Eternal Sentai

Guardranger

Episode 13:

Crash! Boom! Bang!

To Tiffany

The moon hung high in the sky as Naoko locked the doors to the Terralogical Institute. She was the last one to head home, as usual. Bleary-eyed, she walked to her jeep and started it up for the short drive back to town. Just a couple more late nights, she told herself, and the missed work from fighting Garganstah would be caught up.

Glancing at her watch, she almost considered spending the night at the institute. Dr. Amasada was the kind of boss who would probably understand, but Naoko felt weird enough having to duck out of work constantly for reasons she could explain to no one.

The motor growled to life, shattering the quiet tranquility of the institute's surroundings. The headlights began to glow like the eyes of some unearthly beast. And Naoko pulled out of the parking lot and onto the main road leading back to Tokyo. As she drove along, she thought she heard someone say to her, "Why do you push yourself so hard?" Naoko looked around the space of her jeep defensively, expecting to see that some Garganstah monster had appeared beside her, but she was alone.

"Really, a pretty young thing like you shouldn't be wasting herself in that dreary office," she thought she head the voice say again, and again Naoko looked around. But again she was alone. I really need to get some sleep, she thought as the road slithered past beneath her wheels.

Naoko's friends might have said she was pushing herself too hard. If she had ever let on that she was pushing herself so much, that is. Rest had not been her companion for almost a week, the last time she and the others had battled Garganstah. And she knew enough to know that world-saving was not a job to be done on three hours of sleep a night. Why then, had she been getting to bed so late and rising so early?

"You really need more sleep. Those bags under your eyes are going to ruin your pretty face," the critical voice said as Naoko dragged herself through the doors of her mansion and hit the button to call the elevator. She had stopped worrying that she was being stalked when she managed to focus enough to remember what was going on. All the nagging her father had given her through the years was coming back.

Naoko didn't care anymore. She had carved her own niche and she was staying in it, no matter what others thought. And if it meant only getting three hours of sleep so she could live up to all the responsibilities her chosen lifestyle had dropped upon her shoulders, so be it.

"You're never going to find a husband if you keep working these long nights."

"Kami help me…I've got phantoms nagging at me everywhere I turn," Naoko said. She unlocked her door and flopped right into bed. She could see her answering machine blinking its red light, but she was too tired to see who had called. As she drifted off to sleep hoping that Garganstah would lay low for a while, Naoko thought she could hear her father wondering why she always ignored his advice.

But as Naoko departed the waking world, another entered it. Terraclaw stirred in her cave, sensing a faint disruption in the fabric of her element. Somewhere, there was some malign force that was toying with the stone and soil that was hers and her companion's source of strength.

Normally, when her mind became unmerged from Earthguard's, Terraclaw, like the other Guardbeasts, lost the majority of their sense of right and wrong. But something was different this time. Though her partner slept, she concentrated and waited. Soon she sensed the disruption again, and could detect its source a little more closely. Again it occurred, and Terraclaw pinpointed it.

Directly beneath Tokyo…

People…disruption…danger! The enormous bear roused herself completely. Tokyo…Naoko--Earthguard…where! Warn!

At once Terraclaw thundered out of her cavernous resting place, across the wilderness of Japan, toward its capital city. The enormous bear slowed as she entered the streets of Tokyo, but she was unmindful of the panics he instantly caused as she thundered through the streets, searching for Earthguard's vital essence. A honking car smacked sideways into her foot, but Terraclaw just stepped over the terrified driver and continued her search.

Suddenly the ground shook slightly, and not from the Guard Beast's enormous feet. Only Terraclaw seemed to notice, however; perhaps the people were too panic-stricken at her presence, or because he was the only being around tied to the earth and stone.

Find Naoko--Earthguard…she will know! She thought, and picked up the pace of her search. Naoko was roused from her sleep as the tremors from her companion's footfalls drew closer, and stopped outside of her apartment building.

"Kami-sama…what in the world is all that racket???" she wondered aloud as she rolled out of bed as quickly as she could and pulled open the curtains.

"Nanda--?!" She almost fell over in surprise as she saw Terraclaw looking back at her, with what almost looked like an expression of relief on her face.

Bes, she cast into the group bond, my Guard Beast is right outside my window, and I have the distinct impression she wants something…

And deep beneath the city, a dark being was at work at what was causing Terraclaw's alarm. His fists thundered rhythmically against the rock walls around him, and stony shrapnel flew in all directions, but that which even made it past his protective barrier merely bounced off his thick armor. His excavation took him closer to the heart of the city above every second.

But he kept himself from unleashing his full potential; he didn't dare risk detection so soon, and such a display of power would surely bring the city's protectors down on his head. He tunneled further and carefully avoided a water main he sensed in his path. He paused in his digging as he realized the pipe's position seemed familiar. Recognizing it, he climbed over it and continued to dig through the strata, until the wall collapsed and revealed another tunnel. His work had been done for the night.

The intruder shimmered and vanished into thin air, to rematerialize moments later aboard the Death Gar. Scant feet away from where his mistress, Gammaraude, was sitting as she reviewed the results of a metallurgy experiment she'd been working on.

"Jishinder! I trust everything went according to plan?" she said as she noticed his entrance.

"Tunnels and 1 and 3 connected this evening, as per schedule," Jishinder replied in a mechanical voice. He was a terror to behold, a menacing mechanoid nearly ten feet tall and with a pneumatic jackhammer where each arm should've been. Spikes bristled up and down them and across his shoulders, and his malicious red eyes looked like they could tear a hole in a wall all by themselves.

"Excellent," Gammaraude said to her creation, "but we'll have to move up the schedule. One of the Guardrangers' beasts was walking the streets not long ago, and I think it was because of you."

"I was not disturbed during the excavation."

"Which makes no difference. We're running an awful risk as it is, and if they do find out what we're up to it'll be the end of you for sure," Gammaraude replied, "I hate admitting it, but they are indeed everything the Emperor said. We must undermine them before we attack them directly, if indeed that becomes necessary at all."

"As you command, Baroness."

"Be ready to mobilize and commence the next phase at first light. We'll show those mortals what it means to trifle with Garganstah," Gammaraude said, a touch of anger in her soft voice. Failure was not a sweet taste.

"They'll have no idea what's happening before it's too late," Jishinder said confidently, just as she'd designed him.

Gammaraude nodded, then laughed. "Soon enough we'll put an end to them with the very forces that give them strength. Now go, Jishinder, rest and prepare yourself for the next time." Jishinder nodded and sauntered off to another part of the lab to shut himself down until needed again. Gammaraude, meanwhile, continued on with the results of her experiment.

Late nights had become commonplace for the Baroness of Science, ever since she'd hit upon an idea for countering the Guardrangers' beastly compatriots. She'd spent a week and a half developing new mechanisms and weapons, and was just finishing the alloy she'd thought of to armor her creation.

In fact, the armor was the last thing it needed before she could at last activate it. Gammaraude grinned as she imagined the looks on the Guardrangers' faces when they showed up to fight and she brought out her new secret weapon. Orders were quickly sent to mass-produce the alloy and then apply it to her secret project.

"Ah, success never smelled so sweet…"

"Perhaps you'd be better served in waiting until you've actually achieved it," a voice advised from the lab's doorway. Gammaraude turned to see Sharaki standing there.

"Well…to what do I owe the honor, Sharaki?" she asked coolly.

"I just wanted to see if you knew anything about that monstrosity that's being built in the bottom level. I suppose it was foolish to even wonder."

"You really do know nothing, Sharaki. I'm building that 'monstrosity' because I'm able to see how much our enemies rely on those beasts of theirs. You don't know anything about adapting to new kinds of opposition."

"I doubt any mechanical monstrosity of yours will stand up to the Guardrangers' creatures, but by all means, Gammaraude. I'll be awaiting your victory with bated breath." With that he turned and excused himself from the lab. Gammaraude fumed. She'd show him, the arrogant lout. She'd show everyone, the Baroness of Science was the greatest asset Garganstah possessed.

Naoko sipped a hastily-brewed cup of coffee as she rode Terraclaw through Tokyo. She was still trying to pull herself together enough to feel like transforming and linking minds to see what was upsetting her so much to run roughshod across the streets of Tokyo trying to find her, but hopefully Bes would be able to provide some answers once Terraclaw had calmed down.

And it seemed as if the only way to do that was to be by her side--or on her back--as she raced toward where whatever was troubling her was located. Naoko just hoped that she was making enough of a commotion that nobody would be able to get a good look at her until she felt up to donning her uniform.

I should've seen this coming, she thought, just as I was almost caught up at work, something comes up to throw it all out of whack…

Naoko--Earthguard…we…close! she could feel Terraclaw say, or was it think? She'd only heard words from her once before when she had first been re-awakened to fight Armag, never while in mortal form. But in the next instant, Terraclaw stopped her wild charge as they reached the middle of a city park. Naoko couldn't see anything out of the ordinary besides all the people panicking in the streets, however.

"Terraclaw, I don't understand this. What exactly is wrong here?" Naoko said before swallowing another slug of coffee.

Earth…wrong…here, was the reply.

"Earth wrong here?" Naoko asked, "Nani yo?"

Other…near!

"Other?" Naoko inquired just as a crimson-clad figure alit beside her on the metallic bear's head. Fireguard.

"Someone want to tell me what the three of us are doing out here in the middle of the night? Bes said there was trouble."

