' true power will be revealed. Now, onto more pressing matters, I'm sure after your first battle, you have questions." His face takes a more serious vestige as he looks over the pair. "Anything specific stands out yesterday to you?"
"Well," Jackson took point, "I do have some questions about that guy we met yesterday."
Cranston nodded. "Right, him. He called himself Basco, right? I wish I could tell you something about him, but no one, not me or my friends, ever fought someone like him. I have nothing to go on."
"Why don't we, you know, look him up?" Jill pointed out, lightly tapping the stand of the Globe with her foot.
"I have tried, but as I've said earlier, I can only access a certain level of Outerpol," Cranston stated. "From my searches so far, he does not qualify as a Citywide Threat. So, either he's not on Outerpol's radar..."
"Or he's just as bad or worse than Creepox," Jackson finished grimly. What he wouldn't give to not be right all the time – and certainly not at this moment.
"Yeah, speaking of that roach," Jill snarled, the sting of defeat very much coloring her attitude on the subject. "I don't suppose you could tell us anything about him?"
"Actually, I have phenomenal news about that," Cranston stated before he typed on the Globe's keyboard. Once he hit enter, the blank bio changed to read 'General of the Warstar Armada' as he was leading an army of X-Borgs through a devastated city landscape. "Now that I have some data on him from your battle, Outerpol's list is a cinch to navigate," Cranston explained.
"How helpful..." Jackson noted sarcastically, before observing the alien's file, as he cut down a building with one claw. "Says he's a Planetary Threat. Second in command to an Admiral Malkor-"
"Ooh! Jack! I know that name!" Jill cheered, rousing her half-asleep Liger Zord still cuddled in her arms. "Basco said something about Malkor. It was..."
"He threatened Creepox that Malkor would be unhappy if he picked a fight with him," Jackson supplanted. He did not like the conclusion that drew if they were unable to take on the vice-admiral.
"Indeed," Cranston added. "Making an alliance with him might have been dangerous... however, I know all too well that decisions made on the battlefield should be made by those who fight on it. As far as I'm concerned, you both did the best you could do in your trial by fire."
"We might do better if we had stronger forms," Jackson pointed out, flashing back to the fight. "He tossed us around when we thought we had him. Isn't there any way to get better?"
"Yes... and no," Cranston (kind of) answered. "Truth be told, I was hoping to have more than two Riders, but the Power Prism is... temperamental." Jackson and Jill looked at the star, confused, then looked back at the Professor. "What I mean is, no matter how I try to activate it manually, the Prism only activates when it wants to."
"When it wants?" Jill voiced. "You make it sound like it's alive..."
At that, Cranston laughed a bit. "'Being alive' would be the only explanation for what can only be described as behaviors."
"Well, whatever," Jill writes off this detail as 'Ranger weirdness,' and moves on. "More importantly, I think we should tell Uncle Tommy about this. All of this," she gestures to the whole room. "About us being Kamen Riders."
Jackson looked over at his sister. "Tell Uncle? Why would we do that?"
Jill rolled her eyes. "Look, I'm not saying we tell everyone, but Uncle Tommy was scared when he couldn't find us – and as the people person of this duo, I could tell! He might be more comfortable knowing we could take care of ourselves."
Cranston studies Jill for a minute. "I understand how much you two care for your uncle, but you can't tell anyone, including Dr. Oliver. You don't know for certain he'll feel better, and the rule exists for a reason. Even one other person knowing about all of this puts them in danger, and countless others."
Jill frowned at that. "You don't know that! You don't know our uncle or our family!" Jackson looked between the two, thinking about intersecting, but Cranston beat him to the punch.
"I may not know Dr. Oliver all that well, but I can assure you what this outcome will be, Jillian. The minute any monster finds out some civilian knows what's going on and that they have a connection to either one of you, there will be those that try to use them against you! Telling your uncle is the wrong call."
Jill wants to say something back – anything at all – but she did have to remind herself that Professor Cranston had been doing this for years before she was born. He was still wrong, of that she was certain, but with his stubbornness and Jackson silently not backing her up, today was clearly not the day to tackle this discussion. "...Fine. What else is there to talk about?"
Cranston nodded. "Not much else. I only wanted to see if you both were alright after the fight. I'm glad to see that not only are you not here to turn in your Drivers but that the Zords are taking to you so well. Also, I was hoping that you two had brought your schedules?"
