Eternal Sentai
Guardranger
Episode 5: Woodsman's Lover
By David Anderson and Derek Pryor
A small dark shape darted through the clouds above a small city by the name of Izumo. The object left no trail behind it, and just when a person thought they had seen something strange, it disappeared from sight. None of those people paid much attention to what they thought they saw. They should've known better.
Sulphos was not pleased with his assigned duty. After all, his abilities were the deadliest of any animated warrior his leader, the mighty Armag, commanded. Why was he being relegated to contaminating a small, ineffectual city when he could be using his powers to decimate the population of a major metropolis?
Still, he'd been ordered to do this. Even if it was painful to his ego to waste his talents and efforts so. He gave a sigh that sounded almost like the roar of a hurricane, but prepared to carry out his task. Concentrating hard, sacs on his back began to swell grotesquely. They inflated until they were five feet high, then burst with a thunderous explosion. Tiny particles wafted down into the clouds below the soaring monster. Minutes later the clouds over the small town began to blacken and thunder, just as he knew they would. And soon they'd rain death and destruction down on the unsuspecting people below, just as he knew they would.
Maybe Armag wouldn't believe it until he saw so with his own eyes, but Sulphos knew perfectly well that his abilities worked devastatingly well on human beings. Not from experience, of course, but he had every confidence in the potency of his power. There was no need at all for prevaricating like this, but orders were blasted orders, and he knew better than to cross Garganstah nobility.
As the first drops began to fall from the seeded clouds, Sulphos felt a brief urge to stay and observe his handiwork. It was almost an art to him, after all. Unlike a lot of beings of his type, Sulphos took intense pleasure in doing what he did. It wasn't just a job to do, he thought, it was the entire point of his existence. Still, it seemed that Armag was determined to take all chances for pleasure from him, and with another sigh he flew off to report that he had carried out his task.
Tochiro walked up to a tree in the park he'd been sent to inspect. As usual, it was his job to check for any diseases or abnormalities in the plants, but he no longer needed to collect samples to make his analysis.
He reached out and stood next to the tree, and cleared his mind of the noises of the chatting people who walked past him and the sounds of traffic coming from the distant street. Then his mind became one with the plant life around him.
Tochiro was not an ordinary man by any means. He was Forestguard, one of the Eternal Sentai Guardranger who held an uncanny affinity with the plants and trees. Now that his powers had been reawakened, he could effortlessly become one with the world of flora. It helped no end in situations like this.
Every blade of grass, every flower, every tree in the park spoke to him with a small, whispering voice. But for the moment he only needed to listen to the one directly in front of him. The condition of every fiber in its being rushed into his mind, and for a brief instant he felt as if the tree itself were his physical shell, rather than the husk of flesh he actually wore. Within instants he had inspected the condition of every part of the tree, but aside from a little irritation from smog it was fine. He relaxed his effort and normal perception flooded back.
Tochiro walked up and scraped off a small sample even though he knew the tree was fine. No one else could know about his new abilities, after all. He was still getting the hang of them, and may have been able to hook up with every plant in this entire park for all he knew, but he was taking it slow. Even he didn't know how much he could really handle just yet.
"Ohayo, Tochiro!" someone behind exclaimed cheerfully, but he was so surprised he jumped a foot. He whipped around and found himself face-to-face with a teenage girl.
"Ohayo, Miaka. What brings you out here?" he asked.
"Bes told me you were out here and it was on my way so I thought I'd say hi." She smiled a pleasant smile at him.
"But it's the middle of the day! Aren't you supposed to be in school?"
"No," she replied, and for the first time he realized she was in street clothes, not her school uniform, "The electric wires got corroded or something and they closed it down. I'm free for a few days."
"Hope you're keeping up with your homework and such," Tochiro said, collecting a few bark samples from the trees just to keep up appearances.
"Yeah, yeah," Miaka said dismissively. She'd hardly gone out of her way to meet him in order to discuss her schoolwork. She was feeling good. The team had won their last battle and all problems facing her teammates seemed to have been resolved. She wanted to share this feeling of victory with one of them.
It wasn't as if her finger had just landed on Tochiro's name, however. It was just…something about him she couldn't really explain. That sort of unexplainable mystique he had that made people just want to like him. But there were other things she could describe that she liked in Tochiro. The way he managed to seem peaceful even in the middle of pitched battles. How he was always completely in control of himself. Perhaps the main thing she liked about his company was the fact that he was one of five other people she could talk to about her after-school occupation.
She was a Guardranger too, after all, and a long time fan of the sentai teams who protected her world besides. The only thing she really didn't like about it was all the secrecy involved, but that's why she was here, talking to one of her teammates.
"Tochiro," she asked as he continued about his work, "what do you think being a Guardranger?"
"Nani?" Tochiro quirked a questioning eyebrow.
"I mean, do you like it, hate it?"
"Oh. Well, I guess I'm still learning about it," he replied thoughtfully, "I never thought about what having this kind of responsibility would be like. But since I've got it I'm just trying to take it one step at a time, you know? Learning what I have to do and what I have to do to cope with it. Don't want to get overwhelmed by all this."
"I'm honored by it, personally."
"Me too, Miaka, but I'm trying to figure out what all the demands on me are before I dive in head first."
"Don't tell me you're planning to walk if you don't like it, like Ryuji almost did."
Tochiro laughed. "Nope, sorry to disappoint. I'm just taking it slow while I learn the ropes."
"Well, that's good," Miaka said, more possible desertions the last thing she wanted, caught up in the experience of actually being a member of a super sentai was she. But just then she heard a call from across the park. Several of her friends from school had spotted her from across the park and were waving to her to come and join them. "I'll see you later, Tochiro. The masses are clamoring for me.."
"Likewise. Stay out of trouble and keep up with your schoolwork," he said with a smile and a wave of farewell.
"Yes, sir" she said teasingly, then ran over to join her friends.
Miaka was a good kid. Tochiro knew it well. And she was absolutely eating up the duty they'd both been assigned. Not that he saw anything wrong with regarding it differently than he did. But he turned around and got back to the business of examining the trees in this park. Being Forestguard could wait until the next time some monster decided to make trouble.
Armag tapped his foot in irritation. Sulphos hadn't liked the assignment he'd been given, but he wasn't an insubordinate warrior either. Why wasn't he back yet to report? A chill went down Armag's spine. What if something had happened to Sulphos? He was behind schedule enough as it was. If anymore delays presented themselves they might arrive before he was ready for them. Then all of his trickery and plotting would've been for nothing. Definitely not how he wanted to go down in history.
A moment later he heard the sounds of scaly feet on the stone floor of the cave. Sulphos was finally back, it seemed. Armag rose and went into the corridor, and found Sulphos waiting for him.