"I have no idea," Naoko replied, "But I suppose this is as good a time as any. EARTH…FOCUS!" At once power flooded her being, and began to weave a yellow uniform and helmet around her body. Naoko Hirano was gone and Earthguard stood in her place.

"So what's going on?"

"I'm in the dark as much as you are, Ryuji. Terraclaw here just turned up outside my window of all of a sudden and wanted me to see something. She says the Earth's wrong here, whatever that means."

"Wait a minute, she said that?"

"Hai. It sounded like she was talking. Like a child for some reason, but she was talking."

Earth wrong here! Terraclaw said urgently, and this time both Guardrangers could hear him.

" Terraclaw, I'm not following this--what's wrong about it?"

Someone…distorted it…here!

Earthguard closed her eyes and concentrated, her mind connecting with the GuardBeast and clearing some of the chaos from it. But even with that accomplished, the Soldier of Stone learned little. Terraclaw had detected something wrong with the ground in this area, but nothing more specific. And though she scanned the area with her own awareness of the element, she could detect nothing wrong herself.

"There's nothing wrong here," Earthguard said to her two companions.

"There is something unnatural here, Naoko! I can sense it!" Terraclaw insisted.

"Well, she's talking clearer now, at least. Think something's wrong with her?"

"You're asking a lot of questions, you know.."

"Hey, I'm the leader. That's why I got the red outfit, remember? It's my job to be informed. "

"Well, I'm at a complete loss here. I don't feel anything amiss here and Terraclaw's never appeared outside my bedroom window in the middle of the night."

"I think we better see what Bes thinks."

Earthguard sighed, "Hai, but we'd better get out of here before the whole city starts panicking because of us. Terraclaw, take us to Tokyo Tower. Do you know where that is?"

Indeed she did, from the image of the tower and its place in the city she received from her mind. Terraclaw rumbled along the streets, waking many families and scaring the people on the street during the wee hours of the morning, but soon arrived at the base of Tokyo Tower. The two Rangers leaped from her back to approach the tower.

Bes, let us in, Fireguard signaled to their aide.

At once the gaping rent in space that was the doorway to the Earth Sanctum appeared before them, and Fireguard began to step through without hesitation. Earthguard was about to join him when Terraclaw addressed her one last time.

"I am not imaging this, Naoko, There is a terrible wrongness at work here."

"If there is something wrong Terraclaw, maybe we'll get an answer from Beservor. In the meantime, go back home and rest. I'm certain you must need some after all the trouble you went through to find me."

Terraclaw seemed to nod at the suggestion, and then walked off back to where she made her home before Earthguard entered the Earth Sanctum.

She willed her power to fade and her uniform vanished. When she reached the bottom of the stairs she saw that Fireguard had done the same, for Ryuji was leaning against the wall next to Beservor's crystal ball.

"Well, this is turning out to be a strange evening, to say the least…Bes, do you have any clue what might be wrong with Terraclaw?" she asked, settling into a chair.

"I am not convinced there is anything wrong with her at all, Earthguard," replied the wizard, "Remember, her connection to the earth is greater even than yours, so if either of you were to sense some kind of disturbance with it, chances are it would be Terraclaw."

"Yeah, but there was nothing there," Ryuji reminded Beservor.

"Which raises more than a few questions, does it not?" he said in a tired voice. Naoko new exactly how he felt.

"That's not what I mean," Naoko interrupted, "Why is she suddenly talking out loud? Before they were just like any other primitive animal unless we joined minds with them."

"Hey!" Ryuji said, taking offense to the comment. "C'mon, Naoko…Hellscar talks to me all the time."

"There are aspects to the Guard Beasts that you none of us remember any longer, Earthguard," Beservor replied, "but if I may, your capabilities have begun to evolve beyond what I believed your limits were. I see no reason to believe the Guard Beasts could not do likewise."

"Yeah, and that's a good thing. Putting Terraclaw's little stroll through the city tonight aside," Ryuji said.

"I suggest we be very observant of our companions for the time being," Beservor suggested, "I am afraid we've only seen the first stage of Garganstah's power, and all of us will need to continue to grow to withstand it."

"Hai, of course…first thing in the morning," Naoko said through a yawn. She began to lurch up the stairs.

"Yeah, we're not much good if we end up falling asleep on the job," and with that Ryuji began to climb the stairs behind her, "Night, Bes. Let us know if anything else happens with the GuardBeasts, huh?"

"If the last time was any indication, you will not need me to, Fireguard." A moment later the lights in the Earth Sanctum shut themselves off. The Rangers were gone.

No one noticed the two people who appeared from thin air and walked away from the tower. Naoko idly wondered how she was going to get home at such an hour, but Ryuji interrupted her thoughts.

"Pretty strange…Terraclaw just up and talking, huh?"

"Indeed. I certainly didn't expect it. Why didn't Bes call everyone else?"

"I guess he'll tell them once they're up. We're the only ones who really had to be around for this," Ryuji replied. That made sense to her tired mind; it was her Beast, and Ryuji was in charge. That led her to thinking once again how much he'd grown during their time as Guardrangers.

"I'll walk you home, if you want," he offered.

"Shouldn't you be doing likewise?"

"Yeah, but you look like hell. You don't look like you should be going anywhere by yourself this late at night."

"I'm not a child, Ryuji. Why are you so concerned?"

"Hey, dude in the red suit, remember?" Ryuji replied evenly.

Naoko sighed. "Ryuji…"

"C'mon…at least let me get you a taxi."

"All right…," replied Naoko, who was much too tired to continue arguing, and didn't feel like riding a wind tunnel home. Ryuji stepped to the curb and flagged down a cab. Naoko slid inside and told the driver her address. She'd just realized she hadn't brought her wallet when she'd gone to see what Terraclaw wanted when Ryuji pressed a bill into her hand.

"Relax, the Bushel's had a good month," Ryuji said to stifle any protestations before he stepped away from the cab, "Don't push yourself so hard," she thought she heard him say as the taxi pulled into the street.

Naoko sat back, bewildered at everything that had happened since she'd woken up. As the cab sped into the heart of the city, all she thought was, I knew something like this would happen, just as I was finally catching up…

Again she lurched upstairs and hurled herself onto her bed. As she drifted off, Naoko thought she heard her father reproaching her for not appreciating her friends more.

Naoko's sleep was a restless one that night, as a terrible dream occupied her slumbering mind.

She suddenly found herself in the center of a city street, cars whizzing past on either side. No one seemed to notice she was standing right in the middle of traffic as a taxi whizzed by her on either. She caught a glimpse of the driver of one of them, and saw the face of the man who had driven her home during the wee hours of the morning.

The ground trembled, and everyone began to look around nervously, especially Naoko. Again it shook, and the cause came into view. Terraclaw rounded a building, a look of anxiety on her giant ursine face. He roared pitifully and looked left, then right, then kept loping down the street.

"Nanda--?" Naoko sputtered, astounded that Terraclaw had gone right by her, when she'd searched the entire city for her scarcely an hour before. What was wrong with her now?

Or…was something wrong with her?

She tried to reach out to the other Rangers, to Bes, to anyone who could hear her through their bond, but felt no one responding to her telepathic calls. Instead, she felt…disconnected. Alone. Like the mere mortal she'd been before becoming a Soldier of the Earth. Naoko raised her bracelet to call upon her power, but froze as she saw that it was gone.

She heard Terraclaw's pitiful howls fading into the distance as well as the sounds of panic one had to expect when a forty-foot bear took a walk through a major metropolitan area. Naoko tried to run after her and get Terraclaw to notice her to see if she could get to the bottom of what was happening, but found she couldn't move even as a panicked mob washed toward her like a screaming, tearing tidal wave.

"Nani yo suru?!" Naoko shouted, and as if in answer, the ground shook. But this time it wasn't because of Terraclaw's feet. It kept shaking, and debris began to fall from the skyscrapers around her. Naoko braced herself as the people charging toward her neared, but they kept going as if she were a ghost. Those that weren't thrown to the ground and against cars and other objects by the tremor, however.

A building began to topple over, and the screaming became more pronounced from those right underneath it, unable to flee with the crush of other fear-dominated civilians blocking them from all sides. Naoko shut her eyes, there was an unholy squelching noise as the building made landfall, and then suddenly silence.

Naoko opened her eyes again to see a devastated city, shattered buildings leaning drunkenly into one another, while the rest had been razed to the ground and huge cracks scarred the streets. The sky was blood red, and below it crows pecked at the decaying corpses of those who hadn't managed to escape the destruction of the metropolis.

"Kami-sama…" Naoko breathed, desperately hoping someone was still alive to hear her. But there was no one.

It was uneasily that Naoko rose and went off to work the next morning. Normally the memories of dreams were not long-lived, but what she had seen in her sleep played over and over in her mind as she drove out of the city and down the nearly empty road that took her to the Terralogical Institute.

Terraclaw looked for her in vain, to warn her of a crisis only she had sensed. When Naoko tried to alert her and the others to her presence, she found herself powerless. Then the city crumbled, and she was left alone.

Naoko vaguely realized she was outside the Institute's parking lot and pulled in, her hands trembling. She concentrated and they stopped shaking, much to her relief. Being a Guardranger and in touch with the kinds of primordial forces they were seemed to be getting more taxing on her all the time.

She pushed open the doors and went straight to her desk, not letting slip the slightest hint of anything being wrong. The "in" box on her desk was refreshingly empty, and the few papers resting inside it gave her a feeling of accomplishment. Her desk had been buried before her week-long string of all-nighters.