"Our schedules?" Jill questioned, her Liger Zord tilting its head with her. "I don't think they sent those out..."
"Here," Jackson handed over the Semester Schedules. "Jill forgets anything made of paper, so I always have to carry her stuff. Homework, letters in class-"
"Shut it!" She snaps playfully. "Or I'll feed you to my Zord." Said Zord responded by roaring and clawing at the air in front of Jackson, while Cranston looked over the schedules.
"Good, it looks like your classes are in order. Although, you should have a few more extracurriculars..." The Robotics Professor was cut off as the Prism began to glow. "What? Why is it..." His question was quickly answered as the Prism actually gave off a powerful suction that sucked the schedules from the man's hands. Both class schedules were absorbed by the Prism.
"..." Jackson stood there, brain shutting down as it tried to process an inanimate object sucking in his class schedule from across the room! In his shock, he didn't even notice his Zord crawling up his leg. Likewise, Jill's jaw dropped, as she too tried to process what the hell just happened.
"See? This is what I mean," sighed Cranston. "Temperamental." Suddenly, the Prism began to spin rapidly, its colors mixing and swirling together, before it shot out the schedules.
Jackson caught his form, while Jill's flew into her mouth, so she was holding it as a dog would carry a bone. As she spat out her schedule, Jackson was already reading his. "Huh. It changed some of my classes... and it recommended clubs to plug into."
"What the-! Shop!? I hate that class!" Jill groused. "Hey, Prism! You can't just change my classes around like that!" Despite its earlier activity, the star stayed silent, hovering in its corner. "Don't ignore me! I will come over there, you floating hunk of rock!" Jill continued to badmouth and trash talk the Prism, which either took no offense or was just ignoring her.
'Oh God,' Jackson thought. 'A floating star-shaped prism that can ignore us… that's our baseline for normal now.' "So..." the teen muttered to their mentor, as Jill tried to kick the magical object, only being held back by both Zords biting her pants leg ("Let me go, you surprisingly strong small fry!"). "When you said temperamental...?"
"I meant it only activates randomly. It's almost like it can choose when to turn on or not." He gestured to the schedules. "Still, though, if it is choosing how to help and when, we kind of have to follow. After all, it led me to you two, and it was a very good call."
Cranston and Jackson watched as Jill had given up attacking the Prism, and instead was lying on the floor, mumbling curses, as the Zords sat on her stomach. "Also," Cranston pointed out, "you should hurry and go to your advisors and change your schedules accordingly. The Power Prism shows the way, but it does not change reality. That'd be crazy."
Jill was practically cartwheeling to the St. John Gymnasium, pumped for the first meeting of the AGU Martial Arts Team. Truth be told, the girl's grades were, well, not bad; Jackson's study sessions kept her afloat, but numbers and letters just swam in her head with no rhyme or reason. It was why, besides being a KR Ranger (patent pending), Jill was so focused on making sure she earned her scholarship! Math might be difficult, and reading gave her a headache, but if adrenaline is required – just try to stop Jillian Oliver!
As she entered the court, fighting mat already set out, there were five people hanging around in two groups. Two of the group seemed to be in a heated debate over something, while the last three just seemed to be chatting idly. "Hey guys! What's goin' on? Trying to start a match before the coach even gets here?" Jill walks over to the two boys, one with the clearest complexion and a mischievous look about him, and the other with hair so messy, it could have passed for a bird's nest.
Clear Face spoke first. "Actually, I'm just trying to settle a misunderstanding with this guy. Wes Collins, by the way." Jill responds in kind, and he nods with a smile. "Anyway, this clearly wrong freshman-" Said freshmen rolled his eyes, "-thinks that Dr. Oliver isn't the most awesome archeologist alive right now!"
"Because he's not!" Curly argued. "My dad, Andrew Hartford, has found some of the world's most valuable artifacts! All Tommy Oliver's found are bones and fossilized poop!"
"He's discovered three new species!" Wes rebutted. "You gonna tell me Hartford discovered Atlantis?"
"Three? When did Uncle Tommy find the third one?" Jill muses. "Guess it's true, they don't mention every new discovery..."
"Yeah, it-!" Wes gave the girl a double-take. "Wait... Uncle!?"
