Disclaimer: All recognizable Shinzo characters and situations are the property of the Toei Animation and Saban Entertainment. This fiction is for entertainment purposes only. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Note: Again, I want to thank everyone who has left me a review for this story. I hope Chapter 3 lives up to your expectations!

Chapter 3

Safely hidden behind the tree line circling the glade, Hemanth watched as the four strangers finished their breakfast and began to clean up the remains. Where is that fool, Tylis? the Enterran patrol guard fumed to himself. If he doesn't bring Captain Luchrisk soon, they'll be gone. Fearing that he might have to follow the strangers if they left the clearing, Hemanth began to plan a way to leave a trail so obvious that even an idiot like Tylis could follow. He soon realized that there would be no need to move though. As the strangers put away their cooking equipment, it became obvious that they had no plans to leave the glade immediately. Hemanth overheard one of the males mention that they weren't leaving because another person called "Hakuba" needed to rest. For a moment, Hemanth was concerned because he had not seen a fifth Enterran in the group. However, he quickly surmised that if this Hakuba needed to rest so badly that the group was going to remain where it was, then this Hakuba person would not pose a danger to Captain Luchrisk's troops.

In the glade, the strangers settled down for what Hemanth interpreted as a lengthy stay. The helmet-wearing Enterran started a card game with himself. The female and the youngest male struck up an inconsequential conversation. The fat one busied himself with the cooking utensils, apparently repositioning them in the trunk of his vehicle. Hemanth shifted to a more comfortable position and silently cursed Tylis again for taking so long to return.

Nearly two full hours had passed before Hemanth heard the quiet sounds that indicated Tylis had returned with a troop of patrol guards. Hemanth hissed softly to direct the troop to his exact position. Tylis came into view first, his foot snapping on a broken branch as he neared his partner. Hemanth glared at him. "Idiot!"

"Quiet," a new voice ordered.

"Captain Luchrisk," Hemanth whispered deferentially. The captain of Lord Braegon's border patrols came out from behind the trees. Captain Luchrisk was taller than Hemanth by a full head height. While Hemanth's gorilla DNA was obvious from his hairy arms, disproportionate limbs, and his facial features, Luchrisk's gorilla heritage was subtler. Luchrisk looked far more like the humans who used to rule Enterra. Despite Luchrisk's more human looks, Hemanth knew that the captain was mentally and physically superior to almost every gorilla Enterran Hemanth knew. Captain Luchrisk had long ago earned Hemanth's respect.

"Tell me about the strangers," Luchrisk commanded as he observed the four in the glade.

Hemanth quickly recounted the strangers' activities since he first discovered the one flying on his hoverboard. He mentioned that they planned to remain where they were while Hakuba rested and ended his report with his estimations on the strangers' fighting capabilities. Almost as a side-thought, Hemanth directed Luchrisk's attention to the female. "She has the strangest eyes I've ever seen. Very pretty." The leering hint in Hemanth' voice was obvious.

Intrigued, Luchrisk focused on the female. She was indeed very pretty, he observed, and somehow familiar. He concentrated briefly, trying to remember why. All his lecherous thoughts chilled in the instant of recognition. "You fools! That's the human Yakumo!" Tylis and Hemanth exchanged puzzled looks. "The human on the wanted poster that King Daku sent us. You should have recognized her immediately," Luchrisk continued. "You claim to be Lord Braegon's soldiers, but you don't even recognize the most dangerous enemy to all Enterrans. You disgust me."

"But, Captain Luchrisk — "

Luchrisk waved off Hemanth's protests. "I will deal with you later. First we must capture the human." Luchrisk scowled as he thought. All his life, he had heard stories and rumors about humans from the time before The Great War between humans and Enterrans five hundred years ago. Lately, rumors were spreading about this particular human that had miraculously survived from that time. A sizeable bounty had been offered for her capture. Lord Braegon was especially eager to collect the bounty and would be willing to share a portion with Luchrisk if he brought the human to his master. Before he could bring her to Braegon, however, her three protectors would have to be eliminated.