"You're in awfully early for the time you left last night," said a kindly voice behind her. It was Dr. Amasada.

"I have a job to do, Doctor."

"Of course, Naoko-san, we all do. But what's the point if we aren't rested enough to do it?"

"I'm fine, Doctor. Or at least I will be once I clean out that box," Naoko replied.

"I can give those to someone else, it's not as if you're the only one who's been investigating the islands' fault lines."

Naoko squirmed in a slightly annoyed fashion, "Arigato gozaimasu, but I'm not paid to rest. This is my job. I don't see any reason to pass it on to someone else."
"If that's what you want," Dr. Amasada said sincerely, then left with a slight bow. Naoko turned back to her desk and looked through the reports in her box.

If Naoko had known more about the experiences of her sentai brethren, she probably wouldn't have been surprised by the kinds of people that were a part of her day to day routine. But as she sorted through the papers she couldn't help but wonder about the kind-hearted old man who was her boss and how in the heck he had ended up in charge of a vital fixture like the Terralogical Institute.

The Institute and its team had been assembled chiefly to try to find a way to stop another Great Tokyo Earthquake, and the papers from the in box were beginnings for hypothetical plans to prevent just that. She thought about getting up to show them to Dr. Amasada, even if he was likely to try to talk her into taking the day off. He had to be the only boss in the world like that. But as Naoko thought about that, unwelcome words rang in her ears.

"Naoko, you have to stop thinking that you're so special. For all you know, every other boss in the world is just as nice and accommodating as yours."
"I don't think I'm special, Otou-san, I'm appreciating the kindness of my boss. Why is this even an issue for you?" Naoko shot back mentally.

"Naoko, why didn't you ever listen to me and your mother? You were never meant for this stuffy office environment, and especially not to be studying earthquakes."

"Seismology. Kami-sama, would it kill you to call it what it is--" But Naoko stopped herself in mid-thought, concentrated and her father's nagging voice faded away once again. It was replaced by the visions from her dream. She had a terrible feeling all of a sudden. Some great disaster was surely coming, and it effected her the most of the world's protectors.

Back inside of Tokyo, life was beginning anew for the day. People did their usual business of heading to school or work or whatever it was that occupied the bulk of their waking period. Nothing at all unusual. Of course, that couldn't last.

Not that disaster always came suddenly. Some people probably noticed it, a faint quaking beneath their feet one instant, but gone the next. Any who did paid it no more mind than their kind often did. That was exactly what the cause of the faint tremor wanted.

Jishinder rumbled his way easily through rock and soil, excavating another tunnel beneath the Tokyo streets. Sparks flew from the hammers protruding from his shoulders as he continued about his nefarious work until the wall broke down and he came upon a tunnel he'd already completed.

The evil mechanoid paused, locating his position within the network of completed tunnels with the overlaying the blueprint he'd been given. He noticed there was very little digging left to do before the preparation stage of the Baroness' plan would be completed. With amazing speed for a ten-foot metal monstrosity, Jishinder turned and stomped away in the direction of the very center of the web of tunnels he had created.

Jishinder became a silver blur, blazing through the tunnels at even greater speeds than he had dug them. Those alone would have boggled the minds of many human beings. Mere moments later, Jishinder stood in an area surrounded by four tunnel openings, and opened communications with his mistress.

"Baroness, I would report," the Animated Warrior called out through space, up to Gammaraude's laboratory in the Death Gar.

"Status, Jishinder?" Gammaraude's voice came back to him.

"The network is complete. I have only to plant the explosives in the lower level, then we will be able to proceed with your plan to collapse the foundations of this city."

"Excellent. Then proceed, and alert me once you've completed the plan. We'll level this eyesore of a city and crush the Guardrangers in one swift stroke," Gammaraude chortled.

"With great dispatch, Lady Gammaraude," Jishinder replied, then closed the link. He sank to his knees and at once the jackhammers on his arms began to whir to life. Then they smashed repeatedly against the floor of the tunnel, carving a new one beneath Jishinder's feet. They made the noise of a hundred explosions, but no one but Jishinder could hear them despite his tunnels being scant feet below the ground. And why not? His systems kept the Guardrangers from noticing him; normal humans were no trouble at all to fool.

Further plunged Jishinder into the bedrock, and somehow the darkness around him seemed to get even darker as he pounded mercilessly at the rock. But darkness was no more of an obstacle to Jishinder than the stone that fell away beneath him with every instant.

Deeper and deeper he went, completely undetected by the teeming masses in the city far above him.

Or so he thought.

It wasn't in Tokyo, specifically, where someone detected something amiss. But just as she was about to put the plans she'd been going over away for further inspection elsewhere in the Institute, Naoko could feel a nagging suspicion in the back of her mind that something was wrong all of a sudden.

But the nature of that wrong would quickly become unclear.

"Hirano-san, someone to see you at the front door," someone said over the PA. Naoko cringed, feeling sure that Takeo had come to pay her another visit, but had somehow been caught by the doorman that time. Her suspicions proved to be all too right.

"Hey, gorgeous. Got the time?" the lanky young man by the front door said as she came up.

"Can't you just call, like a normal person?"

"I try, but you always leave your phone off when you're at work, and when you get home these days, all the normal people drifted off to sleep already."

She scowled, "Your charm's overwhelming, Takeo. I don't know how I've lasted so long without it."

"Gomen, but let me make it up to you. You're about to leave for the day anyway."

Naoko was startled. "And you know this, how?"

"That little old man who just came by here. He said he was in charge."

Naoko realized where this was probably going. "Nanda? What little old man?"

"Ah, Naoko, I was looking for you," Dr. Amasada said, every word out of his mouth as genial as every other Naoko had ever heard him speak, "I noticed you were done with those plans so I passed them along to the implementers. Please take the day off with my compliments." Naoko opened her mouth to protest, but maybe she realized how tired she really felt, or maybe it was how he bowed politely and turned to return to his office before she could get the words out that told her the conversation was already closed.

Naoko let out a sigh, but then turned to face Takeo. "Why not? I could use an afternoon off," she admitted, "Just don't get any funny ideas in that head of yours."

"Funny ideas, me?" Takeo pretended to be taken aback, "How could you ever suspect a totally stand-up dude like me of having anything but completely serious thoughts?"

"Hard to believe, isn't it?" Naoko remarked dryly as they left the building.

Jishinder halted his descent. He had penetrated about half a mile underground, and the rock surrounding him was thicker and the air hotter than in the tunnels he had carved above. He raised his arms and once again they began to batter through rock, forming the start of another tunnel before him. He let out a mechanized cry of delight, as only doing what they were made to do could bring out of an Animated Warrior.

The ground quaked on the surface once again, even less noticeably than before. Every so often Jishinder would pause to extract a small round device hanging from his waist and affix it to the tunnel wall, like he had done while excavating the passages far above him. So doing he went about his nefarious business undetected, except for one, the single creature whose very life force was tied into the element he was disrupting.

Again a feeling of unease roused Terraclaw from her sleep. Quickly shaking off the pangs of slumber still clouding her mind, the enormous grizzly walked out of her cavern in alarm. She tried to reach out and contact Earthguard, figuring that surely she would be awake to receive her call with the sun high in the sky, but he was in for a very, very unpleasant surprise.

Terraclaw didn't even notice the menacing black shape overhead, until it suddenly swooped from the sky and knocked her right on her back. It circled back and began to dive again, a black half-circle of pure darkness screaming terribly through the air at its earthbound prey. Terraclaw stood up on her back legs, metallic teeth bared, but she didn't expect what came.

A barrage of green rings exploded from the sides of the incoming figure, whatever it was. Terraclaw lunged to evade them, but for all the strength and speed that was hers, she was not the most agile GuardBeast and was caught full-on by the blast. She braced herself for a flood of pain to come washing through her, but yet another surprise came to the enormous creature. A cocoon began to spread over her from where the rings had hit, and her thoughts began to dull. She threw back her head to let out a defiant roar, but nothing came forth. Moments later Terraclaw had lapsed completely into a deep slumber, fearing what might become of Earthguard since she was unable to deliver her warning.

The dark shape that had assailed her landed with barely a sound. Now it wasn't zipping around attacking GuardBeasts, it could be clearly seen to be a mechanical craft, pitch black and with a transparent bubble set in the very center of the flat side. With a hiss the bubble released and slid upward. From the compact but efficient cockpit contained within stepped Gammaraude.

A triumphant smile was on her lips, and why shouldn't there have been? The Guardrangers depended on their companion creatures for so much of their power, and she had found a way to overcome them with sinful ease…

As she watched Terraclaw's eyes drifted shut, and she could see a look of hateful rage in them as they closed. The sight would have troubled others, but Gammaraude thought even less of the Guard Beasts than she did of their masters. And with Terraclaw captured, the only thing that could have warned those masters of the impending danger would no longer present any obstacle to her plan.

The Baroness returned to her aircraft and tapped a green button on the controls. Regally, she said into a microphone, "Deploy the containment team I requested at once. I've captured the beast and we'll need to secure it before it can be taken back to the Death Gar for dissection."

The empty roads Naoko had crossed over on her way to work were still surprisingly light as Takeo drove her jeep back toward the city. Takeo had an uncharacteristically somber look on his face as they zoomed along, although Naoko wasn't paying attention to that. Takeo's continued presence in her life was just another of the little burdens she seemed to be cursed to carry since making up her mind to strike out on her own.

"I don't know why you keep after me the way you do," she said idly, just to do something to break the silence, "I told you it wasn't working out."