Jill snickers at both their expressions. "Yep, Doc Oliver's family to me! He is pretty rad, but he's always told me and Bro that who was the best or most popular doesn't matter! He told me really large digs require a lot of those guys to work together, so everyone's names are down for credit! Pretty sure he might have even mentioned someone named Hartford once, probably..."
"Really!?" Both boys lean toward Jill, eyes wide with excitement. "You've met them both!?" Wes and Baby Hartford proceed to batter Jill with questions about any new digs (Baby), or if her uncle is really so approachable as his interviews show (Wes).
'Y-yeesh,' the spirited youth sighed. 'Uncle said he had fans, but I didn't realize he had so many!'
Conversations ended suddenly when a man familiar to Jill entered the facility – Jason Lee Scott, karate teacher and, as explained by uncle Tommy, coach of the AGU MA Team. "Morning, team." Immediately, four of the group around Jill lined up and bowed in response to Jason's presence. The curly-headed kid looked confused for a moment, but Jill, recalling her old Aikido teacher, caught on and bowed as well.
Jason nodded in approval. "Very good reaction time. Casey, Theo, Lily, Wes – good to see you four have been practicing. As for the new blood..." He walks over to look at Jill and Curly. "Mack Hartford. You don't have any experience, nor have you participated in any tournament. What makes you think you can be here?"
Mack – Curly – just grinned. "I was told college was the place where you can try everything! Wanted to see if I liked karate, sir!"
Jill chuckles at the brass balls it takes to admit he was a newbie. "Wow, fresh meat, eh? You realize this is the stage where we get serious, not just start out?" Mack looks sheepish, but not sorry. Jill continues, "However! I can't wait to see what you're like when you get going~"
Mack blinks at the comment, while Wes and two others of the group smirk at the banter. Jason speaks again, his voice instantly getting everyone's attention. "Good answer, Jill Oliver. Karate is a tool used to bring others together, as well as protect the innocent from harm.
"That being said," Jason went on, "even though you are now on this team, I expect you to act with consideration of your opponent and teammates at all times, and never use your knowledge to hurt others, unless in self-defense of yourself or others! This rule is ironclad, and I don't want a repeat of last semester! Understood?"
"Yes, sir!" the Wes and the others, sans Jill and Mack, Wes looking a little disheartened at the comments for some reason.
"Now, before we begin," Jason cracked a smirk. "It's important we have a baseline to go on. So, Mack and Jill – to the mat!"
"Hm?" Mack looked around in confusion. "Me? For what?"
"Everyone on this team has been picked by the Board of Trustees, but I still have the right to judge you unfit for the team," Jason explained. "As you two are the only new recruits, I have to judge how much work you both will need. Only way to do that is a fight."
"No sweat!" Jill cheers as she takes her place on the mat, Mack shyly following. "Don't hold back, Mack! Give it your all!" Jill calls out to her opponent. Despite his meekness of being put on the spot, he nods and gets into a very amateur stance. 'But I'd still better be careful,' the energetic girl thinks. 'My old master warned me you only reach the top so someone else can knock you off! Better stay back and tank his hits. See what level he's on-!'
"Begin!" Jason said, and, with almost machine-like precision, Mack drove an open palm thrust that blew the wind out of Jill! Jason kept his composure, but Wes and another female team member took steps forward, but never entered the ring. "Jill, can you still continue?" Jason finally asked.
Jill takes a deep breath before standing up and stretching. "'M fine. Let's get this fight underway!" In her head though, she noted that the brawl with Creepy Crawler took more out of her than she thought possible. Thankfully, with a better understanding of Mack's strength, Jill dances and dodges his blows, observing his technique to plot a counterattack. Sure as she thought, the guy was all fists of steel, but no better than a novice! With that assessment, Jill steps into range, but instead of just dodging, now she was redirecting all his hits! Every sloppy fist, kick, and chop was moved around her. "You're pretty strong, pal," Jill said with a playful smile, "but martial arts are about skill!"
It was at that moment that the girl took one of his arms, and flipped Mack over! He landed on the padded arena with an "oomph!" Jill looks over at the group, specifically Jason, whose face looked neutral in its approval. "Thank you, thank you!" Jill bows to the group like a showman. "Please no autographs!" The girl continues to preen in her victory, while the smallest of the group gave a faintly disgusted look.
