Fantasuchikku Senshi DEJIRANGER Chapter 2: Episode Two: Uniting a Winning Combo!, a digimon fanfic

FANTASUCHIKKU Senshi DejiRanger! Episode Two: Uniting a winning combo! What do you mean the Ranger suits aren't ready?!

(Disclaimer: As said in the previous chapter, Digimon is own by Bandai, Saban/Disney, and Toei animation. Also, Sentai/Power Rangers is a product of Saban/Disney, Toei, and Bandai too. Why has no one else thought up this mix? Just my pondering… I've made no money off of this production, and do not intend on doing so. And I appreciate all of the reviews I've gotten at this point! Thank you very much! )

Digital Police Headquarters; a massive, bulky building in the streets of Tokyo, that stood out from the various attractive skyscrapers. No, DP Headquarters, as Rangers would sometimes call it, stood out like an insanely-colored jellybean in a box of plain milk chocolates. Several teens and young adults, all wearing similar black outfits with a single color for details, loitered around the main lobby. Some just acted like average people, talking amongst themselves about fashion, school, or whatever may have been on their minds. Others looked oddly stiff, as they sat in rigid fashion, possibly waiting for a call from the captains on team arrangements.

"HOLD THE ELEVATOR! HOLD THE GODDAMN ELEVATOR!!" And then, there was the lunatic in goggles, running through the lobby and screaming at the top of his lungs, in English nonetheless. At least two people looked at him, followed by shaking their heads at this, while muttering something about 'Goddamn idiot-gaijin'. The "Idiot-Gaijin", however, didn't care; he just wasn't in the mood to go up stairs and this seemed to be the best way of getting attention.

The strategy worked either way, as a horrified teen, around the lunatic's age, kept the door open while staring at him as if he'd run through the lobby of Headquarters, while screaming in foreign tongues. Which is completely understandable, as that what just happened. The goggle-headed lunatic dashed in immediately, accidentally smacking one person with the rather heavy luggage he carried.

The elevator went onto its merry way, as all of the passengers dipped into an uncomforting silence. The lunatic with goggles, a Japanese-born youth by the name of Daisuke, stood in there quietly for a few moments before turning to the guy he'd smacked in the chest with the heavy luggage a short time ago. He said to the guy, in perfect Japanese, "So, do you know where conference room 220 is?"

The guy, who was still rubbing his chest from before, looked at him. Well, "look" wouldn't be a proper word for it; a more suiting choice of phrasing would be "glared." "Don't see why you want to know… But that's where I'm going too." The guy muttered.

Daisuke merely ignored the dark intonations with the statement, more worried about other things on his mind. "Ah, that's great! Can I follow along with you?" He asked, before going onto another train of thought, "Wait… Are you Ryo Akiyama?"

"…" The guy looked himself over for a moment. Blue, short hair, grey eyes, more Chinese features than Japanese, and a bit lankier than any picture of Ryo had ever shown him as. "I'm sorry, but no. I'm not sure how you came up to that idea, actually."

"Guess not, huh." The goggle-headed lunatic said, noting the annoyance in the other teen's voice, finally. He chose to leave him be, or at least act like that for a few seconds. Then, "I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it." The blue-haired guy had no desire to talk to him, at this point… In his mind, this guy, Jen, hoped quite sincerely that this was not going to be someone he'd have to work with often in the future. Then again, he really didn't want to work with anyone in the building. All he wanted was to be in Okinawa again… Not being forced to do this… Okay, he thought, now you're just acting like a brat, like everyone assumes of you. Come on; try to be a little nicer… He probably wants to be here less than you… No, if that were the case, then he'd probably have pitched himself from a window instead. "So… You here for DejiRanger too?"

Daisuke nodded, rather enthusiastically, "Yeah! It's great!" Not the response Jen was hoping for, there. "I mean, at first when I got the call from the NYC Headquarters, I was sure I was going to get canned! This is a really big improvement over loosing my partner and my job!" Really not the response that Jen was looking for, and something that just made the job seemed worse than before.

"Oh? What made you…? Well, think that?" Jen asked warily, hoping that it came from some minor incident or something. He definitely acted like a rookie, this… Huh. Maybe Jen was being over-critical. He already made several judgments on one of his new teammates, and he didn't even know the guy's name. "And what is your name, exactly?"

"My name? Daisu- Wait no. That's not right. Japanese names are said last name first… Motamiya Daisuke!" The lunatic goggle-head felt like a massive moron, just that moment. In his mind, he kept on shouting about how dumb one must be to forget how you say names around here. "And it's no big deal really… I just shot up a whole city block."

Oh god. "A whole… Block?" Jen asked, trying to suppress the dark thoughts in his mind again. This is who he would be working with?

"Well, it highly exaggerated…" Jen calmed down quickly, feeling his throat ease up. "It was only half of a city block. And I don't see why Headquarters cared… All they'd pay for was the mailbox, the buses, and some of the windows. I mean, there are more than enough insurance companies that can take care of the cars!" The tension suddenly rose up again. "And no one was even hurt, save for a few cuts and bruises!" The feelings in the pit of Jen's stomach doubled, as he leaned onto the wall of the elevator slightly.

"Well, at least no one was hurt…" Jen tried to keep thinking positively, if only so that he would suffer a panic attack right then and there. The air in the elevator seemed a lot heavier now…

"Yeah! Usually, it's a lot worse!" That did it. Jen began to cough, as his throat felt like it just burned itself horribly. Daisuke, on noticing this, asked him, "What's wrong? Are you feeling okay?"

"You've… You've hurt people before?" The blue-haired teen could hardly believe it. This is what he's supposed to work with… Thoughts of if the rest of the team would be psychos like this… Motamiya and just the realization that he left Okinawa for this? He felt faint.

"Well, not badly!" Daisuke desperately tried to calm the blue-haired teen down, feeling extremely guilty for freaking him out this bad. Maybe rationalizing it would help. "Look… The monsters would've hurt them worse! They would've killed them, and I just shot them!" Not helping. Jen now began to turn pale. "And none of them died! Honest!"

Now he was hyperventilating. Poor Daisuke stood in the elevator, trying to get the poor boy to calm down, as he held onto a wall and had what appeared to be an asthma attack. "It's really not that bad, when you think about it…" Daisuke said, as he tapped Jen on the shoulder.

"Back off!" Thwack!