"Yeah, too many late nights at the office," he replied just as idly, "That's why, wasn't it? You don't make enough time for yourself."

"Takeo, if this is all you have in mind, please just take me home. If I wanted to be nagged I could call my father."

"Naoko, listen to me. I just don't understand why you did it. I loved you. I still do. We'd been going out for eight months and then you suddenly couldn't seem to find time for the two of us anymore."

Naoko sighed and made no effort to hide it. Didn't she have enough to worry about as it was? Did she really have to deal with an ex-boyfriend who couldn't let go too? It was true they'd been going out for a considerable time, but after a while Takeo's childish attitude just hadn't been interesting her anymore. And Naoko did think her work was important; the main reason why she'd broken it off was to spend more time researching the quakes that turned out to be Armag trying to raise the Death Gar. "Takeo…I just don't think we can be more than friends. It isn't just that I have so much more to do these days, you just aren't serious enough of a man for me."

"Geez, Naoko, you must have a sense of humor somewhere."

"It's that kind of thinking that broke us up before, in case you forgot."

"Look, can we change the subject?" Takeo said as delicately as he could. For obvious reasons he didn't want to make Naoko angry. "You hear about that last fight the Guardrangers had? All the way out at the coast! Wonder what they were doing so far away from Tokyo."

"Fighting another monster would be my diagnosis," Naoko replied. Of course, she had been there, but Takeo couldn't know that.

"Yeah, really," he said with a smile, as if he had just proven that she really did have the capacity for mirth, "It seems like those kinds of guys show up whenever and wherever we need 'em, doesn't it? I wonder how that works."

"Cosmic forces in the universe maintaining the balance or something," Naoko replied.

Takeo turned to her, suddenly alert, "Where'd you hear that?"

Naoko started. Her fatigue must have been even worse than she'd thought, to be tossing around privileged information so carelessly. "Oh, you know," she stammered, "Just a rumor. But it makes as much sense as anything for having them year after year, doesn't it?"

"Yeah I guess so," he replied, but didn't sound convinced.

Then, as things often seemed to just when they were about to relax, something happened. There was a muffled "whump" that shook the jeep, and then a roar came from the heart of Tokyo that was deafening even though they were at least half a mile from the outskirts still. A gigantic fissure opened in the road beside the jeep. The two passenger screamed as the ground shook and tossed the jeep onto its side like a toy, but that was scarcely the beginning of the destructive force about to be unleashed. Through the cracked windshield Naoko could see the fissure extending along the road into the concrete expanses of Tokyo in the distance. Buildings shook and cracked before toppling into piles of powdered wreckage.

But the noise of the tremor doubled and redoubled, and though Naoko could see Takeo yelling something to her, the sound was lost amidst the din as even more buildings, an entire block at once, crumbled in the face of the tectonic assault. Naoko knew that she was probably the only person on the face of the planet who could do something about it, but how could she summon the power she would need with Takeo staring at her in wide-eyed shock?

It was a question she would spend weeks asking herself, for at that moment things somehow managed to get even worse. A crack in the ground appeared at the very edge of the city, combining with the one that had flung the jeep they were in to the ground. In a sight and sound that was a horror to defy description, the cracks surrounding that portion of the city began to grow, and then, the entire section of Tokyo began to sink into the ground! People, cars, buildings. There was a horrendous, unholy crash, and then the disaster finally stopped.

But still it wasn't over. The sky above the city shimmered, and a huge face materialized from it. Naoko recognized it at once. It was Gammaraude.

"CitizenS of Tokyo!" she said in a superior voice, "I am Gammaraude, Baroness and Minister of Technology FOR the Garganstah Empire! The very same nation which your vaunted Guardrangers have been opposing. I have just had a quarter of your city destroyed! And Unless The Guardrangers stand down and the people of this country surrender to Garganstah, know that I will happily do far worse! You have one hour to comply!" And having delivered her ultimatum, the Baroness' face vanished from the sky.

With an effort the two people managed to pry themselves free of the jeep and stagger away. Takeo began to babble something about calling the authorities, but Naoko's mind was elsewhere. In that supernatural link between the Guardrangers. Miina, did you just see that?! At once her horrible urgency traveled through the ether, and five concerned voices replied.

Earthguard, I sensed something wrong--,said Bes.

Naoko, nani yo?! Daijoubu?? That was Ryuji, a touching alarm in his call.

Holy crap…who'd you tick off now, Naoko? Jason. Still didn't sound like he was taking things seriously.

I just saw those buildings sink! I'm on my way! Miaka, filled with youthful energy and a desire to succeed as always.

Don't say a thing, I'm on my way, was Tochiro's soft-spoken, yet somehow iron-willed response.

I'm fine, Naoko said to the gathered minds of her teammates, considering who just gave that rather unorthodox announcement, I probably don't have to tell any of you what's wrong.

Ryuji, what're we doin' here, bro? Jason asked. We gonna meet at the Earth Sanctum to figure out what to do?

No time for that, man, Ryuji interjected, Guys, meet at the south edge of Shinjuku.

I'm on my way, Naoko said through a chorus of similar responses, then returned to the mortal world at the speed of thought.

"Takeo, I have to report this. Will you be all right by yourself?"

"Nani? Report this to who?" Takeo asked.

"The Institute!" Naoko said, the words tumbling out as they entered her head, "that attack just came out of nowhere and we need a means of countering or possibly heading it off if it happens a second time! Go to my house and wait for me there!"

"Okay, but…how're you gonna get back there??" Takeo called, casting an eye toward the totaled jeep. Naoko was already hurrying off, however, and made no sign of hearing her. She had, but the answer wasn't one she could give to someone outside of her exclusive club.

Naoko crested a hill and disappeared from Takeo's view behind it. The ground opened up beneath her, and an instant later the breath of the Earth caught her and whisked her away.

The Guardrangers flew along the subterranean network of wind tunnels, each coming closer to the abyss that had not long before been part of the capital of the nation, closer to whatever had caused it. And they planned to be ready for it. Each raised their Guardbrace, and shouted a pair of words, naming the source of their strength and commanding it to fill them with its might. Somehow it carried over the rushing winds, and in a succession of colored bursts of light, the civilians had vanished, and the Eternal Sentai Guardranger had taken their place.

But as Naoko's being began to swell once again with the power of Earth, something else happened. A shock went through her, and distantly she could hear Terraclaw letting out a pained, weakened roar. It was exactly like the feeling she'd had just before the quake hit, but fifty times worse. She gasped in shock, and even though the winds made it nearly impossible to hear anything else, her teammates could somehow tell, and wheeled around to look back at her.

When the wind tunnel disgorged them onto to the lip of the abyss seconds later, they were already dashing toward her to see what was wrong. Fireguard caught her as she toppled to the ground in a daze.

"Naoko, nanda??" Fireguard asked, the runaway anxiety in his question answering why he'd used her real name.

"Terraclaw…something's happened to her…I can feel it," she gasped out, winded by the shock that had assaulted her system.

"Nani? Where is she? Can you tell?"

"I don't know. I tried to connect with her to find out what's wrong, but something's blocking me. I can sense her, but not where she is."

Fireguard didn't need to hear another word. "HELLSCAR…AWAKEN!" Within instants the Rangers could see a gigantic creature flapping toward them, a familiar red and gold dragon. Losing no speed, Hellscar zoomed overhead, cast a beam from one of his claws and pulled Fireguard aboard, then veered around and began to fly back the way he'd come with a determined roar escaping his maw.

Ryu, where you goin', man?! Waterguard demanded as beast and master quickly started to shrink toward the skyline.

You guys check out the hole. The two of us are gonna go look for Terraclaw. If she is in trouble, we'll be able to handle it the best.

Ryuji--, Earthguard began to protest.

Check out the hole. We'll be fine. And with that Fireguard closed the link.

"Man…wonder why he left in such a hurry," Waterguard mumbled, but didn't let it go any farther than that. Although it still irked from time to time, he'd come to accept that Fireguard was the leader and was acting as he thought best, as a leader should.

"Naoko…can you manage all right?" Forestguard asked as he helped his downed teammate to her feet.

"Hai, I'm feeling fine now. Much better, in fact," Earthguard responded. She stared wonderingly at Hellscar's vanishing shape for a second, then approached the lip of the chasm.

It was just as dark and deep as she remembered, perhaps more so thanks to wearing a tinted visor her second time there. But upon a closer inspection than she was able to manage before, Earthguard spotted an opening in the rock a good ways down.

"Miina, look at that!" In response to her shout three other pairs of eyes strained against the stygian darkness.

"Man, I knew it," Waterguard cracked his knuckles, "Let's get down there and kick some Garg butt."

"I'm all for that."

Forestguard pulled out his Gorilla Vine and tied it around the waists of himself and his teammates before sinking the tip of the cable into the ground, and then the four of them began to descend the steep slope leading to the cave far below. Shortly they reached their destination and entered the forbidding tunnel. But some minutes later a taxi screeched to a halt at the lip of the chasm, and out stepped Takeo.

The cable still anchored to the edge confirmed his suspicions. The Guardrangers were there, somewhere, and by following the thorn-covered cable he could see it leading to a tunnel opening a considerable distance down the steep slope.

But a little climbing didn't scare him. This was the big chance he'd been waiting for. So he checked his flashlight, which had somehow come out of the wreck still in working order, then grabbed onto the cable and began to ease himself down toward the tunnel.

