Heeeere it is! The arc where things start to get real! Also, the Go-Ongers' mysterious new sponsor finally shows up.
Basically, this arc is Gokaiger Episodes 35 and 36, with a twist and it's named after that one SpongeBob episode.
~Part 1:Throw Me A Party~
The Gokaigers were having dessert after lunch when something came tumbling down the stairs. "WHOOOOOAAAAA!" it went. Navi flew over to its side and asked. "What the heck is this?"
"Hmm?" hummed the thing, then looked around. "Where am I? And who am I looking at?"
"Who the heck are you?" asked Marvelous.
"Fellas!" Laila called out as she joined her coworkers at a park, a small paper pouch and a cluster of five bananas in her hands, then held them out. "Here, snacks as requested! Kohakuto candy for Basco, and bananas for Sally!"
"Aw, thanks, Laila-kun, yer the best." said Basco, as he plucked the pouch from Laila's left hand.
"You're welcome, captain. What are friends for?" smiled the female privateer. "When Dad and Papa were still friends, there was an incident. Y'know, one that had to do with the Barbaric Machine Clan Gaiark. They sent out a henchman called Manhole Banki to kidnap people who can spin pens, and as always, the Go-Ongers got in their way. While investigating, Papa fell into one of Manhole Banki's manholes, and Dad, not willing to stand by as his partner got in danger, went in after him. I later heard the whole story from Uncle Hant, and Dad's old partner Sakyo-san. I guess I got that streak from Dad, wanting to do anything for my partners..."
"Laila-kun..." Basco muttered, then noticed his monkey throwing banana peels everywhere! "'Ey, Sally! This here be a public park, I told ye not to do that there!"
Just then, Laila felt something strange. Was the whistling wind trying to tell her something? No, there was only the three of them, it couldn't be...
...right?
"Ugatz!" said a very familiar-looking robot as it sprang out and began fighting Sally. Soon, a lot more showed up.
Laila immediately sprang up from her seat. "Basco, Sally, watch out. Those are the Barbaric Machine Soldiers Ugatz."
The brunette smirked, then shifted into his true form before saying "Oh, don't worry, it be barely an inconvenience."
"What?!" Laila yelled as she began fighting the Ugatz. "Barely an inconvenience? How can you say that? Just look at Sally over there!"
True to her word, Sally was struggling with just one Ugatz and Laila had to decapitate it with one of her wheel-discs to save her.
"Oh, arr, mate, 'ave ya forgotten? I am an Acheronian Kaijin." said Basco, brandishing Caliblade. In no time at all, he took down about 3/4 of the Ugatz that showed up, with almost frightening ease, leaving the remaining 1/4 for Laila to scrap.
When they were finished with the park, they went outside it and took a look around. Advanced vehicles armed from head to toe were attacking people left and right, and already a bridge was destroyed from a Barbaric Dohma attack.
"Leave this to me!" said Laila. Wheel-discs sprung from her legs, and she zoomed into action, fighting the vehicles. She took down a lot, using her position on the road to her advantage. But she didn't see the vehicle charging at her from behind, and got knocked out.
"Laila-kun, are ye OK?" asked Basco as he and Sally rushed over to her side.
"I'm fine, thanks...wait a second, what is that?" the half-Engine asked as a new car came into the scene. It was red and sleek, and it began mowing down the vehicles with a myriad of mass destruction weapons that almost rivaled that of an Engine as it drove on, and then it stopped right in front of the Free Joker crew. "Who the heck are you?" asked Laila.
The driver said nothing. They disembarked, then took off their helmet to reveal a flash of red-brown hair. "Hello, Laila, it's been awhile." said the driver.
"Uncle...Sosuke?" asked Laila, dumbfounded as she looked at the man in front of her.
"A moment!" replied the man before putting his helmet back on and getting back into the car, then drove away. Laila clenched both hands into fists, then zoomed off after the red car.
"Wait, Laila-kun—!" Basco called out, but it was too late.
Shoulder to fender, Laila and the red car began a wild chase through the roads, towards the destroyed bridge, the Gaiark vehicles hot on their tails. Then the red car pulled a crazy stunt—it jumped over the destroyed bridge and seemingly fell down but then, something unbelievable happened. A super jet whizzed over Laila's head, and picked up the car.