When the elevator came to a stop, anyone looking into it could see one boy on one side of the room trying to calm his breathing and looking to the wall, and another boy on the other side, nursing a black-eye, while cussing under his breath "Well, you're not so sweet and harmless yourself, bucko…"

The room both of them were looking for, conference room 220 wasn't particularly far from the elevator, only a couple of meters. Inside a group of people stood beside the plain and grey-toned long table, looking over papers, files, and what appeared to be boxes and packages of clothes and helmets. The room itself seemed not at all special, and looked like the average boardroom for business meetings. However, the utter lack of free-will and exclusiveness was zapped, with the brightly-colored spandex, packaging bubbles, and oddly-shaped weapons that scattered the floor.

"Hey! Are either of you two Daisuke or Jial- Jaila- … Jenrya?" The man in the front of the group, a nineteen year old with brown hair and bright blue eyes said, looking to a packet of papers for a moment. The young man seemed a bit swamped with work, considering in the background there was a bit of a scuffle and rummaging of boxes by a blonde girl as she shouted about something not being here, and how could those idiots forget to send it. Huh. Everyone here seemed rather rushed; Daisuke figured that none of them have had tea yet, or probably something like that. He sure as hell didn't remember everyone in Japan being this… Poor tempered.

"Yeah, I'm Daisu-"The goggle-headed lunatic was cut off, however, by Jenrya.

"Li Jianliang, second in command of the HakkuRanger; reporting for duty sir!" The blue-haired teen said, first saluting Ryo and then bowing deeply. Ryo blushed a little at this, while Daisuke stood there, a bit miffed.

"You know… It's really not necessary to go that far on your greeting, Li… A simple here is fine…" At least he and Yagami were both extremely professional, with the way they held themselves up in this sort of meeting. Then again, both were in the Digital Police much longer than Kimura, who just sort of nodded and went to sit down, and Orimoto, who just acted the same as this Motamiya did, besides the glaring in anger bit.

"Yeah, Lee, it's totally not needed to be so formal…" Daisuke muttered, annoyed that the other boy had pretty much dismissed him just now. He still looked pretty pale, and was definitely trying to avoid eye contact with him. Man, Daisuke thought, you'd think I told him I'm an axe-murderer or something… Once again forgetting Japanese custom, Daisuke extended his hand and said, "So, anyway, my name's Motamiya Daisuke! Do I have to tell you where I'm from and all that?"

"That's fine…" Ryo said, as he looked at Daisuke's hand for a moment, as if regarding it as a straw dog. "We've already covered your previous position and location in the information packet. Well, let us get on with the introduction meeting! Will everyone please take their seats?"

Daisuke quickly chose out a seat, while resisting the urge to laugh. Already, he'd acted like a moron to a new team member, and the guy who's most likely training them… Hell, why did they need training anyway? He'd been a Ranger since he was eleven, and sure as hell didn't need someone instructing him on anything. Sure, there were times in which Daisuke couldn't control his weapons… And he would over-exert himself in battle, but it certainly never hurt him! (Just made him pass out for a good five hours or so… He never lost a fight, when that would happen!) All this would turn out to be, in Daisuke's mind, just an utter waste of time from going after the bad guys and beating them senseless!

The other rangers took their seats, as Ryo walked to the front of the room, already starting his speech. "Now," he said, trying to look as impressive and as adult as he could. Might as well give out a show for them, make them think he was quite braver and more in control than he really was. "As many of you may already know, this is the elites. You have been selected from over five thousand Rangers, world wide, in order to participate in this group. Your skill are remarkable, your Zords are the best quality, and you all… You all…" Well, might as well say the truth. "You all are either dangerous, fuck-ups, or both at the same time."

The group balked at this. Well, that was an understatement, really. They looked extremely insulted, as if someone had told them their previous group members were cheap whores.

"Dangerous?! How the heck am I dangerous?! I can barely hit the side of a barn! (And I cannot believe I just said that…)"

"Look, I'm no more as dangerous as any of the monsters we need to fight on a regular basis!"

"Okay, tell me I didn't leave Okinawa for this? To just sit here and have some twenty-year-old insult me to my face."

"… People in Kyoto are never this rude, sir. Can you please try to be nicer?"

"… This may be the first time I've been verbally abused on the same day as I joined the group. I'm quite sorry, whatever I did…"

"Don't apologize to him… He's just being an ass." Rei muttered, quite annoyed already. He may not have wanted to be there, but that was no excuse. At least he could try to give the rest of the Rangers a chance…

"I know I'm being an ass, but they will not stand a chance unless they know the truth, Miss Rei. Look here, all of you," then, he suddenly stopped. No… He couldn't tell them what Rei told him, about the Reaper Five. They never faced anything like they would here… And the last thing he wanted was five teens scared of their wits. Hell, he got scared from what little Rei told him. "… You need to be retrained. You all need some serious teamwork, and you'll need it quick. In less than a month, you will need to be at the top of your game, and like hell will I let a bunch of teens go and get themselves killed by the hands of our enemies."

What little confidence Ryo had in them. Daisuke sat in his seat, brewing in anger over what Ryo said, and felt more than a little miffed that he felt they were so crappy as fighters. Hikari felt it was obvious who Mr. Akiyama was talking about most. She barely could even bend a spoon without blowing up the rest of the silverware drawer, or reading the minds of everyone who used that particular spoon that week. Jen sat there, partly ignoring Ryo, deciding that he probably just didn't have any formal training when it came to teaching others. Hopefully, he'd learn soon, as dealing with some wannabe drill sergeant was not something he looked forward to. Izumi just sort of shifted in her seat embarrassedly, while just hoping he wasn't talking about her. Then again, with a record such as hers, it was kind of hard not to think that. And Kouichi? He sat there, letting it all sink in. Ryo was extremely truthful, at least, and he had to give him kudos for being so up front. Too bad he'd drag down the rest of the team…

"Now… I know I must be insulting some of you, and that's just fine. Because, by this time next year, you will be the best of the best; you will all reach your full potentials, and none of you will shoot up half a block, just to help an old lady." In the back of the room, Daisuke balked. "But it's really going to take all of your strength to face off who you'll be facing. Now, are there any questions?"

"Yeah. Who pissed in your corn-flakes today!?"

The puzzle still missed a drastic piece to it. Arukenimon frowned, looking into the vial of subjects, upset on how poorly the cultures did. This batch failed too; the work she and Yukio had done, all resulting in this… This incomplete specimen, a creature that wouldn't last a minute outside of the tube, much less against the Rangers. It mutated incorrectly, in its transition period, and now the creature developed into something resembling an abortion mixed with a fish, with lungs that were too weak and small to even function.

