In her time as a high schooler, Chiyo had gotten used to getting hurt. It was a favorite activity for Tomo, though Yukari liked to indulge in it as well from time to time, and her other friends occasionally did so by accident, occupational hazards of befriending those older and stronger than her.
But it felt different when Tatsuya grabbed her and flung her to the ground along with himself. Before she could ask him what he was doing, her confusion turned to fear as she heard gunfire, right above her, where she would have been only seconds before. Looking around, she saw her friends lying on the ground as well, along with Sion and those who were with Tatsuya.
After a few moments, the shooting stopped. Hesitantly, they all got up.
"What was that?!" said Kagura.
Before anyone could answer her, there was a shifting in the grass.
Rising from the ground were copper colored robots. The girls all recognized the Zenitts. They had seen them on the news. They looked funny, the way they kicked their legs as they walked. They didn't seem it now.
"Go now, before they fire again!" said Tatsuya.
They ushered the girls into the school, covering them from any attack.
Once inside, they saw an anxious Nyamo was running up to them.
"I heard gunfire, what's going on?" she asked.
"Londerz!" said Domon.
"What? Here?!"
Like everyone else she had read of their attacks, but they had never appeared in their corner of the city before.
In Class 3, Yukari was happily humming as she headed for the door, when it opened and she was nearly knocked down as a group of her students charged in.
"Hey, I'm off the clock, if you want to learn read the ingredients list on a cereal box."
"This is serious, Yukari" said Nyamo, "the Londerz are here. The girls were almost killed just now!"
"What?"
"Miss Yukari!" cried Chiyo as she rushed to her teacher and hugged her legs.
"Gah! I mean, uh, don't worry Chiyo, it'll be okay" said Yukari, patting her youngest student's head as if afraid she would suddenly bite her. "Uh, I don't have to hug you, do I?"
"You all stay here, we're going to go get help" said Yuri.
"What? No, that's way to dangerous!" said Nyamo.
"Don't worry, we'll be all right" said Domon.
The new arrivals to the school headed out.
"Wait, why is Sion going with you?" called out Nyamo, receiving no answer.
The employees of Tomorrow Research rushed to where they wouldn't be seen then snapped into action. None of them spoke to each other. For nine months they had been a team. They knew what to do instinctively by now.
They all pulled up their sleeves, revealing metallic oval shaped devices on their wrists.
"CHRONO CHANGER!" they all called out as they struck a pose.
The devices lit up, unleashing the vast energies they contained, which headed directly to their wearers. Suits enveloped their bodies, and helmets appeared over their heads.
The process took only seconds, and when it was done, they stood transformed.
Tatsuya...TimeRed.
Yuri...TimePink.
Ayase...TimeBlue.
Domon...TimeYellow.
Sion...TimeGreen.
They rushed towards the Zenitts.
In the classroom, Nyamo and the girls were moving chairs to blockade the door. The PE teacher glared at Yukari, sitting at her desk reading a magazine.
"Yukari, we could use your help here."
"Oh I wish I could but I'm just paralyzed with fear" replied Yukari in a monotone voice, her eyes never leaving the magazine. "Oh hey, the crab at this restaurant looks delicious, we should go tomorrow night!"
The only other ones not assisting were Chiyo, who sat trembling, and Sakaki who was holding her trying to comfort her.
"Ah, hurts to see ya like this, Chiyo" said Osaka. "Hey I know, think ah it this way, yah mentioned you were thinking about attending college in America, well this'll be good practice for that" said Osaka.
Chiyo started crying.
"Ah, guess that wasn't the right to say" said Osaka sadly.
"Hey Chiyo, if you're so worried, I bet Yukari can sneak you out and drive you away" said Tomo.
Chiyo began to cry harder, and Yomi smacked Tomo on the head.
"Ow! Hey, teasing Chiyo is my coping mechanism for how scared I am!"
"Yeah, and hurting you is mine!" Yomi replied as she smacked Tomo again.
Nyamo grabbed the two.
"Look we're in a stressful situation as it is without you two doing your little double act!"
"Hey look!" said Osaka, looking out the window.
Against the setting sun, five colorful garbed figures appeared. The Zenitts turned to their foes, raising their swords and gibbering to challenge. A challenge the Timerangers answered.
Despite being outnumbered over two to one, it was clear the Timerangers had the advantage, immediately overwhelming their mechanical foes.
Tatsuya pulled out a sword and sliced and diced all Zenitts who got close.
Sion grabbed one Zenitt and threw it into another.
Domon used his fists, punching each Zenitt in its face, his raw enhanced strength being too much for them.
Ayase twirled a Zenitt in the air before throwing it at the wall of the school, it breaking into pieces upon contact.