"Hey!" Mack calls over as he stands up. As Jill turns to greet him, he rotates his sore shoulder. "I'm not done yet! I can still take more!"
Jill scoffed. "Well, come at me, Mack Truck! I can handle it!" Mack responded alright... but taking a running leap, aiming a flying knee at the teen!
Mack came at Jill with a "HIYA!" Jill dug her heels in with a "RAAAH!" Both sides were ready to come in hot-!
"YAAAAH!" Had Jason not popped in, pulling Jill back, and catching Mack's leg all at once! As Jill fell backward onto the mat, Jason dropped Mack, who fell onto his back as well. "Ok, good work to the both of you!"
"If it was good," Jill groaned from her prone position, "why did you stop us?"
"Two reasons," Jason stated as he glanced at Mack. "Flying kicks and knees are illegal in the ring. Do that during a match and you will be disqualified as a start!" Mack flinches, but the coach's face stays pleasant. "It's excusable for now, because you are new, and probably not aware of all the rules. As for you, Oliver," Jason looked at the girl as she stood up, dusting off the back of her pants. "Rather than dodge and allow your opponent to out themselves from the ring, you tried to take it head-on. That kind of mentality can put you in serious trouble if you aren't careful."
Jill frowned at the haranguing ('Is that how you use the word, Jack?'). "Yeah, if I didn't have it handled. I was just gonna Judo flip and pin him! You can't expect to follow rules in a real fight!"
"I'm not asking what you'd do in a real fight," Jason calmly pointed out. "I asked you to show your skills in this environment. Frankly, your style of taking a hit to dish out retaliatory strikes is unnerving..." Jason looks at Jill for a minute, as she stands stalwart in her opinion. "So, we'll have to work that out of you before the first meet," Coach says as he walks over and extends a hand. Jill grins and eagerly shakes the man's hand. Wes, the blonde girl, and an average-looking kid clapped and cheered; the small dissented one seemed more perplexed than happy.
"Sir, no offense," he began, sounding offended, "but you just said her fighting style is dangerous! She could hurt herself, she could-!"
"I imagine she's going to hurt herself a lot worse without good guidance," Jason pointed out, causing the boy to shrink back, as he settled on his attention back on Jill. "Wouldn't want another Oliver hurting themselves on my watch."
Jill looked thoughtful at the phrasing, but Jason had moved on; Mack was also accepted onto the team (as a substitute for now), and the first match would be on the fifth week of school. Other than that, everyone was dismissed.
The ring of the Legacy Drivers sends any thought of study from Jackson's head. "The Professor's calling."
Jill, eager to be doing anything else but studying, perked up. "Maybe another monster attack? We should go see!"
"Keep reading," the twin smirks at his sister's crestfallen face. "We can't be sure of anything until we check-in." As Jill grumbles about 'dumb butt-faces,' Jackson answers the Driver. "Professor, what's happening?"
A brief but hurried response came over the device. "Weird readings downtown. Come to the Command Center – I can explain more there."
"YES!" Jill cried as she slammed her laptop shut. She meets her brother's flat stare. "I mean... oh no. We have stopped studying. How very tragic."
As the twins enter the Command Center, Cranston is typing like a madman as his eyes darted through all the images the Viewing Globe was pulling up. Jackson coughs for his attention, startling the interdimensional traveler. "O-oh! Jackson, Jillian. When did you get in?"
"Been here for an hour, Prof!" Jill teases the absent-minded professor as the pair come up to the screen. "But, really, Prof. What's going on? Sounded urgent."
"It is... I think," Cranston cryptically said. "Tell me, what do you two know about Morph-X?"
"It's... a power source, right?" Jill muttered as she tried to recall what she knew. "Like sunlight or wind, I guess..."
"Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to go over that before," Jackson sighed, a sentiment Cranston shared.
"I thought as much. Well, allow me to enlighten you, Rangers." Cranston then pulled up a visual of a large tower onto the Viewing Globe. "Morph-X is not just any power source. It's clean, renewable, limitless in use... and why Angel Grove is the focal point for invasions from every direction." Cranston kneaded the bridge of his nose as he continued. "This tower is the heart of the Morph-X System. Mercer-Collins International holds the patent for parts... and the main ingredient for the super fuel."
"Mercer," Jackson said lost in thought. Hadn't he heard that name before...