She flushed out the embryonic-like fluids from the tube, leaving the failure to suffocate to death on the air that now grew in its case. Arukenimon sighed, logging the failure into a nearby notebook, the third one of the day. Nothing seemed to develop properly, in this earthen water, except for the drones, and even then they were only throwaway tools. At best, they were decent distractions, which bought them time against the Rangers. At worst, they would have to be what she'd need to fight with. That and that disgusting creature Yukio created. That… Mummymon beast. She shuddered, in utter revulsion at the thought.

"It won't work without the right water…" There was only one proper water they could use for the experiment. The murky black waters of the Dark Ocean, waters filled with both viable proteins and the needed amount of arsenic and other toxins. Without that specific water, her cultures were doomed to fail and flounder horridly, turning into malfunctions like that. "We need the water of the Dark Ocean…"

"Well, what will we need to do for it, Arukenimon?" She turned, looking back to see the pallor man with greasy purple hair and wistful eyes. He stood in the doorway, looking first to the botched experiment, as it flounder in the tube, making a dying gasping of air and pleads, before turning back to the white-haired woman. "I can see it's not working with the current waters? Will Digital World water be a suiting replacement?"

She shook her head, looking back to the previous notations. "It only gives them a free-will and a Digi-Core. That, in itself, is the last thing we want… Then, we may as well give these creatures consciences."

"Well, there is one place that I can recall…" His tone sounded distant, and melodic, as he spoke, "That may have an access code… With the code, I can get you all of the black, murky water you wish… And then, you may make all of the experiments you desire, including the big one…" He didn't like using the term she gave her pet project, Maelstrom-Maker. Instead, he insisted on calling it "the big one", preferring simplistic terminology for the work.

"And where, Yukio, shall we find such a heavily guarded code, such as the one for the Dark Ocean gate? It's not as if we can stroll into the Ranger Headquarters and thieve it from them…" He didn't seem to pay her any mind, as he reached into a pocket of his purple trench coat. With a distant smile, Yukio Oikawa handed Arukenimon a small vial of water.

If one was to look into the vial, it would surely remind them of both horrific pollution and the Elder Ones from Lovecraftian lore. The water's murkiness seem to hold an eerie quality of life to it, a sort of primordial ooze, as it flicked and splashed in the tube, floating around on seemingly it's own free will. It was barely enough for one creature, not nearly enough for the work she needed to do. Still, Arukenimon stared at the vial, this Unholy Grail of life and death. Oikawa handed the small vial to her, smiling happily at the look on her face.

"There's much more, back at the Headquarters, but that should be enough for one experiment. Be sure and make this a good one, Aru… We'll need at least enough time to go and pay a visit to some old friends."

"There's something really wrong with these outfits, especially this one." Rei said, while looking over what appeared to be a black and white spandex costume, holding up the limbs, or at least the pieces in which a limb would go in. The suit looked… It looked way too long. There were all sorts of problems with it, including tightness of the chest, too large of hands and feet and… Well, just a feeling that the outfit would be unsuitable for combat, if nothing else.

"I can tell you what's wrong with it on one glance, Rei..." Ryo said, looking over some of the details. He picked up the outfit by the shoulders, letting it completely unfurl. The outfit didn't fit standards for a Girl's Ranger uniform. There was no skirt on the dress, instead what appeared to be space for certain bits of anatomy that girl's do not have. The cut didn't fit for a girl of Izumi's height and measurements, too tight in the chest, too long for her arms and legs. Were she to use this, it would hang off of her, making her look less like a member of DejiRanger, and more of a cosplayer in an ill-fitting store-bought uniform. In fact, this outfit looked more suiting for a… "How badly can they fuck up!?"

"The rest are made just as poorly." Rei said, as she looked to the rest of the stacks. Most of the new uniforms looked shoddy and rushed, as if they never had a decent design figured out before putting them into production. Rather than the ornate looks of the other Ranger uniforms, the DejiRanger uniforms were merely a solid, plain color, with only the number order of the team members, from one through five, done into the back. The limbs, even if they were the same gender as the other four Rangers, looked completely wrong and rather generic, as if they weren't built for the specific Rangers.

"Oh my God, tell me they didn't try passing off generic Ranger suits for the actual thing, and expect us to accept them for use. Please, Rei, tell me they don't think we're that stupid." Ryo just put his head into his hands, as he shook his head. This all better be fault of the base being behind schedule or something… All of this stress. It was bad enough that, instead of a decent base or training facility, the DejiRanger would stay in a two-room apartment about three blocks away from the Headquarters and would have to commute here… No, now he had to deal with explaining to them their new uniforms were complete and total pieces of crap. He looked at the helmets really quick.

Intricate details, done in white, black and, in Orimoto's case, light purple, almost lavender. The helmets themselves had the code numbers of all the DejiRanger, from 001 through 005 imprinted on the back of the head. At least, Ryo thought, as he looked at each up close, examining each bit right down to minor computer systems implanted in the helmets, systems that were corresponded to the transformer wristbands that came with the (cheap knock-off) Ranger uniforms. Without the helmets, the added benefits of the uniform, from the super-strength to the additional weapons, even the DejiZords would be completely useless. Hell, the Rangers couldn't even transform without the helmets, making them the most crucial part of the Ranger uniform.

"At least they didn't skimp in this part." Ryo murmured, as he picked up the helmets, looking in the interiors, and mostly at the mouth-pieces installed inside. Rei wheeled around, picking up the remaining pieces of packaging and misshapen uniforms. She didn't look at him, as she listened, but rather, let her mind wander a little.

Rei didn't dare tell Mr. Ryo everything. He may have needed to know the truth, and that these were a group that no other Ranger team had defeated yet, but she dare not tell him all he really needed to know. It just wouldn't be feasible, with everything that had happened, in the past few weeks… And he and the Rangers would find out within due time.

Perhaps, she thought, it would be best not to grow to close to the Ranger and this college drop-out, as she watched him work with the helmets, trying to configure the technology in the helm to correspond with the wristband transformers, so as to allow for transformation. All of the anger Ryo harbored, at that moment, seemed to fade off, as he worked with the metallic items, trying to get the right combination of beeps and lights to go off.

Was she to grow close to these people that would just lead to a heavy amount of heartbreak, especially considering what they were fated for? Rei couldn't bear the thought of bringing herself up to that much disappointment.