Luchrisk had been traveling with ten patrolmen when Tylis encountered them. Counting Tylis and that other incompetent, Hemanth, Luchrisk had twelve Enterrans at his command. Four of his guards to each one of the human's protectors — he liked the odds. They should be easily defeated, he thought. Luchrisk motioned for his patrolmen to gather for their orders. He indicated that the twelve should surround the glade's perimeter. Each was to signal when he was in place. When everyone was in position, Luchrisk would signal for the attack. "I don't care what happens to the Enterrans," Luchrisk said as his final instruction. "Reduce them to En cards if you like. But I want the human captured alive. If the human is killed, I will personally card and destroy the card of the soldier responsible for her death. Do I make myself clear?" Satisfied by the fearful expressions on his troop's faces, he dismissed them with a wave of his hand. Luchrisk turned his attention to the four in the glade. Soon, human, you will belong to Lord Braegon. Luchrisk smiled at the thought. And I will be a very rich Enterran. Another even more pleasant thought struck him, and Luchrisk's smile widened at the idea. Perhaps Lord Braegon will allow me to play with her while we wait for our bounty.

In the glade, Kutal busied himself rearranging the contents of his automobile's trunk. Mushra and Yakumo sat near Hakuba talking. From what Sago overheard, Yakumo was telling Mushra about her life before her father placed her in suspended animation. Normally, Sago would sit with them listening to her fascinating tales. However at the moment, he was trying to conceal his exhaustion from the others. The pre-breakfast scuffle with Mushra and Kutal had been very tiring. Not wanting to alert the others as to how tired he was, Sago had retreated a short distance and concentrated on his deck of cards. He was playing a two-person card game pitting his left hand against his right hand. Both hands were losing. Bemused, Sago shook his head. I must be more tired than I realized. It's not possible for both hands to be losing at the same time!

Sago hesitated before shuffling the deck for the next round, his attention drawn to the surrounding jungle. The jungle noises had increased as if something was disturbing the birds and animals. Mushra's head cocked to one side, and he shifted his attention to the jungle as well.

"What do you think —"

A shrill whistle interrupted the question. Before the travelers could react, twelve hulking forms stepped from the tree shadows into the clearing. Some carried swords; others had pikes. The four were surrounded.

"Give us the human, and we will let you live," Hemanth commanded.

Mushra jumped to his feet. "We're not giving you anything!" From the pouch hanging on his waistband, he withdrew his collapsible metal quarterstaff. With a click, the pole expanded to its full size. Mushra twirled it hand over hand. "Except a good fight! Yakumo, stay down!" he ordered before charging at the intruders.

Mushra's attack cued the melee. The gorilla Enterrans tightened their circle, advancing forward to meet the challenge. Kutal grabbed his long-handled mace from the trunk of his vehicle and ran to meet them. Sago scrambled to his feet. By the time he was upright, he had retrieved his weapon from its pouch and had extended the blades from each end of the weapon in a single motion. Following Mushra's orders, Yakumo remained where she was, but she shifted from a sitting position to a crouch, ready to run if the fighting came too near.

Mushra and Hemanth met midway between the campsite and the tree line. With a battle cry, Mushra struck first, bringing his pole down towards Hemanth's head. The gorilla Enterran deflected the blow with his sword. The clank of metal on metal rang out across the clearing. Hemanth swung his sword in an undercut at Mushra's stomach. The young Enterran jumped back just in time to avoid a serious wound. Three more of the gorilla Enterrans closed in on Mushra from behind intending to pierce Mushra with their pikes. With a yell, Mushra swirled to meet them swinging his pole by one end. The three leapt back to safety. Mushra finished his circular turn just in time to block a slash from Hemanth's sword.

Kutal faced four pike-wielding Enterrans. One jabbed low at Kutal. He blocked the blow with his mace, swinging the weapon in a wide arc that held off an attack from another. The third moved in, intending to strike Kutal. The swoosh of the pike coming towards him provided Kutal his only warning. Cat-like, Kutal jumped to one side. The pike blade passed close enough for the breeze to ruffle his fur, but Kutal was not hit.

With a flick of his wrist, Sago launched his weapon towards the Enterrans coming for him. It spun rapidly as it sailed away from him, effectively turning the twin-bladed weapon into a spinning cutting disk. Tylis barely managed to duck beneath the flying disk. The disk reached the apex of its arc and spun back towards Sago. Tylis ducked again; however, the Enterran standing next to him lost the tip of his pike as the blades sliced through it. The blades flew back to Sago's grasp. He launched it again this time with far less control and power. The weapon wobbled and lost momentum. It dove blade-edge down into the ground. Sago froze, stunned to see his throw fail.

From her place by Hakuba, Yakumo watched as her three friends fought to protect her. Sago's failed throw shocked her nearly as much as it did him. An inarticulate cry escaped her, diverting Sago's attention from his attackers. Tylis took advantage of the opportunity. He ran past Sago, slicing the distracted Enterran on the arm with his sword as he passed, and sprinted to Yakumo. Before any of her defenders could react, Tylis pulled Yakumo up from the ground and held the sword to her throat.