"I have completed my task, Lord Armag."
"Excellent. Soon we'll analyze the results and if they're positive, we'll take the operation to its next step.
Sulphos gathered his nerve. He was not an insubordinate warrior, no, but neither was he an idiotic one. And he was going to find out why his talents were being wasted so. "Sir, if I may ask. . ."
"Yes…?" Armag replied.
"Why was I sent to poison that isolated little city? Why not the very capital of this nation, where the Guardrangers obviously operate from?"
"Very simply put, Sulphos, because I don't know how well your talents work on human beings. This is the only planet Garganstah knows of where they exist, and we've been off this wretched world so long we have no information on them any longer. I need to know the end results before we go dropping it into the city where the Guardrangers live and work."
"But--"
"But nothing!" Armag bellowed. "My pursuers are a week away at the most. I must get the Guardrangers out of the way and claim the Death Gar before they arrive or … " Armag broke off snarling, then continued, "I can afford no more failures or wasted time. If this doesn't work, drastic measures will have to be taken. You are powerful, Sulphos, but time is against me and it is a foe more powerful than any animated warrior."
Sulphos said nothing. It was true that enemies far worse than the Guardrangers were soon to arrive on Earth. Yes, he realized, their operation was too delicate to endanger now. After their pursuers had been dealt with, then he'd certainly be allowed to enjoy his work.
"Go and rest now, Sulphos," Armag said, "However this turns out I will need you fighting at your fullest. Our numbers have dwindled thanks to those damnable meddlers, and those of us that remain must be all the stronger to win now."
Sulphos nodded. "As you say, Sir," he said, and turned to leave, adding under his breath, "Still seems like a waste to me…"
"Un-FRICKIN'-believable!"
Ryuji shook his head with an amused grin. "Jase, you've been saying that ever since we got here. I get the point already."
"Hey, it bears repeating, dude," Jason came back good-naturedly, over a stack of boxes he was shuffling through. It was a day later and he and Ryuji were in the spacious living room of Takeo Yashamura's condominium, unpacking the bulk of his belongings and putting them in some semblance of order around the place. Takeo still lived here for the time being since the purchase on his new place was still in escrow, but he'd likely be out of here in a week or so. Not that Jason minded at all, since the two of them got along so well.
"I tell ya, Ryu, I never could've found a place like this by myself. I was never any good at dealing with real estate guys. That's why I bunked out in hotels so much when surfing season started up. Boy, I owe Takeo huge for offering his condo to me and all."
"So, he's your new best friend now?" Ryuji pouted jokingly.
"Pretty much," Jason shrugged, then grinned at his friend's half-surprised expression. "Aw, dude, c'mon…you know you're my best bud." He bounded over to the couch where Ryuji was sitting and shoved a hand through his hair. "But seriously, Ryu, I really do owe him one. I wasn't feeling too hot about crashing at your place for so long."
Ryuji shook his head. "Jase, it's okay. I didn't mind you staying. To tell you the truth, I loved having you, but you need to live someplace where any women you meet won't lose interest in you when they see your roommate." He poked Jason in the arm good-naturedly.
Jason raised an eyebrow and smirked at that remark. "You? Better looking than me? In what universe?"
Ryuji got serious all of sudden as a thought entered his head, "Speaking of which, where is Takeo, anyway?"
"Oh…he's away a lot on business."
Ryuji raised an eyebrow. "What kind of business?"
Jason looked at Ryuji for a minute before realizing he had no idea. "I dunno. I guess I was so caught up in him giving me a place to stay and all that I never thought to ask."
"This is the same guy who saved Naoko the last time we fought Garganstah, right?" Ryuji asked.
"Right," Jason replied, "and I ran into him when we fought Arbast, too."
"Yeah, from the jewelry store, too…Jason, no offense to this guy, but I'd keep an eye on him. It just strikes me as funny how he keeps showing up wherever the Guardrangers do, wouldn't you think?"
Jason's blue eyes widened "Dude…you're not saying you think he's--"
"No, Jase, I'm not," Ryuji said before Jason could finish that thought, that maybe Takeo was in league with their enemy. "But I would like to know why he's been around when we fought those last two monsters."
"Coincidence, maybe?"
"Could be. But with our new jobs it'll be a lot safer to know these things for sure…We've got the lives of a lot of people riding on our shoulders."
Jason was speechless. This was a level of seriousness quite uncommon for Ryuji. Then again, being handed the mantle of leadership for the team in charge of protecting humanity from an ancient empire was the kind of thing that could change a person. And it was true that Takeo's presence at their battles was a little odd. But before either of them could put any more thought into the subject, the two of them suddenly felt a familiar tingle in their minds and souls. They were being contacted.
"Ryuji, Jason; come to the Earth Sanctum at once," the voice of Beservor, the old wizard who advised them reverberated in their minds, "a great danger is unfolding…" Without a word Jason and Ryuji rose from the sofa and left to answer the call.
Shortly thereafter, Tochiro arrived at Tokyo Tower to answer the call. He hoped it was nothing too serious. But then, if it wasn't serious, it probably wasn't something the Guardrangers would be asked to deal with. The door to the Earth Sanctum opened as he approached, and none of the people nearby noticed as he seemed to disappear into thin air.
He descended the familiar stairway into the cavern below. As he neared the bottom he could see that the lights in the main room were already on. Clearly he wasn't the first one here. Naoko and Miaka were already sitting at the meeting table as he entered. The colored sparks in Beservor's ball flickered to life and zipped around the crystal's interior as they noticed him come in.
"Welcome, Forestguard. I trust you've been well since our last meeting?" Beservor inquired.
"Just been glowing with the flow, like always," Tochiro replied, taking the seat next to Miaka. He looked over at the young lady, who, as he'd learned to expect from her in their last couple of encounters, was waiting to be told what to do to live up to the honor of being a member of a sentai this time.
Naoko, on the other hand, was sitting patiently as she waited for the rest of the team to arrive. She'd learned something about the rigors of their job recently, but it looked now like she was ready for anything Beservor might be about to hand them. Good to see that they were both so serious about something like this.
Footsteps came down the stairs, and a moment later Jason and Ryuji entered. "Sorry, guys, we got stuck in traffic," Jason said as they took their seats. He hadn't changed much since Tochiro had joined the team, but Ryuji…he'd changed so much during his short time on the team that Tochiro almost thought he was a completely different person from the indignant Fireguard who'd given him his Guardbrace not so long ago. Naoko cast a sidelong glance at Ryuji as he sat next to her, as if thinking the exact same thing and being glad of it. Whatever she was thinking, Ryuji didn't seem to notice. For a moment Tochiro idly wondered if being a Guardranger would change him, too.