"So, let me get this straight… You were the leader of your Ranger team, despite how risky your tactics are?"

"Well, it seemed like the best option at the time. The two other stronger members were mentally nuts, and the sanest, most stable people were weak as cardboard on their worst days. It seemed only natural for me to be chosen as the Red Ranger of the ArmoRanger." Daisuke responded, sipping at the can softly. Usually, he just guzzled sodas and that sort of thing down, but it was canned green tea. He still needed to get re-acquainted with the stuff, having spoiled his taste buds on Jolt cola and Red Bull.

One of the more trafficked areas of the base, despite its sparse furnishings and cramp-ness, the vending room made up for it's lacks with an abundance of vending machines, ranging from ice-cream, to drinks, to full-blown meals in a can. In the left-hand corner, Kouichi stood by the lone pachinko machine, more trying to draw attention away from him, and partially because he wanted to play some pachinko. However, he ran out of money on purchasing a train ticket to Headquarters, so now he stood in the game room, with not enough yen for a single game or even a ramune. Fate, in his mind, treated Kouichi rather cruelly. Never did things go the right way. Now, here he was with a second chance to be with a team… And he didn't have enough money for a game of pachinko. In essence, he felt like an idiot.

"Hey!" Izumi shouted over to the quiet kid. She guessed the guy was shy or something. Alright, change that to "borderline sociophobic" on him, who kept on staying over to some corner or other and becoming pale or blush whenever someone would try to talk to him. Sure enough, he looked to her surprised, blushing, and stammering some sort of 'yeah' statement. Weird kid, he was. "Come over here!" She motioned to the table, where the rest of the rangers were talking.

"Is it… Is it alright?"

"Yeah! Of course!" Izumi said, going right over to Kouichi, a big grin right on the (due to some odd coffee-soda she drank) hyper teen's face. She draped an arm right over Kouichi's shoulder, either totally ignoring how much she just scared the black-haired teen, or completely not caring; most likely, the latter. "Come on, we're a team now! We may as well act like team members!" That statement, however, seemed to ring badly with the other members. "Right, guys?"

"I guess so…" Hikari said, sounding unsure of herself. She played with of the two sections of hair by her face, looking away from Izumi's face. "Even so, we really know nothing about each other…"

"Except Daisuke, which really is good enough for me." Jen said, sounding rather disgusted as he spoke.

"Well, I love you too, Lee!" Daisuke snapped, getting up at the table rather harshly. Kouichi, automatically, stood between the two boys, trying to calm them down.

"Come on, guys… No reason to start fighting now, is there?" He said, desperately trying to fan off both tempers. This really didn't bode well for DejiRanger, if everyone was going to start fighting so soon, especially the leader himself. Daisuke turned to Kouichi.

"Well, I have plenty good enough reasons! Ever since he met me, he's treated me like shit! This jackass has punched me, treated me like some useless assistant, and basically been acting like I shouldn't be here!" Daisuke shouted to Kouichi, startling the poor teen. His glare fixed onto Jen, who didn't even get up from his seat. "And you… Boy, you're one hell of a jerk! I'm not even sure how any of your former teammates could stand you!"

"Well, I didn't hang around psychos like you back from where I come from. Tell me, did you intimidate all of your former teammates or did you just beat them into submission?" Jen said his voice icy and rather harsh.

"And what about you?! What made the rest of your team want to stick around with you, or are they just as spoilt as you!?" The look that Jen shot to Daisuke could easily be explained as 'No one talks of my friends that way'.

"Fine! Fine, you know what? I don't care! I'm obvious not suited to be a part of this team." Hikari looked over to him, rather surprised at the outburst, but he continued, "Look, I really don't care about this. Quite frankly, I see none of you as team members. You may be nice people, very kind. But I am in no real desire to see any of you as fellow Rangers." He got up, walking out of the vending room as he spoke, "The only Rangers I see as teammates, Orimoto, are currently in Okinawa."

"…" Daisuke fumed quietly, before turning to the other Rangers. "I really don't know what his problem is… You know what? He's nothing more then a brat."

"He's more than a brat, you know." Hikari muttered, sounding rather annoyed. She looked at her can half-heartedly, before tossing the remains into the garbage. "You didn't recognize the last name Lee?"

"Huh?" Daisuke asked, rather confusedly. "You mean there's something important about that?" Nearly everyone in the room fell to the ground, in outstanding shock. Izumi sat in silence, her face with the same confusion as Daisuke. Outside of the room, Jen nearly fell over too. He thought about returning back into the room, to apologize for being so quick of temper… Wow, could Daisuke be any denser?

"Idiot… You mean you don't remember the Founders of the police?" Hikari asked. Jen stepped away from the wall. Guess it wasn't hard for them to figure out that much about of him, what with his last name and hair color… Really, how many blue-haired Lees were running around Tokyo? He walked off, shoulders slumped over in defeat.

Now they were going to think his earlier attitude was the by-product of being spoiled as a child in the services. It wasn't due to any of that… He just missed Ruki and Takato badly… And Ruki probably still hated him now, for leaving… Jen decided to go check up on the Zord construction. It wasn't slated to finish for another couple of days, but at least it would do some good to see Terriermon through all this.

The computers and circuitry of the dimly light laboratory flicked with the eerie qualities of life, as the tube in the room oozed with life. The water did its charm, slithering throughout the creation, and revitalizing it, strengthening it. From what she could see, in the case, the creature would soon grow to multiple times the size it was before, in sheer minutes. Metal parts flanked its arms, back and face, concealing the embryonic beast's eyes from any sort of view. A mechanical whirling could be heard, the heartbeat of the behemoth within the glass case. Arukenimon glanced to the tube, glancing at rate of growth within this one. Barely an hour ago, it floundered and nearly died in the air… Soon, by this rate, it would be able to exist outside of the tube. The behemoth would continue to grow, at this accelerated rate, until it reaches the expected height of four stories.

"So… Watcha' doing, Arumi?" Arukenimon swiveled around her chair, to stare directly into the face of the rather hideous man-like creature behind her. She scowled, the purple frames of her sunglasses tinted to an insidious glare with the lights of the nearby monitors.

"Never call me that name, you menace. It is only due to you being why I even exist that I have not killed you yet, but my patience wears thin." She looked to the clipboard in her hands, before turning her attention back to the tube. Perhaps, if she refused to acknowledge him, he'd go away.