Laila just stood there, dumbfounded. "Laila-kun, what 'appened?" asked Basco as he and Sally arrived, flanked by several cars that looked similar to the red car, but this time, they were dark grey in color.
LATER...
The Free Joker crew were delivered to a high-rise, where it was safe. "I'm sorry, I be just processin'." said Basco, sitting on a comfy chair. "Uncle? Ye 'ave an uncle?! Who also 'appens to be some kind o' super spy wi' 'is own private army, who drives literally like a bat out o' hell, who pre-planned an aerial jump an' landed at the bottom o' an airplane? Who does that?!"
"Who does that?" said Laila. "Sosuke Esumi, Go-On Red."
Soon, said former Super Sentai Warrior came in. "Sorry, Laila, I know you want answers but back then...we were in a bit of a sticky situation. You'll get to know it all in due time."
"It's fine." said Laila. "Uncle, these are my coworkers, Basco and Sally."
"Um, ahoy?" asked the kaijin, waving a hand.
"Uki! Uki!" Sally made happy noises.
"Nice to meet you, too." said Sosuke, shaking hands with Basco. "I'm Sosuke Esumi, but you might know me as another name. Mach Full Force, Go-On Red!" With that, he struck a pose.
Just then, the door opened and an elegant woman in her early 40s walked in. She was wearing a white designer kimono with pink floral patterns, a hot-pink sash with white floral patterns wrapped around her waist. Sosuke hurried over to her side, and introduced her. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet Sakae Suzuki. She's the chairwoman of the multinational toy company PlayCo, and the Go-Ongers' new sponsor!"
"Konnichiwa, everyone." said Sakae, taking a bow. She then turned to Laila and said "You must be Laila-sama!"
"Yes, sir!" said Laila, smiling.
"I've heard a lot about you from Gunpei-sama." said Sakae. "He said that from a young age, you had such a kind soul."
"Um, thanks, uh, Ms. Suzuki?" said Laila.
"Sakae. Just Sakae." said the woman as she sat down.
"Y'wanna know why we came to be sponsored by Sakae-san?" asked Sosuke. "It all began about four years ago. Hant was working as a waiter at some kinda fancy restaurant, and then, the restaurant received a very honored visitor!"
"Lemme guess, that there been 'er, right?" asked Basco.
"Bingo!" Sosuke said. "So Sakae-san visited the restaurant, and Hant was the one who served her. Unfortunately, he had been a bit clumsy, and the restaurant manager scolded him for that but Sakae-san, being the big-hearted person she was, dismissed Hant's clumsiness as barely an inconvenience and took his side. In the process, she also found out that Hant was Go-On Green and met the rest of us through him. She decided to sponsor us, in exchange for letting PlayCo sell Go-Onger merchandise."
"That's great!" said Laila. "My service to you, Sakae-san."
"Thank you, Laila-sama. Now, follow me, two of my agents have been dying to meet you." said Sakae, then led everyone to another place, where two familiar faces were waiting. They were covered in silver armor, and sported light brown hair.
"Ayame! Kikuo!" Laila exclaimed, running off to hug them.
"Laila!" exclaimed the two as they ran towards her as well, and they shared a group hug.
Basco was a bit puzzled. "Huh? Who are they?"
Laila smiled. "Oh, they're Ayame and Kikuo, my soul-sisters. They're twins and half-Engines, like me."
Ayame, the older twin, stepped forward and introduced herself. "Ayame Sutou is my human name, and my Engine name's Silverhawk."
Kikuo, the younger twin, introduced herself as well. "Kikuo Sutou is my human name, and my Engine name's Moonreaper."
"Together we are...the Tora Twins!" said both twins, and Ayame finished "Dad is Jetras and Mom is Miu. Laila's the blueprint for us. After seeing Uncle Gunpei's hair get stuck in the kid-making machine, Mom decided to try it with Dad, and one week later, Dad's code was input into the kid-making machine. All that was needed to create a half-human egg was Mom's DNA, and Mom ended up plucking from her head not one strand of hair, but two."
"Onee-san hatched 10 seconds earlier than me, so she's the older one." said Kikuo.