"I'm glad you all came so quickly, Guardrangers," Beservor said, pinging a few times to get their attention, "for there is evil afoot that can only be caused by Garganstah."
"I think we all assumed that when you got on the old psychic loudspeaker, Bes," Ryuji said.
Jason nudged Ryuji's arm. "Heh. Good one, dude."
Beservor huffed and tried to regain his bearings without letting the Rangers know he'd been thrown off, then continued with what he was going to say. "Some strange illness has come over the residents of the town of Izumo and I am certain it cannot be of this Earth. It has the subtle edge of Garganstah life force to it."
"Well, if it's from Garganstah, why would they target a little place like Izumo?" Naoko said. "It seems a bit out of the way compared to staging an attack here."
"Indeed. That is what we'll have to find out," Beservor replied, "My scrying spells have not revealed much. But the entire population of that city is suffering from some kind of epidemic. I don't know what the consequences will be if it is not remedied, nor do I know what can be used to reverse the effects. But you must go to investigate it at once. I fear this was only some sort of test, and much worse will happen if we do not act quickly."
"We'll go see what we can do, Bes. But we're warriors, not doctors. I can't really promise anything…" Ryuji said, trailing off, as if he felt it wasn't his place to say such things to their disembodied advisor despite being the leader of the team.
"True, Ryuji. But as always, you will fare better than most in uncovering an answer to this dilemma," Bes replied. Suddenly a cloud of shimmering, copper-colored dust seemed to explode out of the top of his ball and drift down over them. The tiny flakes disappeared through their skin, but nothing seemed to happen.
"Bes, what was that?" Miaka asked, an edge of anxiety creeping into her question.
"A supernatural counter-agent to protect you from what is afflicting the people of Izumo. Now go, please hurry for their sakes. I will open a tunnel for you once you are outside." The five of them nodded and climbed the stairs back out of the Earth Sanctum. As they left to face this strange problem, one which they indeed did not seem suited to deal with, Tochiro wondered what Beservor meant when he said they'd be more successful than they thought they'd be, and what he might know that would lead him to say something like that…
A few moments later, the team emerged from the underground wind tunnels they used as transportation, and found themselves at the edge of Lake Izumi, located on the western tip of Izumo City. Sunlight glittered off the surface of the water, and light breeze blew by complimenting the already-perfect blue of the near-cloudless skies overhead. So of course, it made all the sense in the world that they'd be too busy investigating to enjoy the scenery.
Naoko cast an analytical glance at the surroundings. Everything looked normal enough, but as they all knew, supposedly normal appearances meant nothing in their line of work.
"Naoko?" Ryuji asked, noticing her concerned expression. "What is it?"
"There's a wrongness here…I can't put my finger on it, but something feels unnatural--some kind of underlying taint or something…"
Ryuji shut his eyes and concentrated. After a few seconds, he sensed something as well. It was a small, remote feeling of unrest, but that was about all. "Yeah, I feel it too. But it's awfully small."
"Maybe we should suit up, guys," Jason offered. "We're kinda limited in the senses department like this.
"Good idea, Jase," Ryuji raised his Guardbrace. "FIRE…FOCUS!"
The other followed suit. "WATER…FOCUS!"
"EARTH…FOCUS!"
"FOREST… FOCUS!"
"AIR… FOCUS!"
The familiar multi-colored spectacle of light and energy temporarily overtook the immediate surroundings of the lake, and when it ceased, the Guardrangers stood in its place. As soon as they'd summoned their respective powers, the unnatural force in the area became instantly recognizable. It was like someone had spilled black, oily ink across a fresh canvas. The normally pure and bright colors of the elements were skewed and warped into monstrous, inhuman patterns. It was so intense, Forestguard had to rein in and dampen his senses by half just to be able to cope with the sudden intensity.
"Dude," Waterguard put a hand on his teammate's shoulder, "you okay?"
"Im fine, Jase. It's just taking me a little longer to get in synch with the environment than usual." Forestguard replied. "Not a good sign there."
"It's a potent concoction, whatever it is," Earthguard confirmed, running her fingers along the dirt near the lakeside. "It's…not like any man-made toxin I 'v ever heard of. There's a fundamentally alien element to it. It's also been spread outward from here in a fairly large field of dispersal…As if someone dropped a bomb in the area ."
"It's already been spread around quite a bit by local air currents. Good thing the breeze's died down some since then," Airguard put in.
"Yeah, the lake water's in roughly the same shape," Waterguard said from the spot where he and Fireguard were crouched down by the edge of the lake, his outstretched hands bleeding blue light into the water. "It hasn't gotten too far yet, but it's pretty strong stuff. The fish must've moved further up the lake; I can't sense any around here."
"I'll tell you what's alien about it," Forestguard said. All of them had a heightened connection to nature as the elemental beings they were, but was his was the most sensitive. Everything around him, the grass, the trees, the very wood and stone that the buildings were made out of cried out in pain from this strange contagion. "This…poison or whatever it is isn't something I've ever seen before, but it's got that slight life force resonance of a Garganstah creation. It must be from one of their monsters."
"You're sure about that?" Fireguard asked, serious and in control. Waterguard shifted uneasily.
"Beyond a doubt. There's a subtle but distinctive feel to everything those monsters touch. I've sensed it in our other battles. It's faint, but it's there. And it's all over this area."
A soft but chilly wind blew through the area just then, and the Guardrangers noticed how quiet everything was. It was as silent as a graveyard; no sounds of people, no birds, no cars, nothing. It was an eerie feeling, but with this strange toxin making every nerve on their bodies tingle, it was not hard to understand.
Fireguard, as per his place on the team, took charge. "Let's split up and see if we can find anything. Maybe we'll find the monster that did this or somebody who can tell us what happened." Earthguard nodded approvingly as he assigned directions for each of them to go. This was certainly a change from the Fireguard she'd constantly been reaming before. "Whatever you do, though, stay in touch. I don't care if you just see a shadow move, call the rest of us. This isn't friendly territory anymore."
Don't I know it, Forestguard thought to himself as the team split up and went off in different directions. The streets of Izumo were devoid of life as he walked cautiously through them, looking for any clues. It was scary, how it seemed every living thing in this city had suddenly vanished into thin air. He'd half-expected the street to be filled with bodies, but there were none around, somewhat to his relief. It made him wonder, however, where everyone could be with sprinklings of this alien contagion everywhere.
As he walked down a few more streets, expecting at every second an army of zombies or some such thing to leap out of nowhere and attack him, Forestguard noticed that the tingling he was feeling from the omnipresent contagion to be slightly weaker. As if it was spread more thinly as he neared the center of town. He was so busy trying to figure out why that could be that he didn't notice the figure walking past him at the street crossing ahead they were almost on top of each other.