"Aw, Arukenimon, don't you like me anymore?" He asked, his tone a rather teasing one. Then, his mind shifted to another thought. "Of course, you've never liked me too much… After all, you did ask to use me for Target practice, after you were," he scoffed a little, "Born. Or is it born again?"

She didn't respond, acting as if the constant bubbling and gurgling noises of the embryonic beast were twice as informative as the bandaged moron in the long coat could ever hope to be. Perhaps that thought was correct, though; the noises doubled suddenly. In less than four hours, the behemoth would be born, and would be capable of damaging, perhaps even destroying that insipid building. Such a wonderful little thought… Perhaps, if she was lucky, BlackMetalGreymon would step on him and squash him like the insect he was. Her mind turned to a little daydream of such a thought… Toss a couple of Rangers down there too, for an added crunch, and to add a puddle of red.

"Ah… Ah, I see what you're doing, Arukenimon!" Mummymon said, waggling his finger at the white-haired woman. "You're just going to ignore me until I get to my point and leave you be! Well, I am so ashamed of you, treated a fellow Psuedomon like some sort of servant messenger, who's only purpose is to tell you messages! Why, it gives me half the mind to not tell you when Lord Oikawa's scheduled the attack!" He said. Arukenimon's face became rather still and stoic, rather chiseled in both expression and beauty.

"… Repeat that." She commanded, as she placed the clipboard onto a nearby table, the data being lit from the light of the tube of demonic life. She stood to face him, a much smaller and more petite figure compared to him. Nevertheless, she exuded a sense of superiority over the man-like creature, a dominance that could be described as beastly or even malevolence.

"Should I dare tell you? After all, you didn't care about what I said before. Didn't even notice me when I spoke… Why should I even try to tell you about when Lord Oikawa intends to attack the Digital Police HQ?" He acted innocent, as he spoke, smirking rather proudly as he turned a bit away.

"…" He dared to mock her. This insolent idiot dare even tempted her… Arukenimon glowered, grabbing Mummymon's collar harshly. She pulled the large man-like creature down to her level, so that they made eye contact. All he did was grin in the same goofy way. "You better obey me; otherwise you will regret it…"

"Aw, Arukenimon, you know I can't regret anything you do to me!" His yellowed and misshapen teeth stuck out of his face, as he spoke, a mischievous twinkle in his eyes. "And besides… If you kill me, I can't tell you anything, and you know me!"

"That doesn't prevent me from ripping off one of your ears with a…"

"Seven in the evening." He blurted out, rather calmly. Arukenimon paused for a moment, before letting go of his collar. The man-like beast adjusted his suit, smoothing out the little crinkles and lines, before repeating what he said. "The attack shall happen at seven, on the dot. Then, we invade the Headquarters and get the code. Following that, Lord Oikawa intends on having us use the monster you've created—What was it again, dear, BlackMetalGreymon?—and destroy the HQ." To emphasize his point, Mummymon punched his hand quite hard, the slap of skin resonating through the room.

"Damn." Arukenimon muttered. "BlackMetalGreymon's not due for another five hours, at least. There's no way he'd be ready in time for the attacks…"

"Well, he shouldn't be on the offensive for a while, at least dear!" Mummymon said, wagging that finger of his once again. Arukenimon started imagining the gruesome death once again, while he continued, "Really, all we need, right away is some of those Zombie-Digimon-thingies."

She frowned, biting the bottom lip a little. "One, they are not 'Zombie-Digimon-thingies'. They don't even look like Digimon, they're Dead-Core." Then, her mood suddenly switched to one of interest. Nothing brightened her mood more than the creation of something new and invigorating. With the Dead-Core, she could amass dozens of them, with little effort, and none of the precious water needed. Sure, it would detract time from her observations of BlackMetalGreymon… But it did good to take a little break from work, every once in a while. "As for the second, you may have an idea there… The tube will finish with the subject, once we've gotten the code… From there, we no longer need the Ranger Headquarters. In fact," Arukenimon smirked, "it would be the perfect display of our power, to destroy those miserable mongrels."

To the side, the tube boiled and bubbled, a light high-pitched growling could be heard. The growl, similar to sound of a rabid animal, rumbled through. If someone was to look into the tube where the beast laid, one would see one of the metallic claws stroke at the glass, as if to say "Let me free… release me". The beast looked up. It's eyes were invisible under all of the metal of the helm, save for two glowing points of light, staring a hole through the glass and anything else they came in contact in.

These… These under qualified morons, if you could even call them that! They cared nothing for their work, Jen realized, watching horrified from the window overlooking the Zord reformation. None of these technicians knew what they were doing; nothing on even medicating the poor monsters. Surely, no situation could be as dire as weapons artillery in exchange for forgoing on care for the Digimon?

He felt very sick, just watching this, and had to turn away. However, even that could do no good for him. The blares, screeches, and clanging still rang out into the hallways… He assured Takato and Ruki that Guilmon and Renamon would be safe, and could be pieced together in an easy-going fashion… Were they rushing with those two as well? No… They couldn't… But why so much callousness for Terriermon and these ones, in the rebuilding process? A sudden loud shrill scream pierced the air. He covered his ears tightly, slowly sliding to the ground into a rolled up position on the ground.

The industrial whirl of mechanics deafened out any other noise in the hallways, making even the simple task of walking through the room or working on the machines. Even with the heavy amount of soundproofing, and the thick, double-paned windows, did little to cover up the noise. Hikari could hear the ruckus from the floor under this one.

Never before did Tailmon need these sorts of modifications. Ever since she was a cadet, Hikari worked with the same group, with the same people, and only with one minor alteration done on the Zords, as a member left a few years ago. Now, Tailmon would get a complete overhaul, including an operating system that corresponded with her new Ranger form, DejiRanger.

Really, this all seemed like needless amounts of work. Hikari, usually, didn't act lazy or held sloth (or any sin) in good regards. However, the whole idea of switching everything she'd known to be her life had, essentially, been stripped from her in the past week. If nothing else, they could've given poor Tailmon some more time. As soon as she got the call, the poor Digimon got shipped off to here.

There was a howling noise, one of great pain. Hikari winced, clutching her ears, as it continued on, passing a minute, two minutes, before finally silencing for some time. She stood in the hallways, confused about what that horrific noise was. As she walked through the halls, she could see someone by the glass-paned windows, curled up into a ball on the ground. The familiar blue hair stood out, reminding her who this was. "Jen? What happened to Terriermon?"