"Collins, huh..." Jill's mind was wondering the same thing, but for a different name.
"Since MCI refuses to sell or share the patents," Cranston explained further, "Angel Grove is the number one leader in green emissions, and the only city using Morph-X."
"This sounds like a catch the size of Earth!" Jill griped. "I mean, the name alone sounds crazy! Does this stuff also mutate people? Are these mutants used in Soylent Green? What is the deal!?"
Cranston blinks at the reaction, before looking at Jackson in askance. "She spends a lot of time reading creepypastas online. But, she has a point. You mentioned the main ingredient was patented. What is Morph-X made from, Professor?"
Cranston adjusted his glasses. "Well... it should be quite familiar to you. It's how you two are able to become Kamen Riders." That shut both teens up as they traded looks. "I'm not sure of the exact circumstances, but MCI was able to tap into the Morphing Grid and condense it into a liquid state. Angel Grove is the only city in the world designed in such a fashion, and it's for this reason, I built a base here in the heart of the city."
With a tap on the keyboard, the screen changed to a map of the city, AGU smack in the middle. "Morph-X is the most likely reason Creepox attacked. It's might even be the reason this Basco character took an interest in you. I can guarantee they won't be the last. To that end, I secretly set up sensors at every Morph-X storage facility." The map lit up with red dots. "The minute unusual activity arises; I'll know before the local authorities even suspect anything. Understand so far?"
Jackson nods. "Makes sense so far. But how can monsters like Creepox find it so easily? How'd they even know it was happening?"
Cranston chuckled morosely at that. "Because Earth told them."
"Huh?" Jill tilted her head in puzzlement. "What's that mean? Told them?"
"The heads of the company, Anton Mercer and Jeffrey Collins, commissioned several commercials about Morph-X, many including – boastfully – that Earth had found a way to utilize the Morphing Grid to sustain limitless energy." Cranston just shook his head in disgust. "While the commercials were altered to remove any mention of the Morphing Grid, probably for fear of even hinting to the secret to their success, some of their signals could be picked up by interstellar frequencies. I had only just set up mine when I saw it years ago," Cranston spoke with finality. "I knew in a few years, the enemies that had destroyed my home would arrive…"
"And that's where we come in!" Jill exclaimed, cracking her knuckles as additional punctuation. "No way that's happening on our watch!"
Jackson nodded, smiling slightly at his sister's spirit. "That's right. Just tell us what's happening and where, and we can handle it."
Cranston looks over the both of you, both some of his mounting stress seemed to finally release him, shoulders becoming less tense. "Very well. In that case, the both of you need to go to this sector," the map on the Viewing Globe zeroed in on Cranston's finger point, "as my sensors say Morph-X is being drained from the warehouse in that area."
Jackson nodded. "Do we have any idea what the monster is?"
"Sadly, no. Seems there's something of a cosmic storm interfering with the connection," grumbled the veteran Ranger.
As her brother commented how conveniently unhelpful that was, Jill just blows a short raspberry. "Who cares? Besides, more fun to beat 'em when we know nothing about them!"
"Fun, maybe, but also tougher, Jill," Jackson points out. "Let's get there and survey the scene. The more info we have before we jump in. We don't want a repeat of what happened like last time."
"Right," Jill groaned, recalling, 'that damned superbug.' "Fine, whatever! But I call dibs on the biggest one!" With her declaration, she runs for the door in the back, Jackson following suit. The door in the back led right to the parking garage where the twins had stored their bikes, making it easy to jump on and ride off!
As they arrived at the scene, parking their rides in the back, Jackson jumped off to sneak behind some barrels, Jill following a little less quietly. Jackson shushes her careless stomping, before indicating the scene in front of them: two humans (or humanoid?) draining bright green fluid into a metal canister while a bipedal bull with a cape barked at them. "Keep moving, you slowpokes!" the bullman growled. "Lord Dai Shi hired you to deliver, and you're not getting anywhere quickly!"
"Well, we might if you helped," the girl groused back, but her companion smacked her shoulder.
"Just focus on draining Morph-X, Roxy," the blonde guy commanded. "After all, our cut will be worth the effort."
"So you say..." the girl, Roxy, complained again. "All this manual labor is bad for my nails! Where are those useless henchmen you brought, you walking steak dinner!?"