With a start Forestguard realized he wasn't alone and dodged into the narrow space between two buildings hoping he hadn't been seen. From his hiding place, he saw the figure more clearly. It looked like a human, wearing a white containment suit that covered the whole body. The figure shrugged and continued walking, and Forestguard slunk after it. He should've reported this, but he wanted to know more about this being and what they were doing here. It might've seemed stupid, but aside from a small amount of the contagion on the suit, there was no Garganstah tingle from this being. No, it was instead the life force of a human that he detected.
The person walked around a corner to a large building with a large, plastic tube, big enough to walk through, connected to the door of the building. Connected to the other end of the tube was a large plastic box. A decontamination room, he guessed, as the person had just finished some kind of cleansing process and was removing their headpiece.
Waves of long black hair fell free, and the person ran a delicate hand through it to push it away from their face. Forestguard choked as he suddenly forgot to breathe in. The person he'd been following was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.
Her eyes were a dark, emerald green, her face the shape of a heart. The red sheen of the lipstick she wore set off her long, straight ebony hair. Everything else seemed to disappear, this vision seizing all of the green-clad hero's attention.
She removed the bulky containment suit she'd been wearing--obviously to shield herself from the contagion--revealing a yellow turtleneck and black slacks beneath. She made her way from the chamber through the tube, but stopped in the middle. She'd noticed something out of the corner of her eye, a man in a green uniform and helmet standing down the street and staring at her. She seemed curious rather than alarmed, since Izumo was a bit out of the usual way for members of sentai, but she still seemed to recognize what she saw and waved him over to the door of the decontamination chamber. It took him a minute to realize she'd noticed him and was inviting him inside. He nodded at her, but before entering he reached out to contact the rest of the team.
"I've found something, guys. Oh, boy, have I found something…"
A moment later Forestguard stood inside the tube, face to face with this mysterious, beautiful woman. He just stood and gawked, knowing later on that he'd be unbelievably grateful his helmet concealed the goofy, love-struck look plastered to his face.
"And you would be…?" she prompted.
"Toch--Forestguard, that's what they call me," he replied, only just catching himself. Half his brain seemed to have gone on vacation the moment he laid eyes on this woman. What a first impression that was going to make for.
"You're one of those sentai people, I take it? Not that the costume didn't tell me that much. Are you here to investigate the germ?"
"Yeah…uh…yeah, that's right," Forestguard shook himself, finally managing to collect his thoughts enough to say something coherent. "Since you know my name. I'd like to know yours, too. If that's okay, that is…" He recanted quickly, not wanting to sound pushy.
The woman laughed in a soft, almost musical way that made Forestguard's knees go weak. But he liked it all the same. "Saori," she said, "Matsunaga Saori."
"Nice…" Forestguard said dreamily, then shook himself. "I mean, uh…to meet you…it's nice…I mean, it's nice to meet you,"
Saori laughed again, the sound even more appealing than the first time. "Are you always this eloquent with public speaking, or am I an exception?"
Forestguard felt his face heat up under his helmet. Just as he was about to answer back, however, a voice called out: "Forestguard?"
Then a second. "Dude? You there? Footsteps sounded outside the chamber, then stopped short. "Yo, Forest!"
A familiar blue helmet poked in through the entrance. "Hey, compadré…what's up? Why didn't you--" Waterguard trailed off when he saw Saori standing near the back of the chamber, then a knowing grin spread across his face from under his helmet.
"Ohhhh…I get it," the blue-clad soldier of water drawled as he bounded over to Forestguard, pounding his teammate's shoulders. Forestguard just stood there, tongue-tied.
"Cut it out already, man." Fireguard said lightly as he entered the room with Air and Earth following in step behind him. He gave his teammate a good-natured shove to the side. "We're here to take care of business, not bust each others chops."
Saori sized up the five of them. She apparently recognized their kind, but seemed surprised to run into them so far from Tokyo. "I trust you didn't have any trouble with the decontamination procedure? I really should've been there to take you through it."
"We followed the list on the wall. We're all right," Fireguard said cordially, "I see you've already met Forestguard. We're known as the Eternal Sentai Guardranger."
"Yes I have, and it's a pleasure. I assume you're here to investigate the same thing we are?" Saori replied.
"Probably, but we don't know much about what's happened here." Airguard put in. "Just disturbances in the natural order of things, but nothing concrete."
"We're mostly unsure ourselves, and sure I wouldn't mind superheroes helping us figure it out," Saori said, beckoning them to follow her further into the building. They did.
The building appeared to have once been a hotel, but whoever Saori was working with had turned it into a field hospital. Through open doors the Rangers could see dozens of people lying in futons in meeting and dining rooms, all looking like hell. There were dark green blotches on every bit of exposed skin, and they were sweating and writhing in their beds as if going through a particularly uncomfortable nightmare. Even Forestguard's eyes were taken off Saori when he saw that.
"So this is why I didn't see anyone…"
While they were morbidly engrossed by this shocking scene, a sharp voice called out in their direction, "Dr. Matsunaga, where have you been?" It was an older man, with thick glasses and receding hairline, coming down the hall toward them. He stopped short when he saw the Guardrangers. "And who are they?" he demanded.
"Maniwa-san," she bowed, "These are the, ah…the Guardrangers. I met them outside. They're also here investigating the germ."
Dr. Maniwa arched an eyebrow suspiciously, "Another team, eh? Guess it's not so surprising by now. Well, bring them along. Far be it from me to countermand whatever group has dispatched them here."
"Told you we were an institution," Airguard whispered to Water.
"What exactly is going on here?"
"I was on the way to visit a cousin of mine out here," Saori said, "but as I drove into town I saw all these people lying in the streets, almost like they were dead," she shivered at the thought, "I'm a biology professor, but I'd never seen anything like this. I called a few colleagues and the next thing I knew the government was asking me to come back and help them investigate some kind of germ that's infected the entire city."
"I think we can safely assume Garganstah's behind this," Earthguard surmised, "but why would they target Izumo? There's not much here."
"Maybe there's something hidden around here that Garganstah wants." Airguard offered.
"Maybe this is some kind of trap." Waterguard supplied.
"Maybe we're overcomplicating things here?" Fireguard said to the both of them.
While his teammates debated the potential hows and whys of the situation facing them, Forestguard approached Saori and Maniwa. There was something else on his mind. "Maniwa-san, I take it that the germ's being studied?"
"Of course," Dr. Maniwa replied, "but it's not like any kind of germ that's ever been seen on this planet."
"I sensed something about it outside…I'd like to take a closer look at a sample, if that's all right."