He didn't question her, on her abilities, only because his mind was clouded, mostly from the blares and sirens around them. Something else was off too… Another thing stood out. That scream she heard just now. The scream had to be the little dog-bunny… "I don't know what's wrong". Hikari said. "I don't know why they're doing this."

"…" Jen looked up to her, both of them suddenly wincing at the sound of a power-drill being used in the background. A long list of cusswords, most of which sounding Germanic in origin, drowned out some noise, as did something that sounded a cat yowling. Hikari immediately looked to the floor, her eyes brimming with terror and guilt themselves. "What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry; I'm trying to understand the team… They don't know why they're doing this either, except this is urgent orders, but they're all very…" She trailed off, the cat screeches, "they're all very sorry, and they mean nothing bad!" She clutched her own ears, curling into a fetal position on the ground. "I wish I could say more on their behalf, but they're not incompetent and they're not vicious monsters either!"

"Hikari…" The noise was beginning to hurt his ears, as did all of the pressure he had to keep onto them, so that the eardrums wouldn't start bleeding. Carefully, he took Hikari by the hand and pulled her onto her feet and out of the hall as quick as he could, while supporting her carefully. "It's really better if we don't blow our own eardrums out!" He said, or at least tried to. He wasn't sure if she could hear him, but her face still kept a downward look to the floor.

As they entered the elevator, Jen pressed the first random floor button he could find, sending the small enclosed space going up. The noises from the reformation room gradually silenced, as they rode away from the room. Hikari still remained silent, keeping her hands over her face and her body hunched over as if she would just collapse. She didn't take her eyes off the floor, even if her eyes were still wild and unseeing. "… You can talk now, if you want." Jen didn't dare question here on what she was talking about, at least not yet. The brunette girl didn't look nearly in the right state of mind, and interrogating her would not help matters.

"… I can't explain…" Hikari said, her voice nearly a whisper. "I know you want answers… But I can't give them right now… All I can say is that people can't lie to me, it never works."

"I don't want anything from you, or any answers," he said, trying to convince her. Her response… It went along with what was on his mind. But she couldn't have known what he was… Jen shook the thought out of his head. "I just want you to calm down, and to relax."

"You want to know why I know what you're thinking." Hikari said, not missing a beat. "You don't understand how I keep doing this, but you don't want to make me more upset, so you're not asking right away. I told you Jen, people can't lie to me. I always know when I'm being lied to." She looked up, her eyes once again clear. There was something else in her gaze though. If Jen didn't know any better, he'd swear her pupils looked unusually small, perhaps even too small. Her eyes also seemed to be slightly tinted, from the red-brown of before to reddish pink. "They're pink, aren't they?"

"Pink?" Jen asked. She probably meant her eyes, he thought. Just thinking that gave her a reaction, he noticed, as she averted her eyes.

"I though so…" Hikari said. "You probably shouldn't think about it too much… I know they look weird like this. It's part of the powers." Another question popped into his mind, but he struggled to stifle it down. Either way, she realized what she just said. "I can't tell you anything else about them… I'm so sorry I couldn't answer your questions."

The elevator came to a sudden stop, as it hit the floor that Jen chose. Hikari bowed to him, before dashing out of the elevator, not even looking where she went. He probably realized what she was talking about before, and what the eyes meant. Stupid Hikari, she thought to herself, you just have no control over what you do, huh? You can't even keep yourself from reading all of the minds of everyone in there! Couldn't even keep yourself from reading Tailmon's mind, could you?

She knew what Tailmon thought of the whole process, up until now. She knew every thought, every shudder of pain she went through, in there. And yet, she couldn't hate what those men did to her… They didn't mean to cause any harm.

Why couldn't she just stop seeing every side to everything? She wanted to hate them the same way Jen did, or as any of the other Rangers would; if they saw the way their partners were being treated, they would say vile things or think vile thoughts about them. They would treat them as cruelly as the technicians had done to their partners. Hikari slumped onto a wall, curling up once again.

"… Niichan…" She said. It would do her no good, she knew, to wish Taichi was here… At least she composed herself enough not to just start crying right on the spot, even if she wanted to. There was someone else in the hallways, she realized. Looking up, she saw Ryo at few meters away, looking at her. His mind was a total blank for her, as if he just wasn't thinking anything, but the color white.

He stared at her for a good long time. Getting up, Hikari bowed once again trying to make herself as mature and as composed as she could mustered. "Yagami Hikari, awaiting command sir!" She said, saluting him for added oomph. He just kept staring at her for a long time.

"Tell me…" He said, after a very long time of staring at her. Hikari, who now felt rather confused and quite intimidated, nodded at him. His mind was still completely blank, but there was a slight wash of grey sometimes appearing in the whiteness. Was she no longer reading his mind? "Are you ChoRed's little sister? As in, Tai Yagami?"

"Tai? If you mean Taichi, then yes…" Hikari said. His expression changed a little, looking a bit softer than previously.

"Ah… That answers it. I do know you from somewhere before. Do you remember fighting with a group of Rangers called the ZeedRanger, when you were a little kid?" He asked. The blankness remained in his thoughts, preventing her from looking. Only one other person would do this, and even then he could hold it this long… Hikari nodded. Her eyes were slowly turning less pink, as her mind just faded down on its own. "Don't blame you for not recognizing me… You've never met me outside of uniform. I'm ZeedWhite."

"ZeedWhite?" A distant set of memories started to play in her mind. A tall boy… A bit bigger than Oniisan, in a pure white uniform, who'd fought with them on some times… Was that right? "You're the boy with… CyberDraZord, correct?"

"I see you remember, at least a little Hikari!" Ryo responded. She didn't know if the blankness in his mind remained, since her mind finally calmed itself. Hikari felt some relief with that. "Listen, sorry about being so harsh in there before with you and the rest of the guys…" He shrugged a little. "Hey, if I knew you were Tai's little sis, I would've tried being a bit nice-"

"No need to apologize." She answered. He really was right on what he thought; they were all very dangerous, or at least she was. And Daisuke, from what she heard, but he at least could control when the guns went off and the like. "It's… It's pretty true."

"Ah." He patted her on the shoulder, "Well, don't expect me to be easy on you, if this is the attitude you have. I'm only expecting the best from you, okay kiddo?" Then, he thought a little. "Or should I just call you Hikari? I mean, I don't want to offend you or anything."