Yuri charged a Zenitt. It opened fire on her, only for her to leap above the oncoming barrage and leap at it with her two swords, cutting it to shreds.
The remaining Zenitts rallied together and charged the Timerangers.
Out of nowhere, the Timerangers pulled out huge cannons.
"VOL CANNON!" they shouted as they opened fire on the robots.
The Zenitts fell before the blasts, breaking into pieces. Their remains laid on the ground, back to the junk they had been made from.
"Wow…" said Osaka as she and her friends looked on. Just as the Zenitts had been more terrifying in real life, so too had seeing the Timerangers in action been more amazing than they could have imagined.
"Wait, did something happen?" asked Yukari, still at her desk.
"The Timerangers showed up and beat the Londerz. We're safe now" said Nyamo.
"Oh, great" said Yukari, who promptly went back to reading her magazine.
Osaka looked out the window again.
"Hey, where'd they go?"
Her friends saw that the warriors had vanished.
Just then, the door opened, causing the barrier they had created to fall apart.
Nyamo stepped in front of the girls, preparing for if one of the Zenitts had escape destruction and come for them.
Instead, Domon came in, followed by the others who had gone with him, stepping over the debris.
"Huh. Good thing they didn't try to get in here" said Tomo.
"We came back after we saw the fight. Everyone all right?" asked Domon.
"Oh yes, we're fine" said Chiyo in usual pert voice.
"Chiyo, you're okay? You were pretty freaked out earlier" asked Yomi.
"It's all about thanks to Tomo. When she mentioned Miss Yukari's driving, I realized, this was nothing compared to that."
"Really? Aw, I was trying to tease you, not make things better" said Tomo disappointedly.
Osaka checked her watch.
"Oh, we better get going if we're going to make that movie" said Osaka.
The rest of the girls stared at her.
"Osaka, we almost died just now" said Yomi.
"But we didn't" Osaka replied, smiling. "So we can still go."
Yomi sighed.
"After what we just went through, Chiyo non withstanding, I think we all just want to go home."
"Yeah, after how scared I was, I really have to go home, like now" said a redfaced Kagura as she scratched the back of her neck.
Standing next to her, Yukari sniffed her nose.
"Eew, which one of you ripped one?"
"Bye!" said Kagura as she ran out.
"All right, well see ya all tomorrow. Hey, you want to hang out Sion?"
"Can I?" Sion asked his teammates.
"I don't know, Sion, we have important work to do-"
"Sure, it's no problem!" said Domon, interrupting Yuri. "Go have fun!"
"Thank you!" said Sion, smiling brightly.
Yuri and Ayase glared at Domon as he merrily waved goodbye to them.
In a forest outside of Tokyo there lied an anachronism.
Londerz Prison was built in the 30th century to house the worst of the worst, the most dangerous criminals the era had to offer. It served this purpose well, until Don Dolnero arrived. The crime lord managed to take over the jail and use it as a means of escape into the past. Those who formerly ran it were gone now, buried in unmarked graves nearby, lying in the earth a thousand years before they were born and killed. The name Londerz, a symbol of the justice system in the 30th century, was now known by those in the 20th as one of lawlessness and fear.
Inside, Gien sat at the console, his eyes on the screen. It was a lonely life he lead here. It wasn't so when they first arrived in the 20th century, before Dolnero and his whore moved out, leaving him with only his Zenitts, being contacted only when they needed him to unfreeze a prisoner for their latest scheme to make money.
Money. He could never understand their obsession with it. There was so much more life had to offer, after all: destruction. Chaos. Death.
Unfortunately, Dolnero refused to let him indulge in his passions unless it suited his purposes, a frustratingly rare occurrence. So for the most part he could only fantasize and plan for the future when he could. Such as now, designing a giant robot. He had so enjoyed watching Nova and the carnage it caused, and he was eager to do so again. Once he managed to get his hands on more Lamba 2000, he would have his opportunity.
This time, he decided, he would pilot it himself. He imagined marching through a city in flames, its citizens running like panicked ants, the Timerangers watching impotently-
"Gien!" bellowed an angry voice.
Standing behind him was a being who looked like a compact blue whale in humanoid form, wearing gold chains and chomping a big cigar.
"Dolnero! How nice to see you! You so seldom come by anymore…"
"Don't try any of that sad sack crap, it's not going to work! I heard about those Zenitts at that school! That was your doing, wasn't it?"
"Not directly, no. The prisoner I released was simply trying to eliminate the Timerangers, something I thought you would welcome."
"You unfroze a prison without my permission? If you let loose another one of those Hell's Gate freaks I'll-"
"Oh no. Iesnes can be eccentric, but he's quite rational. I didn't want to bother you, but his goal is quite ambitious. I promise you this can deliver something much more valuable than money…"
"Nothing's more valuable than money! And every time you launch one of these schemes of yours it's bad for business!"