Dr. Maniwa nodded, "Dr. Matsunaga, would you please escort him to the laboratory?"
"Right away, sir," she replied, taking Forestguard by the hand with a smile. That same instant he felt his cheeks flush and his IQ plunge by sixty points while his body temperature rose by that many degrees. It was a feeling he didn't think he'd mind getting used to.
Saori led him to a large room where there were tubes and microscopes, and refrigerators containing cultures of the germ. Various scientists were walking around making examinations and recording what they'd discovered, but they all stopped and stared at the green-clad stranger who'd entered into their midst. Saori quickly explained about the Guardrangers, and that Forestguard wanted to use their equipment to see the germ up close. Very nice of her, considering that despite the life and death situation around him, he was standing there quietly enraptured by her beauty.
He would never cease to be amazed by the pull the colorful uniform he wore afforded him. A scientist dutifully stepped away from the microscope he'd been using to analyze the germ, and Forestguard walked over to see for himself, returning to himself as he departed Saori's company. He leaned down over the eyepieces, and the festering microbes he saw through his darkened visor confirmed his suspicions.
"Just as I thought…it's partly plant."
"We already know that," the scientist whose microscope he was borrowing said, slightly annoyed.
"No, you don't understand," Forestguard replied, "I thought I sensed it outside, but the other elements were masking it. But since it's part plant, maybe I can do something about it…"
"Really?" Saori asked, sounding sincere as could be. Forestguard smiled behind his mask. His head was filling with thoughts of impressing her by unearthing the solution to the problem this germ presented. Maybe that wasn't the most heroic way of thinking, but it was a lot easier on a gentle mind like his than imagining what would happen to all those people in the other rooms if a cure wasn't found. Over complication and life and death consequences weren't his thing.
"I think so. Maybe if I mixed some medicinal plants up I'd be able to whip up something that could kill this germ." The scientists in the room looked at him, their gazes somewhat incredulous. This germ had baffled them, but two minutes ago this man in a green costume comes in and after one look at the germ declares he can come up with a solution. A bold claim. But every one of them had heard of the miracles his ilk had performed in the past. Perhaps he could do it, after all.
"Thank you, Forestguard," Saori smiled at him.
"It's what we do," he replied, grinning ear to ear behind his mask.
Armag rose from his meditations. His situation was not a comfortable one, and there were instances when he had to take time to calm himself and assure his troubled mind that he would indeed succeed in his perhaps rash but bold endeavor in striking out on his own. After Sulphos's germ wiped out the population of Izumo, he'd know to go ahead with having him infect a much larger city with it. Tokyo, where he'd constantly run afoul of the Guardrangers.
It seemed a waste, perfectly good subjects being wiped out to rid himself of the Guardrangers, like using the proverbial cannon to swat a fly. But the Guardrangers were a very big fly.
He rose to his feet and looked at a large crystal half-orb set into the wall. As he concentrated, it began to shimmer, then light focused into a view of Izumo. Might as well check on how well his plan was progressing.
But he was not pleased by what he saw. Where he'd expected to see droves of people, dead and dying from his creature's germ, there were only a few birds and dogs. Armag adjusted the scan, looking inside the nearest building. The walls were no obstruction to his magical scrying, but he didn't see a single living thing inside the building either. Was it possible that the germ's effect on human physiology was to completely obliterate the body? Then why hadn't that happened to the animals he'd seen? No, there had to be another explanation for the absence of all his expected victims.
He scanned the city for any life readings at all. The orb, guided by his thoughts, quickly searched for any sign of life, street by street and building by building. But aside from the afflicted animals in the streets, it came up with nothing. Until it reached a large building near the middle of town.
Inside, there were all the people he'd expected to littering the streets in half-dead droves. Their skin was discolored a dark green in places, and agony was writ large upon their features. So the germ was deadly to humans after all. But what were they all doing gathered in this one building? Armag moved the view outside the large chambers where the ill were lying in the sleep of imminent death, and searched the halls and the other rooms for an answer. He froze when he saw what looked like a laboratory.
And standing in the middle of it, calmly speaking to a female scientist, was the green Guardranger.
How?! How was this possible? It was obvious why the Guardranger and his presumably nearby comrades were there, always a thorn in his side, but how had they known? He had chosen Izumo as it was a relatively isolated place, and Sulphos has inflicted his germ upon it only the day before. How could they have found out already? Whatever the answer, something had to be done.
"Sulphos, attend me! I have another job for you!"
Back at the hotel-cum-hospital, Dr. Maniwa had agreed to tell the four Guardrangers what little his team had found about the germ, partly to make up for the brusque way he'd greeted them.
"As far as we can tell, although we're not sure how, the germ entered all their systems not long ago, we guess about thirty hours."
"That's not long. Is the government really capable of assembling and dispatching an investigation team so quickly? Epidemics like this aren't a very common thing."
"This group was hastily assembled, I will admit," Dr. Maniwa replied, "And I definitely a better team could've been put together if there hadn't been such a rush to get someone out here doing something about this sickness, but if I may continue…
"The germ sickens people by poisoning the blood cells, and can infect a person just by making contact with the flesh. Once it enters into its victim's bloodstream, it replicates itself throughout the central nervous system, effectively crippling the body's means to fight back."
"Is it contagious?"
"No. But this city is covered with the stuff. As it's never been seen before, however, we have no idea what should be done to treat it. And it's more potent than any germ known to man. If something isn't done to find a remedy, I'd only give them until the end of the day to live."
"Uh-oh…not good." Waterguard huffed. "Sounds like we're gonna need some kinda miracle drug to handle this mess."
"Well, maybe I can help with that," Forestguard said as he and Saori returned from the lab, "I had a look at the germ. It's partly plant, so I think if I concoct something from a few medicinal plants and give it a little Guardranger push, it'll be able to kill the germs."
"You're sure?" Fireguard asked, sounding like he'd been born to be in charge of a team like this, which he had. "From what Dr. Maniwa's told us it doesn't like these people have long to live. We need some kind of cure soon." Earthguard made a purring sort of noise of approval.
Forestguard shuddered at the mention of all those lives hanging in the balance of what he was going to do, but adjusted his view back to doing something nice for Saori. He'd have to tell Fireguard about how he motivated himself soon. But even if he was trying to avoid considering the fact that all those people's lives were in his hands, he had to leave now to be in time to save them.
"Yeah, but I have to hurry. I'll have to go all over the islands to find what I need, and I shouldn't even try to ride the tunnels until I get outside the contaminated area unless I want to take some of those germs with me."
"I'll go with you," Airguard offered.
"No, I can handle this by myself. And besides, Garganstah's bound to come and check up on their work soon. There's going to have to be someone here to deal with them." He turned to get one last, admiring look at Saori, who smiled at him. He left the building in a daze.