"I'd rather you call me Hikari." He seemed much calmer now, compared with how he acted in the conference room. This Ryo acted friendly and cheerful, a bit like… No, couldn't be like him. Hikari was looking too hard for some sort of link to home, she decided. Ryo nodded, as if to say 'alright then, kiddo', before walking away. Then, he just stopped. Turning right back to her, he handed her what appeared to be a pink badge, with the insignia of Digital police emblazoned onto it. "What's this?" she asked, looking at the various buttons and little add-ons attached to it.

"That is your Transformation Badge. You use that to turn into your Ranger format, DejiPink." He said. "Most of the Rangers will be the same colors and ranks as they were in their old groups, at least. If you need to transform, please shout 'DejiRanger! Justice for Two Worlds' But please practice with this first; it's still a bit of a prototype design." He rubbed the back of his head, while sounding slightly embarrassed. "The suits are rather poorly designed… And I'm not even sure if the uploading system will work correctly or not."

"Alright… I'll practice as soon as I can, Mr. Akiyama…"

"Ryo." She looked at him. "I'm only nineteen. I'm not close to being a mister yet." The older teen gave Hikari a little grin, before turning away. She looked at the small handheld transformer.

It looked ornate enough… The etching on the badge itself reminded her of the Digital Police symbol, a small Culumon hopping out of a D. The various lights on the bottom of the badge blinked on and off, repeating the same rhythm continuously. Still, the thought most on her mind had nothing to do with her transformer, but on what she thought before. Now that Ryo was gone, as she stood in the hallway, she couldn't recall them once again.

The Digital Police headquarters looked best at night, most people of Tokyo would say. At night, the pristine, metallic white walls of the building looked a bit surreal, as if they emitted their own light onto the street. The windows, designed to look red, blue, green, yellow and black in different places, all gave off their own radiant glow, as lights inside the building were turned on, making the building glow like a massive nightlight. The surrounding foliage and shrubbery, all chosen by architects, added a feeling of tidiness and even, according to some officials, some integrity to the surrounding area. As people walked by, the building gave off a sense of ethereal calm, a small little point of piece and protection in a world totally wrought with evil and insanity.

Oikawa felt only a little guilty about having to destroy it. Then again, they were asking for it; the red jaguar had been parked not even half a block away from the building, with both him and dear Arukenimon sitting here this whole time. Not one Ranger or policeman even bothered walking over to ask him why he'd parked there. Heck, the worst he got was a ticket from some meter-maid who drove by. Perhaps they deserved everything Reaper Five planned. He sipped the black coffee absentmindedly, not even noticing the beverage was now ice-cold. "So… The one you've created, BlackMetalGreymon, is not due for a couple of hours, correct?"

Arukenimon nodded, barely looking up from the laptop she typed on. "He's right in the trunk. As soon as it's completed, the beast will rip out, and destroy the car along with it. Then, it will grow at an exponential rate, before finally becoming as large as the base itself. By that time, we'll have the code, and we'll be on the way home."

"Still, we do have something ready for an attack… How many of those Dead-Cores did you create anyway, dear?" He only pried in her affairs at the last minute. Perhaps it served not to be true prying, but a casual remind to make sure everything was in place. After all, he wouldn't be very happy if all of the careful planning became completely undone, just because she underestimated something.

"More than a sufficient number; close to two-hundred, in fact." She said, the computer's screen changing. An internet browser popped up, the computer screen glowing a bright red from the images on it, as a time counter attached onto it. She stopped typing, as the counter blinked, coming down its final minute.

"Now, you and Mummymon both remember the plan, correct?" He asked, placing the coffee down. He took out a suitcase by his side, handing it to the woman with white hair.

"There's no need to treat me like a small child." Arukenimon said, her voice containing some exasperation, as she placed the laptop on the car's dashboard. She turned it away from the two of them, letting the screen face the window, as the countdown hit forty-five seconds.

A man and a woman walked by from the building holding hands. The pair heard of the Ranger Headquarters endearing nightly qualities and intended to make a night of it. As they watched the building, they paid little heed to the red jaguar in the background, even with the odd red computer screen attached. They merely waltzed around, in a dreamy, dazed stance.

Oikawa watched the pair, rather disgustedly. These two only cared about each other and themselves; they flaunted their own dreary reality into everyone else's faces, parading around lust and sexual energy, and claiming that to be love. These two fools, these ignorant children couldn't understand such a complex concept. He clenched his hand, forgetting the cold coffee still in it. The thin cardboard cup broke, showering his clothes with a wet, dark stain.

Arukenimon looked over to him, then to the pair of star-struck idiots, right in view. She checked her own watch, while patting him on the shoulder. "They shall not last long… At least, I highly doubt they will. Even the rangers have trouble against my pets; I doubt these two will have any chance."

He said nothing, as he gritted the cup. He didn't even put it down, as he broke through the cheap material to his own exposed flesh, and proceeded to dig his nails into his hand. Selfish children; selfish children fated to create their own set of children, and to raise them to be as selfish as himself… Ruining his dream, leading him to this whole plot…

The computer started to beep quite loudly, a chain of rings and tones sounding off. The computer began to rock and shake, as the car began to shake and bang like a low-rider in a ghetto neighborhood. Instinctively, the pair hopped out of the car, as the front window-pane shattered. The computer shook and jerked, as the browser opened, spewing forth an ungodly creature from its depths.

The couple suddenly turned from their embrace, turning to see something horrific. The beast, a plain looking creature, with no face, a slim white and blue body, and two elongated scythes, gave no noise, except the sound of latex rubbing against itself as it moved. It flexed its body, slowly curling up into an attack position. The couple stared in horror at the monster, the boy positioning himself in front of the girl. "S-Stay back, you!" He shouted, the fear in his voice overshadowing any sort of courage he tried to muster.

The beast merely looked up to him with an eyeless face. It moved its arms, exposing the clean, sharp blades of the scythe arms. To its side, two more beasts suddenly hopped out, rolling into the same position. Then, another pair of beast hopped out, the number steadily increasing. The couple both shook with fear, as the boy took the girl's hand. He started to run, only to see a set more of the things, all holding up the scythe-arms up, and ready to strike.

The screams of the couple, along with a terrible, somewhat squishy sound could be heard. Arukenimon, for having little interest in watching the internal organs of the humans, turned away. Even if she liked red, she didn't enjoy seeing so much, especially as they stained her beloved Dead-Cores. Oikawa, however, seemed totally oblivious. He went back into his usual, dreamy trance, as the screams purged the night.