Gien turned away and looked down. Dolnero sighed.
"Look Gien, I'm the boss. How do you think it looks to Lila and the Family, you continually going over my head with these things and me letting you?"
"Well, we simply won't tell them about this. You know I can keep quiet, after all…"
Dolnero sighed again.
"All right. I'll okay this thing...for now. But think of a way to bring in some cash while you're at it, all right?"
"Certainly, Dolnero! Your trust will be well rewarded!"
"See that it is! And remember Gien, my gratitude has its limits!"
With that Dolnero turned and made his exit.
Gien uttered a chuckle as soon as the Don left.
That may be true, but I suspect I still have quite a long way to go to reach them.
Something takes a part of me
Something lost and never seen
Every time I start to believe
Something's raped and taken from me, from me
Sion was taken aback by how violent the lyrics were. He looked again at Osaka, who stood still, staring directly ahead with an open mouth and happy smile. She turned to him.
"They're called KORN, ya heard of 'em?"
"Corn? Like the food?"
"Yeah, that's why ah first listened to 'em. Back in kindergarten my teacher played this funny song 'bout corn. When I first saw a CD of theirs ah thought maybe it was on it. Boy was ah surprised when I listened, but after a bit ah got to liking 'em."
"They sound very...angry."
"Yeah, ma folks don't care for them too much neither" said Osaka as she got up and turned off the music.
"Anyway, how ya liking our school so far?"
"It's...interesting. It's hard to say, I guess, I don't have much to compare it to."
"Oh right, you were homeschooled. That must have been nice, having yer folks teach ya, being with yer family all the time."
Sion sat on the floor. He was alone in the room, the vast white room. Scattered around him were various books and puzzles. Every noise he made created a vast echo.
He looked up at the nameless scientists, observing him, marking down everything he did, and futilely tried to make out their faces.
"Sion?"
"Uh, yes, it was very lovely. But, to have friends, I think that's much nicer."
"Can't argue with ya there. Never a dull day with mah friends. Although, and don't tell em ah said this, they're all ah little odd."
At Tomorrow Research, Yuri sat on the couch, reviewing notes she had taken during the day. They were still no closer to finding the source of the yadridian radiation at the school. At least the Zenitt attack proved the Londerz were indeed involved with it, though what they didn't even know either. Numerous Londerz prisoners had used the radiation in some way so they couldn't even be sure of the culprit.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Tatsuya's footsteps as he paced the room. He had been agitated since they had gotten back from the school.
"Tatsuya? Are you okay?"
"That attack today, it's our fault! We were the targets! Chiyo and her friends were almost killed because of us!"
"Not us, the Londerz" said Yuri, grabbing Tatsuya's shoulders to calm him down. "They, not to mention us, are alive because of you."
At that, Tatsuya seemed to calm down.
"I know. It's just, Chiyo's had such a happy life and now this..."
"She'll be okay. Kids her age have dealt with worse..."
"Yuri...I'm sorry, I hope I didn't make you-"
Domon walked in, holding an empty milk carton.
"Hey we're out of milk!"
"Why don't you make yourself useful for once and go out and get it yourself?" said Yuri.
"What? Oh, are you still mad about the Sion thing?"
"You acted on your first thought without considering the consequences! Sion's not used to these sort of things; what if he slips up and reveals who he really is?"
"That he's a sweet handsome young man? I think she already knows! Wanting to keep him cooped up here instead of going out with a girl, that's as bad a crime as anything the Londerz have done. Don't you agree, Tatsuya?"
"Yes, what do you think, Tatsuya?" asked an angry Yuri.
"Well, I think you both make good points…" said Tatsuya.
To his relief, Ayase walked in.
"Domon, phone for you."
"It can wait, we're busy here!"
"It's that teacher, Kurosawa."
"What? Uh, you know Yuri I thought it over and you're right about, uh, whatever" muttered Domon as he ran to the phone.
"He wants money? Does he understand what I'm working towards?"
"Dolnero has an unfortunate inability to see beyond mere monetary gain. In any case, the best thing to do is to do as he says so as to leave you alone" said Gien.
Iesnes considered the matter.
"There's a child who attends this school, a prodigy. Her family is very wealthy."
"So, rich and easy to catch. Sounds like a good old fashioned kidnapping and ransom is in order."
"But I'm busy with this project, I don't have the time to perform such a thing..."
Iesnes thought.
"When the prison processed us, they took a sample of our generic material. Do you have access to those samples?"
"I believe so."
"Bring them to me. I think we can earn Dolnero a profit and get rid of the Timerangers at the same time."