Sulphos rocketed through the sky toward Izumo. His power had exactly the effect he'd known it would. Now he was being sent to finish the job. Of course, the Guardrangers would have been among the afflicted if they'd just done it his way…
Were all megalomaniacal conquerors as stubborn as Armag? He didn't know. He'd been created just before they'd broken away and come to Earth. He wondered briefly what things would be like if he'd been created by a master who would listen to his suggestions, but he hadn't. He was at the disposal of Armag, and was now being sent to get rid of the Guardrangers the hard way. Such a waste, such a waste. To be reduced to fighting like a common grunt when his was the power to lay waste to life miles around.
The city came into sight. He slowed his flight and dove lower, trying to get an idea of where the Guardrangers might be. He could just make some noise and let them find him, but that was for amateurs. A far better alternative presented itself when he spotted a green-clad figure jogging toward the edge of the city.
Sulphos swooped at him, and Forestguard noticed just in time to roll out of the way. The monster spread his wings to catch the wind and slow down, landing lightly on the street before turning to face Forestguard.
Forestguard involuntarily flinched and stepped back. The monster was absolutely repulsive. He looked like a giant bat, but scaled all over. And the areas not covered by scales were instead covered by sac-like growths, pulsating sickeningly. His eyes were bloodshot and foam dripped from his fanged mouth. He was the most disgusting thing Forestguard had ever laid eyes on. And he wasted no time in beginning his attack.
Sulphos lashed out with one giant fist and caught Forestguard in the stomach. The hero doubled over, then crumpled to the ground as Sulphos smashed his fists into Forestguard's back. As he lay on the ground, Forestguard desperately reached out with his mind. He was under attack, and he needed the others to come quickly…
Sulphos lowered his arm toward Forestguard's face. One of the sacs on it was throbbing faster and faster, and suddenly burst. Forestguard rolled back when he heard a faint hissing noise…when the sac had exploded it had sprayed something into the air, something that was eating away at his uniform and the very street beneath them! Sulphos gave a hideous snaggle-toothed grin and grabbed Forestguard by the neck before hoisting him into the air.
The monster tightened his grip around Forestguard's neck, and his vision started to blur and fade. He hardly even felt the burning on his chest as those nasty microbes the monster had released started to dig into his skin. He couldn't fight back, he already felt the life draining out of him. But as his vision began to darken for what he was sure would be the last time, a face appeared in his mind. Saori's. That expression of complete faith she'd had in a stranger that she had given him before looked back at him now.
Suddenly there was the sound of a small explosion and Sulphos's grip loosened. The darkness that had filled Forestguard's vision shattered into millions of tiny pieces as light returned and he fell to the ground. Footsteps clattered and four figures surrounded him defensively. The Guardrangers had arrived.
"Tochiro, daijoubu?"
Forestguard managed to wheeze out a faint "yeah." His vision was clearing and breathing became easier.
"It's okay, buddy. We're here." Waterguard reached down to help him up.
"Bah, as if it makes any difference. My power has put this entire city on death's doorstep," Sulphos said proudly, "You think five measly mortals can stand up to me?"
"Duh question, anyone?" Airguard quipped.
"Yeah. We stopped your kind before, we'll do it again," Fireguard retorted. He motioned for Forestguard to go, to run his mission while the others took care of this monster. He needed no second invitation. He needed to finish his errands and hurry back to impress Saori by solving this problem, after all, and dashed away to get to a safe place to board a wind tunnel.
"Well, I guess it's just four measly mortals then," Sulphos said. The Rangers fell into their stances, but before they could take a crack at this monster, a swarm of Silicons sprang up from out of the earth. Sulphos grimaced as the Guardrangers starred ripping their way through the Silicons that Armag had sent to help him. Some victory, beating foes who'd been softened up before getting to him. Did Armag know nothing of honorable combat, or did he just not care? The second seemed more likely, given his desperation of late to remove the Guardrangers from his path. As long as victory was theirs, he supposed…
The next twenty minutes seemed both to pass by in a few instants and last forever. Instantly for the four Rangers back in Izumo, interminably for Forestguard as he charged from one end of the Japanese islands to the other and scouted for the medicinal plants he needed to counteract the Garganstah germ.
Fireguard hacked down a Silicon with his Eternablade. Forestguard searched around the base of Mount Fuji.
Waterguard and Earthguard lunged at Sulphos with weapons brandished. Forestguard finally found what he was looking for out in Hokkaido.
Sulphos popped another sac on his body, showering the attacking Rangers with millions of microbes that exploded after a few seconds of exposure to open air. Forestguard finally found a vanishing breed of herb in the middle of Ryuh-ga-Mori forest.
Fireguard flew into his Dragon Hellriser attack as his teammates were sent flying from the scores of tiny blasts erupted all over their bodies, and knocked Sulphos back. Forestguard combed the northern tip of the island for the next ingredient.
Sulphos struck back at Fireguard, sinking his deadly fangs into Fireguard's armored neck, to which Fireguard replied with a cry of anguish. A Silicon crumbled into metal shaving before Airguard's Hawk Soul Sniper, who was battered and bruised, but aimed her bow and sent an arrow into Sulphos's shoulder. He released Fireguard, but turned to face them all. And Forestguard found the last thing he needed and began the trip back, but the battle raged on for the others.
As he entered the building where the investigation team was headquartered, although his uniform was singed and corroded from the acidic germ Sulphos had used on him and he himself gasping for breath, he wasted no time in steering himself toward the lab. All the scientists jumped in surprise as he burst in.
"Forestguard," Saori said after she'd recovered from her surprise at his sudden entrance, "Your friends left to--"
"I know, I'm the one who called them to do that." As he opened the emerald-green bag containing the flowers and herbs he'd collected onto the nearest unoccupied flat surface, he paused to catch his breath, taken from him by all the running and high-speed searching he'd been forced to make.
Saori approached, "Can we help?"
"Yeah. We need to mix the plants I found into a solution for them to work. After that, I can boost the effectiveness and use it to purify the area…"
"Suzuka! We need your mixer!" Saori called over to a thin woman. Suzuka nodded and took Forestguard's collection of greenery and placed it into a large, circular device that he would never have been able to identify. She closed the top, flicked a few switches on the side and the machine began to whir. Green, goopy stuff, obviously the plant life that had just gone in, was pushed through transparent tubes as the substances were blended together.
Saori sidled over to Forestguard as he gazed at the mixer, as if willing it to complete its task more quickly. She tapped him on the shoulder. He turned toward her, "Yeah?"
"What's it like being a superhero?"