Said steak dinner snarled at Roxy. "That's Buffalord, you two-bit avatar! As for the Rinshi, they are patrolling the perimeter. Anybody comes, we will know!"
"Rinshi?" Jackson mutters. "Who, or what, are Rinshi?"
Jill, whose attention had wandered to the strange sounds coming from behind the pair, blinks at what she finds then captures her brother's focus. "Um, I'm thinking... these guys?" They only had a minute to acknowledge there were five brown-robed, pale-skinned, hopping weirdos that had snuck up behind them before they were knocked out of their hiding place and into the open!
Roxy, Blondie, and Buffalord looked at the pair of humans in shock, before the Rinshi surrounded them, blocking them off from any escape or attack routes. "Heh, and it seems it bore fruit," Buffalord smirked as he congratulated himself. "Blaze, Roxy. Take the Morph-X back to headquarters. I've got some interlopers to squash."
"No more work? Now you're speaking my language!" Roxy cheered, as she and, presumably, Blaze stood next to three barrels. "Well, humans! See you never!" The pair whipped out two glowing keys and inserted them into their wrist devices. In a flash of light, they vanished, taking the barrels with them.
Buffalord chuckled as the Rinshi made weird 'hu-hu' noises. "You two spies should know better than to walk so casually into a battlefield…"
Jill looks ready to tear his horns off, but Jackson holds her back. "Jill, stop!" he whispers. "We're surrounded and unmorphed... follow my lead and let's see what we can learn first. Be ready to defend, just in case." Jill looks really unhappy at not fighting, but she relents as you both get up.
"So, the great Buffalord, was it?" Jackson called out, trying to appear unfazed by the skewed odds. "Can't be that great- what with all the sneaking around."
"Y-yeah!" Jill chimed in. "And having your mooks face us? Pretty cowardly, I'd say!"
The man-beast just snorted, his nose ring swinging in the sudden gust. "My pride to Lord Dai Shi outweighs my love for a fight! And you're ones to talk, spying on my mission!"
"Mission? To collect green fuel?" Jackson shrugged. "If you wanted to gas up your ride, they have stations for that, I hear-!"
"This 'fuel' is capable of more than you can possibly understand, human!" Buffalord swiped through the air trying to appear grandiose; it does not faze the addressed pair. "With Morph-X, any creature can become stronger than you could possibly fathom! Not that you will need to worry about what that means! Rinshi!"
Done talking, the monster snaps his fingers, and two of the pale guys hop forward… only for Jackson's shove and Jill's roundhouse to knock the two over! As the Rinshi lay there in shock, Buffalord and the other three are taken aback by the surprise attack! "Enough talkin', you ugly-ass hamburger! It's Henshin Time!" Jill's insult did rouse them from shock to anger... but not before she and her brother had whipped out the Coins and turned on their Drivers.
CHOOSE YOUR CHARACTER!
"Time to strike!" Jackson called out before inserting the Crocodai Coin.
PLAYER SELECTED!
As the cocoon of energy enveloped him, he heard, G-G-G-G-GO! G-G-G-G-GO! GO GO GO!
In the first 'GO', his boots appeared on him, and in the second one, his gloves. The last three were punctuated with the forming of his gold chest plate, his helmet snapping on, and the visor closing down!
PLAYER: CROCODAI~
As for Jill-
"Time to rage!" she excitedly cheered as she slammed her Coin into the Driver!
PLAYER SELECTED!
While the same sequence (minus the golden shield) played out, her's sounded a little different... G-G-G-G-GO! G-G-G-G-GAO! GO! GO! GAO!
PLAYER: SAPPHIGER~
The minute the energy dissipated, the two Riders struck out against the three Rinshi left! Jackson whipped out his Croco-Dagger and struck one down in the blink of an eye. One of the last two barely had time to defend itself before he slashed him as he sprinted past, and gave one last strike on the Swarm enemy for good measure. Both fell and faded into black miasma.
"Huh, so that's what happens when you beat 'em," Jackson mused. "I was kind of expecting an explosion..."
Meanwhile, with Jill, her opponent was not nearly as easy to topple; every strike was met with head-on capability by the Rinshi. However, what the hopping creep lacked was Jill's driving urge to surrender never! Whenever the monster dodged, Jill just started swinging faster, until-
ZOCK!