The Guardrangers descended into the blackness, but as they left the entrance to the tunnel behind, fingers of darkness began to envelop them.

"Hey guys, anyone think to bring a flashlight?"

"Just concentrate for a second. You'll be able to see, at least a little," Earthguard replied. And indeed, within a few seconds the Rangers could roughly see the outline of the tunnel walls, a pale green in the dark field of their adjusted vision.

"Sugoi! How did you know about that?"

"I asked Beservor a long time ago about what kind of other powers we had. There isn't much besides this, but at least it's not just a sparkly costume."

"That's our Earthguard," Forestguard chortled under his breath. The four made their way further into the tunnel, alert for the slightest sound or sign of movement. They had no idea they were being watched all the while by inhuman eyes.

Though trying to stay alert and help her comrades look for their enemy, Earthguard found her mind wandering back to why had Fireguard flown off in such haste. And why did that bother her so much? He was the leader, he'd reminded her himself the night before. It was natural for a good leader to be willing to take the point. But then she stopped and thought, was his sudden departure to look for Terraclaw really the reason she was wondering about him?

"There you go again, doubting everyone except yourself. That Ryuji's obviously a good boy with a good head on his shoulders, why do you have to go questioning what he does?"

"Shut up."

"Hey! What was that for???" Waterguard sounded hurt.

"Hmm? Oh…gomen, Jason. I didn't mean you."

Waterguard just shrugged and the two followed their comrades deeper underground. But a second later the Guardrangers froze, hearing the sound of metallic footfalls that they recognized all too well. From ahead, then suddenly from behind as well. No battle cries or shouts of "Surrender, humans!" or any such thing rang out through the rocky halls. And little surprise it was, as the unmistakable shape of Silicon foot soldiers appeared in their altered vision.

"Surrender…yeah, right." Waterguard drawled as he brandished his Eternablade. Leveling spears at the four Rangers, the soulless warriors moved forward to comply with the challenge. Within seconds the sounds of battle were traveling through the earth, and further up the tunnel Takeo wondered what in the world he had gotten himself into.

At the very same instant, Hellscar soared over the wilderness outside of Tokyo, terrifying numerous motorists as the enormous bat-like silhouette passed overhead. Much as neither master or beast wanted to be scaring people out of their wits, they were concerned with graver things.

Fireguard and Hellscar concentrated the full force of their melded minds on picking up the faintest hint of a Guard Beast's abundant life force as they zoomed over the countryside, but were still producing nothing.

Fireguard wondered if perhaps whatever was causing the trouble for her Beast that Earthguard had reacted to was somehow foiling their attempts to detect him, or if indeed there was really anything wrong, and if he should've been back with his teammates.

Earthguard spoke true, my friend. Terraclaw is in danger, Hellscar proclaimed, hearing the thoughts of Fireguard's doubts.

"So you too, huh, bud?" Fireguard asked with a mild grin beneath his helmet. Absently he pondered what it was that had suddenly sparked the Guard Beasts' minds, whether it had something to do with the union of minds created when they formed Daichijin, or if they were just learning and growing into their roles as were the Rangers.

There! Below us! Hellscar shouted suddenly, and Fireguard looked out through his companion's eyes to see a bizarre gathering below them. There appeared to be about a hundred people gathered around something big. But as he looked closer, he could make out that they were anything but human. They were the color of dull chrome, and walked with a lifeless gait. They were rigging a large net around the object, and upon closer inspection, he could see the larger object to be Terraclaw! Looking like she'd been knocked unconscious and surrounded by some kind of glowing green field, but Terraclaw nonetheless.

"The Gargs got her…" Fireguard said in disbelief, but quickly collected himself, "Hellscar, dive and blow those tin-heads away!" Hellscar let out an affirmative roar and swooped toward the unsuspecting Silicons. A minute later, as the gigantic rush of air from Hellscar's sudden pass caught up with him, the Silicons were blown around like toys. They never even knew what hit them.

But not all of Terraclaw's captors had been caught unawares. Gammaraude had possessed enough presence of mind to notice the dark shape winging toward her as she oversaw the containment of Terraclaw. She had dashed into her aircraft and taken to the sky seconds before Hellscar sent her henchmen tumbling. The craft was rocked as it barely escaped the effected area, but the Baroness was far from worried. She had been preparing for just such an eventuality.

"My technological wonders daunted you before, Guardranger," she said with a wicked smirk, "but this one should be more than enough to get you out of my hair!" With that she pressed a green button on her controls, and something zoomed down from the clouds. It was a huge, silver box, the size of a city block--at least. Before Fireguard even realized what was happening, Gammaraude's craft clicked into the front of the box, and it began to change.

Four thick legs emerged from its underside, and a pair of metal wings unfolded from the top. A serpentine head molded itself out of the front where Gammaraude had docked with the behemoth taking shape, then extended itself on a long neck. From all over the machine cannons, blasters and ballistas extended into view. Hellscar suddenly found himself face to face with a mechanized dragon, his equal in size and outward ferocity.

"Impressed, hero?" Gammaraude taunted, battle lust beginning to take over the calm and pragmatic Baroness of Technology, "I was hoping you'd be the one I'd get to try this out against. Meet Scurga, the one who'll put an end to you and your obnoxious little pets!"

Fireguard was undaunted as he stared down the machine that looked in every way to be the equal of his own Beast. "That's some clunker you've got, lady. But it takes a lot more than firepower to make us back down! Right, big buddy?"

Indeed! Let us show the Baroness and her draconian pretender the error of their ways!

Hellscar replied.

"All over it, pal! LET'S GO!" And the two awesome enemies charged.

It was a stark change of pace to be fighting in a cramped tunnel with drastically diminished visibility of their enemies, but the Guardrangers were struggling to make do with what they had. Sparks flew as the archaic weapons of both sides met in mid-air, except when a Silicon spear found its target and floored the unfortunate Ranger.

The mindless fighting machines seemed totally unimpaired by the dark, as more often than not their blows landed and they evaded the Guardrangers' counter-strikes with an ease none would've expected from their bulky frames.

Airguard slashed at an incoming Silicon only for her blow to be parried with the haft of his spear. He gave her no chance to regroup, and expertly swung his spear and sent the young heroine tumbling to the ground. Water and Forestguard dueled with their opponents back to back, but with ease the Silicons knocked their Eternablades from their hands and knocked them both into vicious spins before the two Rangers collapsed in a daze.

Earthguard fought the fiercest of all, and her blade flashed against the darkness as it sliced into the hide of a Silicon's chest and the next instant sliced off one's head. All the exasperation she'd felt over the last couple days from over-working herself, being woken in the middle of the night, and having her father's memory nag at her at every turn erupted in her relentless attacks against the Silicons. But for all the pride her teammates would've felt if they could properly see her in action, she was only one against many, and a ferocious assault only counted for so much against warriors created solely to crush the Empire's enemies in any conditions they faced.

Suddenly two spear points shot out of nowhere, catching the wrist of Earthguard's sword-arm in a scissor-like grip and forcing it to the floor of the tunnel. One of the Silicons kicked her Eternablade away with a clatter.

"Get back or I'll…I'll…!" Earthguard stammered before realizing she was in no mood to come up with a biting insult. "SEISMIC FORCE!" Earthguard drove her free hand against the wall of the tunnel, and once again the earth began to tremble from the force of her power over it. The Silicons holding her down and the ones surrounding her teammates were rocked off their feet, but in her keyed-up state Earthguard hadn't totally thought out what might happen using her attack underground.

Chunks of rock began to fall from the ceiling, luckily crushing a couple unfortunate Silicons, but a scream of pain told her that Airguard had been struck as well, then Forestguard, then Waterguard, and then yet another scream from the way they had come.

The power of Seismic Force was short-lived, and already Earthguard could feel its effects ebbing. But what good what that do them if they were crushed beforehand? Earthguard stretched out her arms, touching the sides of the tunnel with the tips of her fingers and concentrated on her power as she never had before. She willed the rocks to stop crumbling, the ground to stop quaking. And slowly, surely, the fall of stones slowed, then ceased, as did the violent trembling of the world around the four of them.

"Miina, daijoubu?" Forestguard, to nobody's surprise, was the one to ask.

"A little bruised, but fine," Airguard replied.

"Same here, dude. Yo, lady…you're supposed to take out the Gargs, not us," Waterguard said bitingly.

"There's just no pleasing some men," Earthguard said sourly, observing the broken bits of the statue-like foot soldiers on the floor. The rest had fled when seen that Earthguard was willing to unleash her full strength even in the cramped confines of the tunnel.

"Not all of them, my dear," said a voice none of them recognized. They whirled in its direction and fell into defensive stances, already expecting what came. It was an Animated Warrior. It had to have been. But none of them could see anything.

"Not that you're surprised, I'm sure," the voice went on, "Silicons are always in the company of someone much more powerful than themselves. You've surely noticed that."

"Hey, if it makes you feel any better you'll be keeping your grunts company real soon, dude!" Waterguard shot back to the darkness.

"What a threat! I'd better give myself up while I still can, shouldn't I?" The Animated Warrior let out a grating laugh. Then suddenly something shot out and knocked Waterguard down. Another attack flew silently out of the shadows, but just before it struck Earthguard could make out something coming and spun out of the way. She spun herself right into a high kick that slammed into what felt like a monster's shoulder. A grunt of pain told her it was probably so.