"Nice to meet ya. Me name's Basco Ta Jolokia, and this is me pet, Sally, We're Laila-kun's coworkers." said Basco, introducing himself and Sally.
"Um, Sakae-san, about the Gunman World thing, have you made the decision?" asked Sosuke.
"Sorry, Sosuke-sama, but seeing as you don't have your Greater Power right now, I'll have to decline. Me and the executives decided it's too hazardous." said Sakae.
"Gunman World?" asked Laila.
"The Gaiark's targeting that world as well as this one." said Sosuke.
Seeing that, Laila seemed to be ticked off. "Sakae-san, please allow him! Whenever there's a person in need, we have to help them! That's what Harbingers Of Justice do! I'll accompany him to Gunman World, so please!"
Sakae sighed. "Alright. Agent Esumi, you are allowed to carry out the Gunman World mission."
"Don't worry, uncle, leave Human World to us." said Kikuo.
"Thanks!" said Sosuke. "C'mon, fellas, I know just the people who can help us out."
The PlayCo jet landed in the area where the Gokai Galleon was laying anchor at. Laila told Basco and Sally to stay in the plane, and only she and Sosuke disembarked. "BOMPER!" exclaimed the former Go-On Red upon seeing said robot with the Gokaigers.
"Sosuke!" cried BOMPER, and the two embraced.
"Still going good, eh, little guy?" Sosuke asked.
"I missed you so much, bom-bom!" said the robot.
"Hey, BOMPER, how you been?" asked Laila.
"Laila!" cried BOMPER. "Last time I saw you, you were just a little girl and now look at you!"
"Don't tell me...is he...?" asked Gai.
"Yup, he's Go-On Red." said Laila. "But to me...he's just Uncle Sosuke."
"Nice to meet you, Sosuke-san! My name's Gai Ikari, Go~kaiSilver! It's a great honor to meet you!" said Gai, shaking Sosuke's hand.
"No way! Then you guys are the Gokaigers I was hearing about?!" cried BOMPER.
"I'd like to offer you belated thanks for offering us your Greater Power." said Ahim as she bowed.
"Don't sweat it." Sosuke told her. "Anyhoo, there's big trouble."
"Sosuke, there's big trouble!" cried BOMPER, then both him and Sosuke went "What, you already knew?"
"We found one of the Gaiark's survivors in Gunman World as well as here." said Sosuke.
"His name's Sheriff Chirakashizky. He took over Gunman World and the Engines went to try and stop him. Their battle was so fierce that it tore a hole in the walls between our worlds! But..."
"What happened?" asked Sosuke.
"Oh, I guess you don't know the full story. The Engines got depowered and were forced to abandon the fight!" said BOMPER.
"What he said, everybody. Let's go and save Gunman World at Mach speed!" Sosuke told the Gokaigers.
"Sir, yes, sir!" Gai exclaimed.
"Why?" asked Luka.
"Um, excuse me?" Gai asked back.
"Why should we go?" Marvelous asked.
"What? Aren't you fellas Harbingers Of Justice?" Sosuke demanded.
"Uh, we're technically pirates..." Doc murmured.
"Why should we run off to some world that we've never heard of before?" Marvelous grumped, then received a fist in the face from Laila.
"Well, you're one to talk." said the black half-Engine. "You, your crew, everyone. You came to this planet that you all never heard of before, and now look at you! You're risking your lives to protect Earth when all of you except Gai have nothing to do with it! And what? You won't help Uncle Sosuke because you have nothing to do with what's happening in Gunman World?! When you're worried about someone, it doesn't matter what world they're from!"
"Laila..." muttered Sosuke.
"You don't deserve to wear red if you keep that mindset!" Laila kept on yelling.
Seeing Laila speak so boldly to the captain he was fiercely loyal to, Joe was ticked off but at the same time, he felt a bit captivated, and, in fact, what the half-Engine was saying, it made all so much horrible sense.
"Okay, fine." said Marvelous, holding his sore cheek. "I guess it's fair enough. Change of plans. We're taking you to Gunman World."
"The thing is, we've never been to another dimension before." said Luka.
"It's just a ride, what could possibly go wrong?" Joe added.
"Alright, so, it's settled! Let's go, BOMPER-san!" said Gai as he picked BOMPER up. As they followed the pirates, Sosuke grinned and fist-bumped Laila.