"YAKUMO!" Sago's outburst interrupted all the fighting. Everyone looked to Sago and followed his gaze to Yakumo. A silent stillness reigned as they considered this new development.

"Mushra!" Yakumo's cry broke the silence.

"Let Yakumo go!" Mushra took an angry step towards Tylis and his captive, but found his way blocked by Hemanth's sword.

"One more step, and Tylis will cut her throat, boy," Hemanth warned.

Mushra was beyond furious. "That's it! You've gone too far! Hyper flame!" he yelled.

A glowing red light enveloped Mushra's body. Through the red haze, Hemanth watched the small Enterran grow taller and more muscular. When the transformation was nearly done, the red light coalesced into a brilliant column that shot towards the sky before vanishing. Standing in the young Enterran's place was an older, stronger warrior encased in red armor from head to toe. Mushra's quarterstaff had transformed into a javelin. He pointed the blade end at Hemanth. "I said, 'Let Yakumo go'," Mushra repeated in a menacingly quiet tone.

Cries of "He's got a hypermode!" and "He's a Hyper Enterran!" signaled the attackers' dismay at the change in their fortune.

"He's not the only one," answered Kutal. "Eye of the tiger!"

At his command, a yellow light similar to the red one that had left Mushra transformed engulfed Kutal. Within the light, Kutal's body changed. After the yellow column shot skywards, Kutal no longer resembled an overgrown housecat. Instead, he seemed more like a lion — a fierce and dangerous warrior. Kutal's mace had changed as well. He now held a sword in his right hand. With no hesitation, Kutal swung his left hand up above his head and then drove it into the ground. "Enterra quake!" he roared.

The long claws on Kutal's fingers tore into the ground causing crevices to run outwards through the campsite. The force of the blow transferred to the ground. Seismic rumbles rocked the area. Kutal had aimed his strike so that one of the crevices shot between Yakumo's and Tylis's feet throwing them off-balance. Yakumo shoved the sword away from her throat as she fell. As the quake split the ground at her feet, Yakumo twisted out of Tylis's grasp. The gorilla Enterran fell one way; the woman fell the other. The widening crevice temporarily placed her beyond Tylis's reach. As soon as she could scramble to her feet, Yakumo ran in search of safety.

Stunned by his failed weapon throw and the wound to his arm, Sago had watched Yakumo's capture and his friends' transformations in a daze. The seismic quake knocked him off his feet, and he fell on his side. His wounded arm hit the ground hard. He briefly lost consciousness from the pain. When Sago returned to his senses, he realized that the fighting had started up again. Around him, he could hear the clash of metal on metal, the battle cries, and the occasional swoosh of a fire throw as Mushra used the power of fire that came with his hypermode form. Looking up, he saw that Yakumo was safe for the moment, but it wouldn't be long before the Enterran who held her would be able to reach her again. Sago staggered to his feet, his hand clutched at the arm wound trying to stop the bleeding, and headed to his blade that was still stuck in the ground a few feet away. His attackers moved in to stop him. Sago extended his good arm and concentrated. A blast of water shot from his palm, knocking them down just as it had done to Mushra earlier in the morning. Sago ran for blade and yanked it from the ground. Exhaustion, anger, pain, and most of all frustration at the situation overwhelmed the Enterran.

Without another thought, he called for his own hypermode. "Hydro power!"

Sago felt a familiar warmth on his forehead moments before a sparkling blue haze obscured his vision. He felt his body grow, expand, and firm as the hypermode transformation progressed. The ticklish sensation of two horns sprouting from the top his head came next followed by a reshaping of his eyes and his face. When the blue light cleared from his vision, even his clothing was transformed. Sago gratefully noted that the arm wound was not present in his hyperform and that he was no longer as tired as before. He felt fully restored and grinned at the thought. "Would you like to try again?" he courteously asked the gorilla Enterrans he had hit with his water blast.

After setting off the seismic quakes, Kutal focused on reaching Yakumo before Tylis could recapture her. The four Enterrans who had singled him out at the start of the fight regrouped once the ground stopped shaking. They formed a defensive wall. Kutal leapt forward. With a rapid series of fist blows and sword swipes, the leonine Hyper Enterran quickly defeated them. His lethal sword cuts reduced each attacker to his En card, the gorilla Enterrans' bodies shattered into fragments and dissolved into nothingness leaving only their cards behind to fall onto the grass. Kutal sped towards Tylis and Yakumo.