One by one in the Ranger center, the five DejiRanger transformers went off, ringing obnoxiously for a few moments. Daisuke took out his communicator, trying to figure out how to activate it. He pushed at buttons and lights haphazardly, before Izumi, who was standing by him, merely flipped up the badge to expose a tiny screen. "… I could've done that." He said, before looking to the message.

"Bad news guys! We're going into combat!" Ryo said, "The Reaper Five are attacking right now! Nothing else we have is going to be a match for them, at this rate! All of you, head out to the front of the building, and stop their forces from entering!"

"Wait! Hold on, Ryo!" Izumi said, trying to slow down the anxious brunette in his rant. "Who's the Reaper Five? You didn't mention anything like that in the briefing meeting?"

"Really?" He said, sarcastically. "Well, I'm sorry, it must've slipped my mind, Orimoto! Now, all of you head out there right now, and transform! All of Ranger Headquarters is counting on you guys!" With that, the screen shut off. Both Daisuke and Izumi looked at each other, before Daisuke took Izumi's hand. Immediately, she slapped him.

"I can walk perfectly fine on my own! I don't need to be lead around like a little girl!" She replied, before dashing off. Then, she dashed right back. "Alright, where's the front of the building."

"I'll take you there, but you need to promise me one thing, Izumi." Daisuke said, as he rubbed his face. That welt would remain at least for a little while… Man, something about her reminded him of those Guido-women, from Hoboken. Scared the living crap out of him worse than anything that Reaper Five group could have. "Don't slap me anymore. Please?"

"Fair enough-whoa!" She said, as Daisuke suddenly took her arm again, and rushed down at an alarming rate, going speeds she didn't know people to. Before she knew it, they were gliding down flights of stairs, racing by as if they rode a car or something. Never in her life did she ever go so fast, with no machinery needed. It was like… A ranger power? She'd never saw anyone but Kouji with something like that, and that was much different from this!

They suddenly stopped. For a moment, Izumi went flying, before Daisuke grabbed her waist and pulled her close. "Hold on!" he said, as he tried to get both of them still. They stood like that for a second, him trying to catch his breath, her horrified that he had her midriff right in his face. Then, he just dropped her to the ground. Daisuke's breath, still somewhat rough, finally calm down enough for him to talk. "Sorry… About… That… Had to- To catch up with rest…"

"Well, you caught up with them alright. So much so that they aren't even here!" Izumi snapped, angrier about the midriff thing than the lack of any other rangers in the HQ lobby. The room, save for the two of them, was completely deserted, as the sounds of claws rubbing against the windows and the front door could be heard. Although the windows were blurred and tinted, for more stylistic purposes, the shadows of Dead-Core stood in front of them. The scratching noises grew increasingly worse, going from light clawing noises to a cat attacking a chalkboard.

"Well, it looks like we have no choice…" Daisuke said, as he went into a front stance. He held out his badge, a bright red with the number 01 engraved on it. "Looks like we'll need to fight!"

"Are you crazy?!" Izumi shouted. No way in hell could they stand up to those things! The goggle-headed lunatic still breathed hard from running down the stairs from before, and she was… Fine, she was a crap fighter. And these things had scythes! How would they manage on their own!

"Yeah, Daisuke! Leave some for us!" Izumi and Daisuke turned. There stood Hikari, Jen, and Kouichi. Hikari smiled, holding out her own transformation Badge. "I want to stop these things too!"

"Hikari, you're very enthusiastic about this…" Kouichi said, taking out his own transformation Badge, a blue variant of the tool. "Before, you said you wanted to go home, and now you want to fight."

"Well, a girl can change her mind…" Hikari said, sounding a bit sheepish. Izumi shook her head a little, before taking out her own transformation Badge. Wait. Why was this Badge white? She's should be DejiPurple, shouldn't she? Well, they probably switched her colors.

"So Jen, ready to fight these creeps? Or are you going to bitch me out again?" Daisuke said, a mockingly cheerful tone to his voice. Jen shot him a glare.

"I don't feel the need to rebel against you now… There are more important things to worry about than some measly rivalry." Yeah, right now, Jen thought. But you do anything stupid, or get anyone else in the team injured, I will not hesitate to take out my blasters and shoot your ass… Something told him to suppress such violent thoughts, as he glanced to Hikari she didn't seem to notice though… Jen took out his transformation Badge, a bright green version of the usual one, before going into position. "We'll save the problems for off the battlefield."

"Man, you're one weird nut. First, you yell at me, and then call the fight measly. Can't you just flat out say you hate me or somet-"

"Guys?" Izumi said, as she pointed to the windows and doors. The glass, a very thick variant of normal glass that could even stand up to bullets, was cracking under the pressure from the arms of the beasts. "I think transforming now would be a really good idea."

"… Yeah. You're right." Daisuke said, as everyone shifted into front stances like him, the badges being held out in front of them. "Transform! Red Ranger!"

"Transform! Blue Ranger!"

"Transform! Green Ranger!"

"Transform! Pink Ranger!"

"Transform! White Ranger!" With the last comment, they held up their badges to the sky, simultaneously. "DejiRanger! Justice for Two Worlds!" There was a long pause, as the crackling noises grew horribly worse. Then, Daisuke tried doing so again, shouting the transformation phrase. Jen just took his badge down, and tried pressing a few buttons.

"It's not working!" Izumi shouted, rather terrified. This couldn't be right… Even at only two months of training, she knew that the transformation should take a few seconds. The cracking of the windows started to become a shattering. The Dead-Cores would bust in at any minute!

"How could this happen?" Hikari asked, more to herself than to anyone else. She tried swatting the Badge on the back, to just see if it was a minor short in the system or not.

"What do we do now?" Jen said. This boded very poorly, and he knew it. Daisuke was the red leader, wasn't he? He'd need to think up of something fast, or they were all screwed. One of the windows broke open, as a scythe, stained red from some previous fight, busted through the window. Izumi screamed a little at that, while Kouichi, instinctively, positioned himself in front of her.

"What do mean, 'what do we do now'?" Daisuke only had one answer he could provide, and he knew the answer would be crazy, at least to the rest of the Ranger. With that, he got back into a fighting stance. "We fight them off, in civilian form. Nothing else we can do now."

The windows finally shattered, sending out a flurry of the white-bodied monsters, as they viciously swung their limbs around, sightless to what they would hit.