Basco and Sally watched from afar as the Gokai Galleon entered a hole in the sky. "Godspeed, Marvey-chan, remember, only I be allowed to take yer life..." muttered the privateer.
The Galleon arrived in a world that looked like America during the Old West. "So here's Gunman World?" asked Luka.
"Wowzers, it really has that cowboy feel!" said Gai.
"The Gaiark is threatening this world, just like the Zangyack with ours, depriving the people of a peaceful life..." muttered Ahim.
Suddenly, everyone saw a group of civilians being threatened by Ugatz. "You showed up quick, Gaiark!" exclaimed Sosuke, then began attacking the Ugatz with PlayCo-issued gadgets.
"Let me help!" said Laila as she joined Sosuke, activating her energy blades as well as her sword arms.
Together, they took down several of the Barbaric Machine Soldiers. "We're more than enough to guard against you!" said Sosuke.
Soon enough, more Ugatz came rushing in, and seeing this, the Gokaigers began shooting at them. "So those are the Gaiark..." asked Joe.
"Yup." said Sosuke. "By the way, what happened to just giving us a lift?"
"When we don't like something, we wreck it. That's what pirates do." said Marvelous.
"That's great!" Sosuke exclaimed as the pirates Gokai Changed.
"GokaiRed!"
"GokaiBlue!"
"GokaiYellow!"
"GokaiGreen!"
"GokaiPink!"
"Go~kaiSilver!"
"Kaizoku Sentai! Gokaiger!" they said.
"Let's make it showy!" said Marvelous, and the pirates all sprang into action. Gai was blocking the weapons of three Ugatz with his GokaiSpear, but then Sosuke jumped in and saved him.
"You OK?" asked the former Go-On Red.
"I'm fine, can you get the townspeople to safety?" asked Gai.
"Alright!" Sosuke complied, then told the townspeople to run.
Meanwhile, Ahim suggested the Battle Fever Ranger Keys. "Howzabout we use these?" she asked.
"Gokai Change!"
"Ba~ttle Fever!"
The five Gokaigers, as the Battle Fever Team, fought the Ugatz again and defeated them with the Pentaforce.
"Howzabout these next?" asked Doc.
"Gokai Change!"
"Cha~ngeman!"
The remaining Ugatz were taken down with a Dragon Attack from Marvelous, a Pegasus Attack from Joe, a Mermaid Attack from Luka, a Gryphon Attack from Doc and a Phoenix Attack from Ahim.
"Aaaand done!" said Luka.
"Hey, fellas, over here!" Laila called to them from above, and the pirates hurried over to see what the hell was going on.
"Speedor! Bus-On! Bear R! You OK?" asked Sosuke, holding three miniature Engines. One looked like a stock car and a red condor, another a bus and a blue lion, and the third a RV and a yellow bear.
"Sosuke..." groaned the red one, Speedor.
LATER...
"You really saved us out there." said a man as he took the Gokaigers, BOMPER, Sosuke and Laila to his tavern so a feast could be held in their honor. "It's an all-you-can-eat feast, so help yourself!"
"I'm digging in!" everyone said, and began tucking into the lovely food.
"This is the Engine Speedor, my dear partner." said Sosuke, holding the miniature Speedor.
"Nice to meet you! Drrr-drrr!" said Speedor.
"On-on! I'm the Engine Bus-on!" said Bus-on, the blue one.
"V-V! And I'm the Engine Bear RV!" said Bear RV, the yellow one.
"Nice to meet you all, it's a real honor!" said Gai.
"Uncle Speedor, Uncle Bus-on, Aunt Bear RV..." muttered Laila. "I can't believe I'm seeing you again."
"So do I, Laila. So do I." said Bus-on. "And look how you've grown, on-on!"
"I'm kind of impressed. I've never seen any lifeforms like you before." said Doc, causing Bus-on to chuckle.
"Kinda cool." said Luka as she poked Speedor.
"Hey, hands off!" yelled Bear RV. "Don't touch my darling, got it?"
Sosuke smiled. "Speaking of your marriage, how's it going?"
"Oh, we've forged our second child and we're expecting her to hatch any time soon." said Speedor.