Forestguard rubbed the back of his helmet shyly. He felt like a little kid around Saori, but he liked it all the same. "Overwhelming, sometimes. But I do my best to keep things simple so that I'm not swept away by it all. And there are times when I have to do things I don't really agree with…"
"Like…?" Saori asked, intrigued
"Like all the fighting. I've never agreed with violence," he answered.
"Then why ? If you don't agree with it, then why do you go on?"
"I've learned not to argue with fate. I didn't sign up for this, but it's literally what I was meant for."
Saori nodded with empathy. "I think I know the feeling…I always felt like I was meant to study living things. Like some kind of force was guiding me to take up biology. Was it like that for you and your friends?"
"Sort of," Forestguard replied, wanting to answer her questions but knowing he had to guard (ha ha) his team's secrets. Such a dirty trick by fate, finally meeting a woman who was interested in him and being kept apart by the very thing about him that interested her. Or was it just simple infatuation that was keeping her interested? More questions with no answers…
Suddenly, he snapped to attention. "Yes! It's finished!"
Saori straightened up, tossing her hair back. "What now? You said something about giving this concoction of yours a push?"
Forestguard smiled from behind his helmet as he reached toward the mixer, emerald light gleaming against his fingers. Saori and the rest of the group stared on in muted astonishment as he turned back to toward them, giving her a grin that she couldn't see, but could definitely feel.
"Watch and learn, Saori-san."
"Orca Magnum Typhoon!"
"Hawk Soul Sniper!"
Sulphos choked and sputtered in protest as water and air blasts interwove with each other, sending the monster slamming into a cluster of rocks and bushes, sparks flying with the force of the impact. The beast shoved himself out of the rubble, regarding his multi-colored enemies with infuriated eyes.
Airguard crossed her arms and smirked at Sulphos. " 'Measly mortals.' Is that what you called us before? Five of us couldn't stand up to you?"
"Looks like just the four of us managed fine." Waterguard grinned.
Sulphos sputtered with rage. Nothing was going his way! Furious, he spread his wings and let out a soul-piercing howl. They wanted tough, he'd give them tough. His hand flew to a small pouch at his side, and without hesitation he tore it open and poured the contents on himself. The Rangers recognized it at once. That golden powder the fire-breathing monster they'd fought had poured on himself to increase his size…
And so did that happen now, with Sulphos doubling in height before their eyes, then doubling once again, until he was dwarfing the buildings around them. The Rangers jumped back. Their weapons and attacks were no good against a threat like this. Except one. Fireguard stepped forward.
"HELLSCAR, AWAKEN!" he shouted, his words carrying along some supernatural channel to the dragon's ears. The ground exploded as he roused and took to the air, majestic and powerful, to answer the call. Within moments he was within sight of the Rangers, and a beam of crimson light lanced from his chest, engulfed Fireguard, and brought the red Ranger aboard.
Their minds and perceptions became one, yet were separate. As Fireguard was about to dive toward the monster, Beservor's voice suddenly sounded in his mind.
"Fireguard, there is something I must warn you about. The Guard Beasts were--"
Fireguard interrupted him.
"Not now, Bes! We have a monster to tackle and I can't fight him and talk to you at the same time!" Bes probably had something very important to say, but there was just no time. Hellscar went into a dive toward Sulphos, but the monster responded by spreading his wings and taking to the air himself. Hellscar pulled up to avoid crashing and pursue Sulphos.
Sulphos smirked evilly. He had the foolish hero right where he wanted him. As he went into some loops and evasive maneuvers to bide time and avoid the dragon almost right behind him, Sulphos inflated a sac on his chest. When Hellscar had almost caught up to him, he suddenly whipped around and it burst right in the dragon's face. Millions of tiny germs flooded into his amber eyes. Hellscar roared in pain and annoyance. Those germs…they itched! The dragon's irritated eyes began to blur, and so Fireguard couldn't tell him to get out of the way of Sulphos's incoming fist. Hellscar was knocked from the air.
The spectating Rangers cringed as the dragon crashed to the ground. But there was nothing they could do. Except perhaps hope that Forestguard would soon be on his way to join them, and bring with him something to remedy their predicament.
Forestguard held up a small flask of the mixture that had been produced from the plants he'd collected. The way it was now, it wouldn't have any effect on the germs covering every surface outside this building, but he could change that. He concentrated, calling upon the floronic energy coursing through his body, melding and upgrading the curative powers of this concoction in ways science simply couldn't. His spirit spoke to each plant cell, coaxing it into doing what he needed it to do. For a moment he felt like a god, being in touch with millions of tiny beings, but then the moment passed. He was back in the makeshift lab, surrounded by on-looking scientists, and holding a flask that was softly glowing green from his power.
"Yosha!" Forestguard shouted
"Will that cure what's happening to everyone?" Saori asked hopefully.
"No, but it will kill the germs, including those in their bodies, and they'll begin to recover naturally."
"But you don't have much there. How can we treat this entire city with that?"
A good question, but one he'd been thinking about while it was being prepared. "By spreading it from the sky, like a crop duster. Just how I'll manage that, though…"
Just then, the ground shook and there was the thunderous sound of a gigantic impact not far away. "What was that?!" one scientist exclaimed. But to Forestguard the answer was obvious. The rest of his team was out fighting that monster, and whenever a team like his and a creature like that got together, things tended to soon escalate themselves into literally giant conflicts. Then again, this might provide exactly the solution he was looking for. Outside, storm clouds were rolling in, but he could still see that the sun had almost set. If he was going to do this and save all the people of Izumo, he'd have to do it soon.
He turned toward the door, but Saori grabbed his arm protectively. She'd only met him a few hours ago, but already she felt like it would be a tragedy if she lost contact with him.
"Arigato, Forestguard," she said, an appreciative gleam such as he'd never seen before in her eyes, but there was a tinge of fear. Fear that this would be goodbye. It wasn't a thought that appealed to him either.
Here she was, not just a kindred spirit to him, but a beautiful woman. It just figured that he'd meet her while on Guardranger business, and be kept apart by the very thing that brought them together, didn't it? "Will I ever see you again?" she asked.
Forestguard just looked at her for a long, silent moment. No one said anything, all eyes were on them, but Forestguard paid no attention to that. Finally, he said, "Someday, I promise. Right now, though, I have a job to do…" What he didn't add was that he was doing that job to impress her still, keeping it simple as always, but now it wasn't just his practice of keeping his motivations simple that was urging him to go out there and be a hero for that reason. Forestguard clasped her hand firmly, then dashed out of the building to aid his friends.
Saori stood and watched him go, her thoughts with him as he raced into danger.