...until the creature failed to see her lining him up for a roundhouse that sent it flying away! "Ha! Who says charging at your opponent leads to trouble? Ain't no other way!"
"I couldn't agree more!" Jill had no time to process the jab as Buffalord comes charging in... aiming for Jackson! The blindsided Rider barely crosses his arms in defense as the beast-man plows into him, the surprise attack blasting him through a warehouse building!
"Jackson!" Jill gasps, before growling at the monster. "Your ass is ground beef, bastard!"
Buffalord just laughs. "I'm just picking off the weak! The world has no room for the frail!"
"Oh, I'll show you frail!" Jill roars as she charges! Ranger and Buffalord meet in the middle, Electro Claws against horns of iron. Jill swung for blood, every hit meant to kill, but Buffalord, for all his boasting was no slouch! He blocked and struck out as hard as Jill could serve. Eventually, both of them knocked each other back a few steps.
"Phew! What a workout!" Buffalord bragged although it was pretty clear Jill's hits had winded him. "You actually fight decently for a human! Tell you what, this isn't an offer I should be extending, but my Lord could do great things for tempering that spirit and passion! Join us, and you could climb high inside our temple."
"Join... you?" Jill panted, but froze a bit at noticing some of the debris from the wall caving on top of Jackson was moving... which meant Jackson was moving! 'Looks like Grass Breath hasn't noticed yet…' Not indicating she looked in Jackson's- 'Wait, hero names!'... in Crocodai's direction, Sapphiger raised a claw to point at her opponent. "Join you? No chance in hell! I didn't become a hero to suck up like you!"
"Why you-!" Buffalord growled before stomping his foot, snorting steam, and rushing at Sapphiger!
"You wanna charge at me!? Let's see what happens!" The blue-clad warrior leaped into cartwheels that became a Hellcat Assault. The two charged past each other, their speed making it impossible to tell who had hit!
They both paused for a moment, frozen where they stopped, back toward each other. Crocodai, having regained consciousness, looked between the pair silently. Suddenly-
BZZZRT! A flash of sparks sprung up from...
Buffalord, as he cried out in pain! "Grah! W-what! To think... some humans... could best... me...?" His voice gave out as he fell over and literally exploded in defeat!
Feeling cocky, Jill dusted off some imaginary dust from her shoulder. "Heh... guess we saw what happened."
"Whoa... Jill-"
"Ah! Hero names!" Sapphiger interrupted, before stumbling forward for Crocodai to catch.
"J- Sapphiger, are you alright?" Crocodai asked with worry, but she shoved off him to stand lopsidedly.
"Quit worrying, 'm fine! 'Sides, I just took down our first monster! I think that calls for a 'thank you,' or a 'you're so awesome, big sis!' Something like that."
Crocodai rolls his eyes before remembering Sapphiger couldn't see that. "I guess you are fine... and I'm the older twin!"
"You... pests..." Both Riders whipped around to see Buffalord, somehow still in one piece despite exploding, leaning on one of the leftover Morph-X barrels.
"Aw man, you're still alive!?" Sapphiger griped, but the monster looked anything but amused.
"I have not... failed yet. I will serve my Lord... even with my dying breath!" With that, he ripped the lid of the barrel off and tilted it to his lips as he began to drink from it.
"Round two? Oh ho, I am so-"
The hairs stand up on the back of Crocodai's neck. Something big is about to happen. "Jill, get to the bikes! Now!"
"But-" Sapphiger has little time to argue as she's pushed toward their idling rides, the sounds of cracking, ripping, and stretching reaching their-! "Nope!" Sapphiger took one look back and practically leaped the last few feet onto her Yamaha, her brother close behind.
As the pair sped off to a safe distance, Sapphiger spoke into the comms link in the helmet. "What the shit! He's going full Kaiju over there!"
Before Crocodai could ask what she meant, the ground rumbled. Hesitantly, the pair look back... to see Buffalord shoot up like a demanded horned weed in the center of the warehouse district! "Hahaha! Now... now I am strong!"
A/N: Ya know, I detest cliffhangers, but it's kamen in Common Rider – er, I mean common in Kamen Rider for episodes to give out sometimes in the middle of the fight. But hey! At least I get to keep my promise of one morphed fight per chapter! Don't forget to leave a review telling me what you thought!