"That's great!" Sosuke exclaimed.
"The thing is, we want to be there when she hatches." Bear RV explained. "But with us looking like this and unable to return..." she trailed off.
"Are these all the Engines you've partnered with?" asked Joe.
"Oh, there's more! But they're all resting after what Sheriff Chirakashizky did to them..." muttered BOMPER.
"Tch! If Machalcon would have bothered helping us, none of this would have happened!" said Bus-on.
At the mention of Speedor and Bear RV's son, Sosuke frowned. "What's wrong?" asked Ahim.
"That Machalcon, he's my soul-brother. When we were little, we used to race the highways of Machine World together." said Laila.
"But nowadays..." said Sosuke. "He's the Engine equivalent of a road ruffian, I guess."
"We still don't know where we went wrong." said Speedor.
The night was long. Inside the tavern, the party still raged on. "Yo-ho, yo-ho, a pirate's life for me!" Luka and Ahim sang as they danced on a table. "We pillage, we plunder, we rifle and loot, drink up, me hearties, yo-ho, we kidnap and ravage and don't give a hoot, drink up, me hearties, yo-ho..."
Meanwhile, Sosuke was looking at the moon, sitting alone at an outside table. "Hey, wazzup?" asked Marvelous as he joined him outside, carrying two steins of beer and a plate of meat.
"Oh, it's nothing." said a smiling Sosuke.
"C'mon, tell me." said the captain. "I gotta know what's going on."
Sosuke sighed. "Okay, fine. It's just...it's Speedor."
Marvelous was a bit surprised, but soon straightened up, placed the beer and the meat on the table and said "Tell me more..."
"Y'know, me and Speedor went through a lot of things together, and after it all, I...I became certain that I had feelings other than friendship for my partner. Y'know, after the Bombe Banki attack, Speedor and the others got all rusted up and I attempted to perform a miracle to save them, but found out I couldn't and ran off in frustration. Then I met my old racing coach and after some encouragement, I reunited with Speedor who almost got himself killed to find me, and I gave my all in de-rusting him, bringing forth a true miracle." said the former Go-On Red.
"Was that the moment?" asked Marvelous.
"No, I weren't sure of my feelings even then. But the real deal came when the Gaiark joined forces with a survivor of the Predatory Beast Fist Clan named Meka, and to defeat them, we Go-Ongers teamed up with the Gekirangers. During a fight, we lost our Engines and we fought to get them back. I took on the Barbaric Machine Beast Nunchuck Banki to save my partner, and guess what I told him? I told him to "give back my Speedor". Yes. Mine. I was staking a claim. Can you believe it? I was staking a claim on my partner!" the human said, then took a huge swig from his cup.
Hearing this, Marvelous's mind jerked back to a memory from the past, bringing back plush green lips, sweet brown curls and that haughty, playful voice that loved to say certain words.
Yer mine, Marvey-chan.
"Hmm?" said the Shezaran as he snapped back into reality.
"At that point of time, I wasn't sure what I was feeling. I mean, is it even possible for a human being to feel that way towards a car-person? So I just stood there and did nothing as Speedor mated with Bear R and had a child with her. Only when Gunpei and Gunpherd announced that they were mating, I finally realized that I did love Speedor after all. And the ache...it's still clawing at my heart even now."
"I'm sorry." said Marvelous.
"Don't be." said Sosuke. "I'm gonna stay strong, for the sake of my partner."
Marvelous put his beer down, moved over to Sosuke and placed an arm around him. "It's fine. You can let it all loose around me. After all, I fell in love with someone who I wasn't supposed to love, and through that, I learned how bitter losing one's love could be."
"Thank you." Sosuke said. "Thank you."
Just then, a bullet whizzed past them, barely missing Marvelous. "Who's there?" asked the captain as he and Sosuke turned to the direction the bullet came from.
"So you're the rats that caused a fuss in my town..." muttered the Gaiark Sheriff, Chirakashizky.
O-o-h, evil cliffhanger!
And yes, that was a nod to the Go-Onger VS Gekiranger movie I snuck in, it's special to me and there are elements from it that I wish weren't forgotten about. Also, "give back my Speedor" is a real line that Sosuke told Nunchuck Banki in the movie.