Jishinder, for that was of course who the attacker was, couldn't believe it for his part. How could she have seen that coming? Moreover, how could she have known where to strike to retaliate? Short was the time he had to think about it, however, as Earthguard swung her fists in the direction she'd struck before. But he leaped back, then hurled himself forward, jack hammer-arms thundering.

For a split-second Earthguard could see the incoming attack, her desperation increasing the strength of her ethereal senses. But it was not enough, and Jishinder vanished from her sight before mowing her down as he flew by.

The other three Guardrangers were up and tried to defend their comrade, but their altered vision picked up nothing, and an unseen opponent ripped through them, lighting up the blackness with showers of sparks.

"Can't fight what you can't see, eh, heroes?" Jishinder cackled. But something smashed against the back of his head as the beam of a flashlight rounded a bend in the tunnel.

"I see you just fine. And boy do I wish I couldn't," said a flippant voice.

"Oh no…" Earthguard said as she placed the voice.

"Oh no, what?" Waterguard asked before placing the voice himself.

Jishinder growled at the newcomer. But then, to his surprise, Jishinder ignored Takeo completely, and charged toward the Guardrangers while he still had them at his mercy.

"AURA OAK BUSTER!" Forestguard shouted with all the strength he could muster, and a emerald surge of glowing leaves flared out of the darkness. The beam tore into Jishinder, igniting wave after wave of sparks, but he continued his charge unaffected.

"ORCA BRAND!" Waterguard called, and in a burst of water he couldn't see, his trademark weapon appeared in his hands. He lay rolled onto his side then hefted the weapon with all of his might in what he hoped was the right direction, and with a resounding CLANG it imbedded itself in Jishinder's torso and knocked him back against the side of the tunnel.

By the time he recovered, the Guardrangers were back up. "You've had it, buster! Whatever you are!" Airguard taunted.

But the reply that came was an unnerving chortle. "I don't think so, my dear. But daddy has some important things to do now, so why don't you go play with your new friends?" As he said that, rapid footsteps came down the tunnel. More Silicons, no doubt. Then with a manic cackle, he turned his hammers back on and began to pound away at the floor and sank through it. But they could all see the ground closing up behind him just as quickly as he dug through it.

"Oh no you don't!" Earthguard shouted and dove in after him.

"Hey, wait!" Takeo yelled, and slid into the hole in the ground just as it snapped shut, taking the collar of his jacket with it.

"Oh…great."

"Aw, man…what the heck was Takeo doin' here?"

"I don't know, but we need to go after them! She's probably in trouble!"

"Not to sound selfish, Airguard," Forestguard replied as another wave of Silicons flooded the tunnel, "but so are we."

KA-BOOM!

Scurga's cannons thundered as it and Hellscar weaved through the air, exchanging blasts.

Normally Fireguard would have been directing his companion with his voice, but the arsenal Gammaraude had trained on him made such a thing impossible. Hellscar could have seen into his master's thoughts anyway, but now they were all that he dared let himself rely upon. An explosion clipped the edge of one wing just as Fireguard willed for him to dive under it.

Not that Hellscar was helpless. He performed a sharp bank and let loose with a shockwave of burning red dragon breath that tore into Scurga's side, and a bank of guns exploded terrifically. Gammaraude screamed as the bank of controls for those weapons erupted in sparks, then growled like an animal and glared sharply at the ones responsible.

Hellscar roared in satisfaction, and Fireguard could tell his companion was pleased with himself. But at a thought from Fireguard the dragon's mind returned to the battle, and just in time; Scurga was charging straight at them, guns blazing!

But hero and beast were on the ball. Hellscar beat his massive wings and ascended, smacking Scurga in the head with his tail as he flew by overhead. Gammaraude was tossed around in her cockpit, but that didn't last long. She forced Scurga into a steep dive, then suddenly came back up, firing everything she had on Hellscar. The creature of fire was a veteran flier and was possessed of far more agility than his bulk would suggest. He swooped and weaved through a flurry of explosions. A shell flew in front of him and he dove under its blast. Scurga launched a cloud of harpoons at Hellscar, but he just barrel-rolled lower out of the way. Hellscar let out a roar and casually swatted back a plasma fireball with his tail. It screamed back and smacked into Gammaraude's cockpit, causing a flurry of sparks to erupt from her controls as she screamed in surprise.

Ha-HA! No man-made machine could ever match the strength of a TRUE dragon! Hellscar thundered confidently.

"Hey, buddy, let's not get too--" Fireguard began to reply. Just then one of Scurga's weapons fired, a tiny, unremarkable cannon just beneath the mechanical dragon's neck. Most would've laughed at it, but that was exactly what Gammaraude had intended. The projectile, no larger than a basketball, whizzed silently toward Hellscar and struck him in the chest.

But then it exploded, and engulfed the mighty dragon in flames.

Hellscar opened his mouth to cry out, but no sound came. His eyes went dark and his gigantic wings ceased to beat. And then Hellscar fell from the sky like a stone.

Much like how Earthguard, her prey and their tagalong were falling, but in their case it was through stone. Jishinder easily drilled through the ground for what felt like miles, and as Earthguard tried to think of how she might stop him, she could feel a dull ache in her mind, and faintly heard Fireguard crying out. But if she was going to help him, first she would have to help herself.

"GRIZZLY CLAWS!" Just as Jishinder registered that she had said something, Earthguard's drove her hands into the earth, stone and dirt weaving around them. She smashed her fists together and her signature weapons appeared over her hands in all their lethal splendor. Wasting no more time, she brought her right claw down on Jishinder's head with all her might.

Earthguard's blow had quite an unexpected effect. It knocked Jishinder down. Straight through the ground and into another tunnel beneath them. They fell a good seven feet before hitting the floor, but already Earthguard was on her feet and pressing her attack.

Jishinder parried her double-handed swing with his arm, and sparks flew. Earthguard, however, could see Jishinder in the light of Tokyo's flashlight, and suddenly flipped one hand over and hooked it to the hammer that was the robot's limb, then started to pull with all her strength. With the continued attachment of his arm in mind, Jishinder did something drastic. Suddenly his chest plate swung downwards revealing a wide silver tube. It extended outward from his torso for a few inches, and then fired a silver disc that clamped onto Earthguard's shoulder.

"Nanda…?!" she said in surprise, loosening her grip on Jishinder just a bit.

And in the next instant he was barreling down the tunnel away from her and Takeo.

"Goodbye, Guardranger!" he yelled over his shoulder.

Then the silver disc exploded.

A wicked smile crawled across Gammaraude's lips. She'd done it! She'd proven that the Guardrangers' archaic powers couldn't stand up to the might of her science! Hellscar crashed to the ground, sending enormous clouds of dust and debris into the air, then lay where he was, lifeless.

"I wonder how the Emperor will reward me for this," she mused as she lowered Scurga closer to make sure her foe was indeed no longer among the living, but not close enough that if he were to suddenly rear up and attack she wouldn't have time to react.

However, Gammaraude wasn't underestimating the intelligence of the Eternal Sentai, but their ferocity when provoked. Hellscar did indeed suddenly rear up, having been playing possum. His eyes were burning brighter than before, and unleashed another impulse of crimson fire. But as the blistering hell-ray screamed toward Scurga, Gammaraude merely flicked a switch and a crystal cocoon materialized around her mecha, easily stopping the beam.

"That's pathetic, Guardranger! Is that the best you and your pet can do?!" she cackled.

"Man…you just don't get it, do you?! When we put our souls into something…nothing gets in our way! And that…includes…people…like…YOU!" Fireguard exploded. All of a sudden Hellscar's blast expanded to 5 times its previous size, a burning column of energy traveling up it toward Scurga's shield. Gammaraude gasped and pressed buttons to divert power to defenses, and the shield shimmered with the extra energy. But Hellscar's attack was fueled by Fireguard's devotion to helping Earthguard by restoring her companion to her. The shield cracked, then shattered, and the Hellstormer flew onward, punching right through Scurga's underbelly and out the other side.

Alarms flashed from every portion of her console. Gammaraude cursed and then pressed a green button, and her half-circle ship disengaged from Scurga's forehead. "DAMN YOU BOTH!!! You haven't seen the last of me, hero!" Gammaraude shrieked as she flew into the heavens, and Scurga's lifeless remains crashed to the ground with a hollow BOOM.

Can't blame a guy for dreaming, though, Fireguard thought. But Gammaraude's wrath was something to be dealt with another time. At a thought Hellscar righted himself and then grabbed the still-unconscious and cocooned Terraclaw in his front talons, but at the command to take off, Hellscar hesitated.

"Hey, bud…what's up?"

I'm afraid…Gammaraude's creation took a good deal more…out of me…than I realized, my friend… Hellscar managed to reply. Hellscar shifted his gaze to his left wing, and Fireguard could see through it that a number of sizeable holes had been punched in it, probably from the blast that had sent them crashing to the earth moments before.

"Oh, man…"

In Tokyo, the ground rocked and people cried in terror as they tried to flee, sure that another portion of the fair city was about to sink out of sight. And far below, trapped in a world of agony, was Earthguard.

Her uniform was scorched everywhere one might have looked, and she lay flat on the ground, knocked fifty feet from where she'd been standing by the explosion. But for all that, she was still in one piece. The cave walls shook with the sound of the explosion, but it gradually died away, and things returned to a normal state of panic for the people above.

"Are we dead?" Takeo asked a long moment later.

"I don't think so, but I'm exceptionally grateful for how much punishment these suits can take," Earthguard replied. With an effort she managed to pull herself up, but wondered why she was bothering. She could move, painfully, but she certainly wasn't in any shape to go after the monster and stop whatever he was up to. She tried to open her mind but felt that the others were engaged in battle and didn't dare distract them.