Hellscar was slammed to the ground. His vision was starting to clear, but Sulphos was relentlessly pounding him. Taking advantage of that, he reared back his long neck, and then head butted the monster with everything he had. While the disease-carrying monster was momentarily dazed, Hellscar spread his wings, grabbed the big green blob that Fireguard knew was the monster, and climbed into the air. Before Sulphos recovered and fought back, Hellscar dropped him and he fell into a grotesque heap. Sulphos shook his head to clear it, and popped another sac. Hellscar tried to fly clear, but was engulfed in a cloud of the monster's exploding microbes. The kamikaze germs exploded one by one, but there were millions and Hellscar was completely covered in them. Finally, Hellscar fell, blackened and burnt, most of the life blown out of him.
The Rangers started to panic. Hellscar had been overcome. But then, a green figure dashed into their midst. It was Forestguard, carrying a bottle of a glowing green stuff. He had the cure!
"Dude! You made it!" Waterguard whooped.
"Yeah," Forestguard replied breathlessly. But he was wondering what to do with the bottle in his hands now. He'd been hoping that Hellscar could take it into the air and break it open, hopefully letting it spread over the city, but as the dragon lay there coughing and sputtering, with Sulphos raining blows down on him, Forestguard pondered frantically. But then there was the clap of thunder from the dark clouds which had gathered overhead. Drops of rain began to fall. Of course…
"Airguard, can you carry me up into those clouds?"
She looked startled, but replied, "Yeah, I'm sure I can. Why?"
Forestguard cringed involuntarily. This was not the time for questions! "Never mind. Just take me up there, fast." She nodded, put her arms around his waist, and took to the sky. But as they whizzed past, Sulphos noticed, and let Hellscar go to pursue them.
Airguard screamed. After all, there aren't many things scarier than a multi-story bat-monster bearing down on you, but kept soaring upward. Forestguard looked down at the hand carrying his precious cargo. Just a little further, he told himself. The wind rushed past them, and Sulphos was gaining. For a moment the image of all the afflicted people of Izumo, lying in rows, each life hanging by a thread, flashed through his mind. It was up to him to save them. For a moment he felt sick and nervous, not liking the feeling of all those lives being in his hands, but knowing it was his duty. No wonder he kept things simple. Finally, in the very thick of the cloud, Forestguard chucked the flask into the air.
"GORILLA VINE!" At once his special weapon appeared on his arm, and he swung it with all his strength. The cable stretched out toward where the flask was twirling in midair, then struck it in an explosion of glass and the concoction inside. Bright green droplets were blown hither and yon into the cloud, and were carried to the ground by the falling rain.
Airguard stopped and hovered as they heard a rumbling groan. It was Sulphos, flapping to stay in one place. The rain, while carrying the solution that would purify all of Izumo, seemed to be hurting him. Of course it was. He was a living germ warfare weapon. As the solution killed the germs in his body that gave him his power, it was harming Sulphos himself as well. The Guardrangers wisely took this break in the pursuit to return to the ground.
They sank almost up to their ankles in mud as they touched down. The rain was falling even harder now. At this rate the Garganstah germ would be no more within less than an hour. "Looks like we've got that germ problem taken care of," Earthguard said, "But what about Fireguard?"
They all looked over at Hellscar's prone body. He wasn't moving at all, and his eyes had gone dark. Waterguard stood there for a moment, clutching the sides of his helmeted head, but then reported, "I…I couldn't make contact. Do you guys think that he's-"
He didn't get to finish that thought. Sulphos plummeted out of the sky and stood towering over them. He was obviously weakened considerably by the cleansing rain, but with his size he was still more than capable of taking them all out. The germs he'd carried were all dead, so he just raised a titanic foot to stomp them into the ground.
But suddenly he stopped in mid-stomp. Hellscar had revived, and a ray of thermal power from his mouth was burning into Sulphos's back. Sulphos howled and tried to fly out of the path of the beam, but his wings had been burnt through and were now useless.
"Nanda--??" Earthguard said in surprise, though in relief, "they seemed dead a minute ago."
"Well, the rain hurt the monster because he's a walking germ colony, but the element of the water and the medicine in it must've combined to heal him somewhat."
Hellscar continued to apply the beam. Sulphos was too weakened now to fight back or retreat, and within moments toppled to the ground and exploded. It was finally over. A crimson beam of light deposited Fireguard beside his relieved teammates, and Hellscar took to the air to return to his lair and recover.
"That…sucked," Fireguard remarked, glad that it was over and they had all survived.
"Yeah, but there's nothing like a last minute victory to make up for it," Airguard said cheerfully. And Forestguard smiled.
A few minutes later the Rangers had returned to the field hospital and opened the windows and other seals the investigation team had installed so as to let the rain and the medicine in. The civilians, formerly seeming to be in the grip of a horrible nightmare, smiled pleasantly in their sleep now as the drizzle sprinkling in through the windows touched them and began the healing process.
"That was a close call," Forestguard murmured as the Rangers, all exhausted from battle and stress, slumped onto any unclaimed horizontal surface they could find.
"No kidding," Fireguard replied, "Judging from that bruiser, Garganstah's got a nastier lineup of monsters than we thought. I wonder how we'll be able to cope..."
It was a pressing concern, indeed. It wasn't helped by the fact that the majority of the team had just sat on the sidelines as Hellscar duked it out with Sulphos, but they knew there had to be a solution somewhere.
A group of scientists, including Saori, entered and started packing up the gear they'd installed in that room. "What's going on?" Forestguard asked.
"We're getting ready to leave," Saori said, "We did some tests on the victims, and the germs are all dead. As soon as everyone's back on their feet, we'll be going home. By the way," she said to all of them, but especially to Forestguard, "thanks for all your help. All these people would probably be dead if you hadn't come along."
"It's what we're here for," Forestguard said softly.
"But speaking of going home, that's what we should be doing," Fireguard said, "It's been a really long day."
"No one can say you haven't earned it," Saori replied, locking eyes with Forestguard's visor. Seeing this, Fireguard signaled for the others to leave with him.
"It's been quite an experience," she said after the other Rangers and scientists had left the room.
"Yeah, that's for sure."
"It's a…pity we didn't meet under different circumstances."
"Couldn't agree more." Neither was really paying attention to what the other said. Just looking deep into each other's eyes, even though Forestguard's were still hidden by his mask.
And he wished he could just tell her. Who he was, where to find him, how to reach him, but it couldn't be. Perhaps later, his chance would come. And he turned to go.
"Wait…" Saori said plaintively, but she knew that he couldn't tell her what she wanted to know. They shared one last moment looking into each other's eyes, then Forestguard left.
Fate had brought them together once, and it might bring them together again in more favorable circumstances. But for the time being, the Guardrangers had to focus themselves for the challenging battles to come…