Mushra thrust his javelin into the chest of one of his attackers. He continued to push the pole until the blade end had cut entirely through and came out through the back. The gorilla Enterran's body dissolved, and his En card dropped to the ground. Mushra turned and faced Hemanth. "Three down. That leaves you to go," Mushra advised him.

To Mushra's surprise, Hemanth smiled at the comment. "Not yet," he said. "Hyper mode!" Mushra shaded his eyes as a sickly green light surrounded his opponent. When the light cleared, the gorilla Enterran was nearly twice as big as before. The heavy mat of hair on his arms and chest had melded into a smooth hard black coating. His upper incisor teeth had lengthened to wicked looking tusks. His hands sported razor-sharp talons instead of fingernails. "Want to play, little boy?" Hemanth growled.

Yakumo ran for the tree line as fast as she could. She knew that as long as she was in danger of being captured, she would be a liability to her friends. If Yakumo were caught again, her friends would do anything to free her, including sacrificing themselves if necessary. Behind her, she could hear the pounding footsteps of the Enterran who had captured her before. The pounding grew louder. Others must have joined the chase. The strange Enterrans were faster than she was. She would never make it to the trees in time. From behind, she heard a yell of triumph. She sensed a hand reach out to grab her. Unwillingly, Yakumo screamed in terror. A lion's roar cut off her scream. Yakumo skidded to a halt, turned, and gasped as she saw Kutal slam into her attacker. The two flew to the ground and rolled over and over, each locked in the other's grip. Kutal broke one arm free and smashed Tylis's jaw. Kutal rose to his knees and launched a savage punch through Tylis's stomach, his arm not stopping until it hit the ground Tylis lay on. The gorilla Enterran's body fragmented. Only his En card remained.

Kutal stood and looked at Yakumo. "Are you all right?" She nodded. "Good. Hide in the trees until we're finished. I need to help Mushra." Yakumo retreated to the tree line as ordered but did nothing to hide herself. She was too worried for her friends. She watched as Sago's blade sliced through the last of his attackers. The strange Enterran fragmented as the others had. Sago didn't wait for the En card to hit the ground; he ran to the part of the clearing where Mushra faced Hemanth. Kutal reached the scene at the same time. The two took up positions around the gorilla Enterran; along with Mushra, the three formed a triangle trapping Hemanth at the center.

Mushra and Hemanth had been exchanging blows for several minutes. Their weapons rang out in a rhythm of thrust, parry, and counter attack. In the latest round, Hemanth came close enough that he was able to grab Mushra bodily. The gorilla Hyper Enterran lifted his prey above his head and with a roar threw him to the ground. Mushra landed face down on the grass. Hemanth stepped forward and prepared to run his sword through the downed Hyper Enterran's back.

"Mushra!" A swirling column of water from Sago drove Hemanth away from Mushra and towards Kutal. The leonine Hyper Enterran cocked his arm and let loose a powerful punch that drove the gorilla Hyper Enterran back towards Mushra. Mushra rose to his knees and raised his javelin just in time for Hemanth to impale himself on the weapon. His body shuddered, fragmented, and dissipated. The last attacker's En card drifted slowly to the ground.

From behind the trees on the far side of the clearing, Luchrisk had watched the battle with mounting fury as the strangers reduced his soldiers to En cards one by one. The fight had gone well until the first stranger changed to his hypermode. Luchrisk had heard rumors that the human was protected by Hyper Enterrans — that rare subspecies of Enterran capable of transforming into a more powerful physical form — but he had dismissed the rumors as unlikely. Now, he knew they were true.

Believing his soldiers fully capable of capturing the human female, Luchrisk had not joined the ight initially. When the first stranger transformed, he realized that someone needed to survive the battle in order to report the information to Lord Braegon. He gave himself that responsibility. Captain Luchrisk was no coward. He was a soldier who knew that his first duty was to inform his lord of the dangerous strangers in his territory. As the En card of his last soldier drifted downwards, Luchrisk turned and silently left the area. The strangers and he would meet, he vowed, but not until he had gathered Lord Braegon's full army to guarantee that the strangers would be defeated.

With the fight finally over, Yakumo ran from the tree line to join her friends. Red, yellow, and blue lights briefly surrounded Mushra, Kutal, and Sago as their bodies returned from hypermode to their normal form. Along with his normal form came the exhaustion and injury that had plagued Sago before the transformation. Overcome, the Enterran collapsed to his knees.

To Be Continued …