She settled her back against the wall in relief and wondered what Fireguard was doing. Then she wondered why she was wondering what Fireguard was doing. It was, after all, not like her to question her superiors. Not when they seemed as in control of things as Fireguard had of late. But she'd heard him screaming as she chased Jishinder down the shaft; what had that been about? She began to reach out to him, but a stabbing pain in her shoulder put a stop to that.

"Hey, whoa…daijoubu?" Takeo asked from somewhere nearby.

"You can't tell by looking at me?" she asked a bit more sharply than she meant. But then, agonizing pain didn't do much for a person's manners.

"I wouldn't know, my flashlight got busted when I landed on my butt," he replied with a smirking tone. Wasn't that just like him? It seemed like Takeo couldn't take anything seriously, even when they were a mile underground and probably being stalked by a crazed invisible robot. Fireguard would've taken charge and immediately have begun thinking about how to overcome it.

And there she went thinking about Fireguard again. What was with her? She found him much easier to stand after he quit whining and started acting like a leader, that was definite. But as her mind drifted back to Terraclaw's visit to town, him being the only one to come in the middle of the night, to investigate things at her side, and then even making sure she got home safely didn't strike her as merely the actions of a leader…

"You all right?" Takeo asked, a trace of worry from her silence evident.

"Hardly," Earthguard replied, more gently than before, "I got to take a bomb blast at point blank, there's a monster we can't see somewhere around here, and my friends are probably in danger. I'm about as far from 'all right' as humanly possible.."

"Man…you sound so familiar, it's scary."

"Nani?"

"Look, please just hear me out before you say anything. You're not gonna like this, but please just listen to me. Who are you? Behind the helmet. I swear I won't spread it to anyone, but tell me, please."

Oh, Kami-sama…Earthguard though, now he's got suspicion running through his head…. I cannot believe the day I'm having… She wasn't sure whether to be relieved or terrified as her head cleared enough for her to notice something she hadn't before. A row of circular objects set into the wall at a regular interval, "Kami-sama…! That's how he did it!"

"Nani? How who did what?"

Earthguard didn't answer. She charged to the wall behind her and Takeo and began trying to wrench the discs out of the wall. Who knew how much time she had?

The objects were the same thing that Jishinder had fired onto her arm and then detonated. The entire tunnel was laced with them. If he decided to set them off before she could do something, surely all of Tokyo would be devoured by the earth…

He knew that the Guardranger and the human had survived his attack; he could see what was happening anywhere in the tunnels as easily he could see what was right in front of him. But they wouldn't survive what he had in store for them next. This was moving things a little ahead of schedule, but he was sure the results would be the same with the Guardrangers buried in the wreckage of their beloved city

His functions switched from excavation and battle to demolition. He envisioned the explosives he had planted in the tunnel where Earthguard and Takeo were, and then his mechanical mind sent out a signal. Far in the distance, he could hear something explode. And then he could hear cries of anguish from both levels of the tunnel complex. And then entire remainder of the human city started to sink.

As bits of the ceiling began to fall, it was Earthguard's ultimate nightmare. She'd been trying to do something about the explosives planted along the wall when they'd suddenly started to go off, one after the other like a row of dominoes. And there had been the expected deafening blasts, and the city began to collapse onto them.

Earthguard shut her eyes and tried desperately to ignore her cuts and burns, and tried to visualize the disaster reversing itself and Tokyo returning to its relatively stable self. It was hopeless, and she knew it. Even she didn't have the kind of influence over stone to lift three-quarters of a major city back to where it was supposed to be and hold it there. She felt like she was trying to push a tank out of a ditch, and the strain on her powers to hold it up was so severe even Takeo started to feel it.

"Do it! I know you can do it!" he screamed over the roar of a collapsing city.

And all of a sudden the strain on Earthguard and her struggling powers alleviated a little. The city was still falling, but with Takeo's moral support, things seemed just a little less hopeless.

Jishinder cackled as he tunneled to the surface to observe the fruits of his labor from a safe distance. The city had to have been half-absorbed into the ground by the time he saw daylight. But when he pulled himself onto solid ground and turned to inspect the carnage, he was in for an unpleasant surprise.

The city had barely sunk at all! Something was holding it back!

In what remained of the tunnels above, the other Guardrangers could feel Earthguard's efforts to stall the descent of Tokyo even more acutely than Reiko.

Guys, what's happening?

Kami-sama…Earthguard's…trying to stop the place from caving in! Can't you feel it??

Upon closer inspection, Waterguard could. It was as if he the one trying to will the ground beneath the city not to collapse. Even Fireguard, miles away, could feel his teammate's struggle.

"Oh no, the rest of the city's falling in! They'll all be buried alive!"

We must go their aid at once! Hellscar shouted.

Yes…we must…hurry…!! another voice exclaimed from below. It was Terraclaw, and as she awoke, the force field around her flickered and vanished. Whether it was because they could feel Earthguard's plight or because the force field had just run out of juice, he didn't know and didn't care. He'd succeeded in his task, and if his companion was up to it, they would all go help their imperiled friend.

"If you think your wing can take it, buddy, let's GO!" Fireguard responded, and with a mighty beat of his wings, Hellscar was off the ground, Terraclaw clutched in his forward talons.

Hellscar rocketed across the landscape, roaring his support to their imperiled comrade. As they sped along, Fireguard noticed a trio of large shapes heading the same way in the distance, one ground-bound, the other two following in the air. He didn't have to guess twice; they were the other Guard Beasts, coming to lend their phenomenal strength.

"Hey! Perfect timing, guys!" Fireguard called out to them. The Guard Beasts replied with echoing cries of affirmation.

Meanwhile, Earthguard could tell strength was about to give out. It was touching that Reiko had, consciously or not, managed to ease her burden slightly, but even she lacked the energy to do what needed to be done. The ceiling began to slide closer.

"C'mon, lady! Don't give up!" Takeo called, and though his voice was lost in the din of the crumbling earth, she could hear it and managed to hold on. Still a crushing doom seemed inevitable, but then something miraculous happened.

Earthguard felt nine other mighty life-forces, four calling support to her in human language, the others imparting their backing through deafening roars. And the loudest roar of all belonged to a huge bear, Terraclaw. Through their spiritual bond their power flooded into Earthguard, and the titanic weight of the city suddenly seemed to diminish to that of a dandelion seed.

"Yes…Yes…YES!!" Earthguard called, as power beyond anything she'd ever experienced was bequeathed to her by her friends and their bestial companions. Every bit of strength that was at the Eternal Sentai's command poured into Earthguard. At the edge of all that strength she could even feel another human's life-essence backing her, but whispering a question, "Are you who I think you are?"

Not there was time to focus on that. Boosted by her comrades' strength, Earthguard's influence keeping Tokyo from collapsing intensified, and the roof rose, then affixed itself where it had been before. Streams of yellow light wove outward from her being into a complex web of power, fortifying the weakened foundations of the city. The roar of tumbling rocks ceased. On the surface, people held their breath, not sure if the danger was really over, but after a few moments, cheers began to go up. It looked as if the city's doom was not in the cards that day after all.

Even greater relief was on the mind of those below, who had averted the crisis. Earthguard wasn't quite about to rest; she could now sense the presence of the one responsible, and he would not get away again.

Jishinder couldn't believe his eyes! All that careful planning, all that preparation, and yet Tokyo stood! He wondered what kind of excuses he could possibly make for his failure, even though he knew Gammaraude, much less Brannoch, would accept none.

"It should have worked! It should have worked! Damn those miserable Guardrangers! Where could they get that kind of power?!"

"It's not from a place, you mechanized misery! It's from a bond between the people we hold dear!" a voice replied. Jishinder turned toward it, and there stood Earthguard and a human male, looking worse for wear but ready to take him on.

"Well well, flush with your success, you feel up to the task of battling me alone? At least you won't be around to interfere with us any longer."

"We'll see about that," Takeo taunted, but Jishinder looked right past him. And then Jishinder suddenly disappeared.

"Nani--" Earthguard stuttered before something unseen cut her down. But suddenly everything made sense. He had some kind of power that could shield him from the Guardrangers' senses; Terraclaw's, being stronger, had detected him at work the night before. No wonder she couldn't see him in the tunnel, or now. But that wasn't much comfort as invisible jackhammers rained death onto her prone and battered form.

Takeo, however, could see the frightening robotic monster pounding on Earthguard's helpless form. He charged forward to lend what little help he possibly could, but Jishinder saw him coming and bowled him over with a slight kick. Takeo groaned, but reached into his satchel and pulled out a bottle of mineral water. It was kind of warm, but he didn't intend to drink it.

Takeo rolled onto his back, raised the cap of the bottle and squeezed it with all his might. Water gushed out and sprayed the area above Earthguard, landing on Jishinder's broad metal shoulders. The Animated Warrior turned and laughed at this pathetic gesture, but it had not been in vain. Judging from the droplets of water hanging in midair, she aimed her sharpest kick and dug her foot into Jishinder's back.

"GRAHHHGGHHH!!!" he screamed, just in time for an arisen Earthguard to smash her Grizzly Claws into his chin. Another mighty blow tore open his midsection, and he flickered back into visibility. He stabbed at Earthguard's head with one hammer, but she blocked it with her left claw, and brought back her right.

With every ounce of her strength, Earthguard then launched an attack she'd been preparing. "BERSERKER BARRAGE!" She viciously slashed him across the chest, then back-handed him across the face, then slashed upward with both claws and striking him in the upper torso. Jishinder flipped head over heels and landed in his back before exploding into a dozen smoking pieces.

Earthguard, guys, you all right? Fireguard thought-spoke to his comrades just then. The Guard Beasts stood gathered on the rim of the chasm where a quarter of Tokyo had once been, waiting for any sign that their friends were okay.

Finally the tension was broken. We're okay, dude! Earthguard didn't even yell at me this time!

Give me a second, I'll think of something.

The other Guardrangers emerged from the hole they'd ventured into before and began hauling themselves up with the Gorilla Vine cable still embedded in the lip of the pit. Earthguard and a civilian walked up from behind the assembled Guard Beasts.

Jase! Whew…arigato, Kami-sama…

Hey, thank you, dude! You're the one who brought in the cavalry!

I didn't, bro. They came all by themselves when they knew we were in trouble.

And I don't think it's over yet, Forestguard suddenly cut in. A high-pitched shriek cut the air in half and a titanic flare of blue energy lanced down from the sky, showering the site of Earthguard and Jishinder's duel with glowing particles. Within instants he was reborn, as imposing as ever, and standing over a hundred feet tall.

"I'll reduce this city to a nothing more than a child's sandbox!!!" he roared. His jackhammer arms whirred to life, then he knelt to the ground and, for about the eightieth time that day, the ground rumbled and bucked beneath the people's feet.

"Guess it's time for that again! IMMORTAL FUSION!"

Once more, the Guard Beasts responded, beaming their companions aboard. Hellscar raced skyward, a column of rainbow-hued light igniting around him. The great dragon's limbs folded upward and in, fire dancing along his armored body. Treebasher followed suit, glowing silver and emerald metal shifting and forming the legs. Tidalstorm and Terraclaw, blazing bright blue and yellow respectively connected as the arms; Windshear, wrapped in a corona of white light took up position at the back, forming the secondary wingspan. Hellscar's head lowered into his chest area revealing the great mecha's head and helmet. Finally, the black dome materialized over Hellscar's head on the chest, the triangular Guardranger symbol appearing in the each of the five sections the dome was segmented into. The elemental energies embraced each other and the gestalt spoke: "WE ARE THE UNITY. WE ARE... DAICHIJIN!"

"YATTA! Go get 'im, guys! Kick his king-sized butt!" Takeo called to Daichijin. Whether the Guardrangers heard him or not, their titanic warrior strode forward to comply.

"No time to mess around. SHAKUNETSU HADO!" Daichijin's strength gathered in the dome on his chest and then fired a dramatic blast of fiery energy toward Jishinder. He looked up as it screamed toward him, then yelped in surprise as it bowled him over, ceasing his seismic assault.

But Jishinder was back on his feet in an instant. His shoulder was scorched where he'd been hit, but it didn't seemed to have damaged him in the slightest and he launched himself at Daichijin with both of his jack hammer arms aimed at the titan's chest. Unprepared, the Guardrangers could raise no defense before Jishinder began to pound them ferociously with his destructive appendages.

Huge clouds of sparks burst from the points of contact and Daichijin staggered back. The Guardrangers recovered enough to command Daichijin to leap backward, out of range, and then Forestguard went to work.

"CONGO DYNAMIC!" Daichijin's colossal arms pumped like giant pistons as they slammed into the ground, creating shockwaves of titanic force to knock him off-balance. But he laughed them off like a shower of raindrops.

"Idiots! I was created to make earthquakes! You think I wasn't made to withstand them, too?!" He ran toward Daichijin, completely unhampered by the tremors the gestalt was causing, and lashed out with a blow from his left arm that sent Daichijin tumbling to the ground.

Takeo's face fell as Daichijin did. But the Guardrangers weren't beaten yet. "Maybe this'll cool off that hot head of yours, bud!" Waterguard growled. "TIDAL IMMERSER!" Daichijin rolled over and aimed his left arm--Tidalstorm--at Jishinder. A tidal wave burst from its tip, but Jishinder just laughed and dug in his feet. The wave washed over him and ice crystals the size of cars slashed against his body, but a moment later when the wave cleared, he was unmoved and unharmed.

"All that planning's starting to seem a bit silly now, eh? When nothing you can produce can hurt me in the least," Jishinder cackled. He fired up his jack hammers and moved in for the kill.

"What the heck do we do?! He's laughed off all our best shots!" Forestguard asked.

"There has to be something! He might look indestructible, but there has to be a weak spot in him someplace!" Airguard replied, though even she sounded as if fear was taking hold of her.

"I hope you're right, Miaka. After all this drama I've lived through today, dying's NOT up there on my list..." Even as the words left Earthguard's mouth, more entered her mind. But they weren't hers; they were Terraclaw's coming to the rescue as the other Rangers' beasts had when Daichijin was losing a battle.

Earthguard! Join your will to mine! I HAve just the weapon we need to end this! she exclaimed, and the command to summon it escaped Earthguard's lips of its own accord.

"CRYSTAL BREAKER!" she called, and Daichijin responded. Terraclaw glimmered and glowed, and then a gigantic crystalline drill bit appeared, extending several feet from her jaws. At a thought from Earthguard, Daichijin reared back his arm and then snapped it forward, the drill bit whirling at fantastic speed as it shot forward, attached to an extending metal shaft inside Terraclaw's mouth. With a satisfying CRUNCH it stabbed into Jishinder's left side, pulverizing the jack hammer mounted on his shoulder and tearing away a hefty hunk of his arm as the bit recoiled into Terraclaw's mouth.

"WHOA!!! What the hell was that?!"

"A little upgrade in service, courtesy of Terraclaw," Earthguard winked at her leader. Having bought a moment's reprieve, Daichijin climbed to his feet and then bent back to hurl the Crystal Breaker again. Jishinder, panicked that his defenses had suddenly been breached, opened his chest plate and fired a barrage of the exploding discs at Daichijin. But the Guardrangers learned fast, and the Crystal Breaker expanded like an opening umbrella in front of himself as it continued spinning, deflecting the discs to the outskirts of the city where they exploded without harm.

"I've had enough of this character…Terraclaw, let's end this!"

YES! Terraclaw affirmed. A blinding aura of prismatic light ignited through the Crystal Breaker as Daichijin shot it forward, and it punched through Jishinder's cannon and sent cracks running in all directions from the point of contact. Another stab in the torso widened them, and the last shattered him to pieces even as he cried out his disbelief.

At last, it was over.

Or, almost. With Daichijin's energy boosting her own Earthguard exerted enough influence over the ground to raise the sunken portion of Tokyo and reaffix it where it had been before. It seemed a hollow gesture, as nothing remained standing. The buildings had been reduced to piles of random debris, and the dead and injured littered the streets. It looked like a world war had run roughshod through the place.

"Kami-sama…" Forestguard whispered as they disembarked from Daichijin.

"Jesus Christ…I knew the Gargs were low, but…"

"I can't believe it…" Airguard echoed. Even Takeo looked to be at a loss for words.

"Believe it," Fire and Earthguard said at once, looked at each other in surprise for a second, but then turned back to their teammates.

"We've just seen how far the Gargs are willing to go to deal with us and get this planet, and how tough they can be. I fought this huge dragon mecha of Gammaraude's, and that monster gave us about our closest call yet. We've gotta get tougher if we're going to stand a chance against them in the future," Fireguard announced solemnly. Takeo fought back an urge to clap.

"Whatever it takes, boss," Airguard replied.

"Aw man, you mean we gotta put even more work into this?" Waterguard groaned, although Fireguard knew--or at least hoped--he didn't mean it.

"Count on me," Forestguard said simply.

Fireguard turned to Earthguard, waiting for her response. "Oh, come now, people…you were expecting me to be the one who said no? This is our duty, after all.."

"That's what I was expecting to hear. We'll all meet at the Earth Sanctum tomorrow afternoon. We've got a lot of preparing to do."

The Guardrangers nodded, then turned and began to go their separate ways. Waterguard stopped for a minute to talk to Takeo, while Earthguard caught Fire just as he was taking his leave.

"Why did you go off like that to save Terraclaw? You had no idea what happened to her."

"Well why shouldn't I have? Hellscar's a part of me, he means more to me than just about anything. I figured Terraclaw probably meant the same to you. Doesn't she?"

Earthguard looked up at the mighty bear, gazing affectionately down at her, and replied, "Yes, she does. Arigato.." A mixture of appreciative feelings suddenly roared up in Earthguard's mind, Fireguard for flying off to make things right on the slightest evidence that something major was wrong, and Takeo for trying to patch things up between them despite resistance at every turn. It was overwhelming.

"No big," Fireguard replied in a way that made her sure he was smiling behind his helmet, "Now go get some rest. I think you've earned it." With that, Fireguard took his leave.

Earthguard was about to do the same when Takeo jogged up and stopped her. "Wait a minute, can I ask you a few questions?"

"Like…?"

"Like maybe where you guys come from, what you think of each other…and why the heck you and Waterguard remind me of people I know so much."

She sighed, too tired, too confused about the men in her life, then reached out and lightly tapped his cheek. "Maybe another time…when I have some answers to give." Then the ground cracked open, there was a rush of air, and she was gone.

Takeo stood there for a minute, then sighed as he headed across the street to the nearby train station to catch a ride home.

Yeah…he smiled to himself…definitely another time.